Bill Text: HI HB1034 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Relating To Emergency Management.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-12-11 - Carried over to 2024 Regular Session. [HB1034 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-HB1034-Amended.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1034
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 127A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

     "(c)  It is the intent of the legislature to provide for and confer comprehensive powers for the purposes stated herein.  This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes; provided that this chapter shall not be construed as conferring any power or permitting any action [which] that is inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States[,] or the Hawaii State Constitution, but, in so construing this chapter, due consideration shall be given to the circumstances as they exist from time to time.  This chapter shall not be deemed to have been amended by any act hereafter enacted at the same or any other session of the legislature, unless this chapter is amended by express reference."

     SECTION 2.  Section 127A-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:

     "(e)  The agency shall perform emergency management functions within the territorial limits of the State.  In performing its duties, the agency shall:

     (1)  Prepare a state comprehensive emergency management plan, which shall be integrated into and coordinated with the emergency management plans of the federal government.  The plan shall be integrated by a continuous, integrated comprehensive emergency management program.  The plan shall contain provisions to ensure that the State [is prepared] prepares for, mitigates against, responds to, and recovers from emergencies and minor, major, and catastrophic disasters.  In preparing and maintaining the plan, the agency shall work closely with agencies and organizations with emergency management responsibilities;

     (2)  Assign lead and support responsibilities to state agencies and personnel for emergency management functions[,] and other support activities;

     (3)  Adopt standards and requirements for county emergency management plans.  The standards and requirements shall ensure that county plans are coordinated and consistent with the state comprehensive emergency management plan;

     (4)  Make recommendations to the legislature, building code organizations, and counties for zoning, building, and other land use controls; and other preparedness, prevention, and mitigation measures designed to eliminate emergencies or reduce their impact;

     (5)  Anticipate trends and promote innovations that will enhance the emergency management system;

     (6)  Institute statewide public awareness programs.  This shall include intensive public educational campaigns on emergency preparedness issues, including but not limited to the personal responsibility of individual citizens to be self-sufficient for up to fourteen days following a natural or human-caused disaster;

     (7)  Coordinate federal, state, and local emergency management activities and take all other steps, including the partial or full mobilization of emergency management forces and organizations in advance of an actual emergency, to ensure the availability of adequately trained and equipped forces of emergency management personnel before, during, and after emergencies and disasters;

     (8)  Implement training programs to improve the ability of state and local emergency management personnel to prepare and implement emergency management plans and programs.  This shall include a continuous training program for agencies and individuals that will be called on to perform key roles in state and local post-disaster response and recovery efforts and for local government personnel on federal and state post-disaster response and recovery strategies and procedures;

     (9)  Adopt standards and requirements for state agency emergency operating procedures and periodically review emergency operating procedures of state agencies and recommend revisions as needed to ensure consistency with the state comprehensive emergency management plan and program; and

    (10)  Coordinate, in advance whenever possible, such executive orders, proclamations, and rules for issuance by the governor as are necessary or appropriate for coping with emergencies and disasters."

     SECTION 3.  Section 127A-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§127A-14  State of emergency.  (a)  The governor may declare the existence of a state of emergency in the State by proclamation if the governor finds that an emergency or a disaster has occurred or that there is imminent danger or threat of an emergency or a disaster in any portion of the State.

     (b)  A mayor may declare the existence of a local state of emergency in the county by proclamation if the mayor finds that an emergency or a disaster has occurred or that there is imminent danger or threat of an emergency or a disaster in any portion of the county.

     (c)  The governor or mayor shall be the sole judge of the existence of the danger, threat, or circumstances giving rise to a declaration, an extension, or a termination of a state of emergency in the State or a local state of emergency in the county, as applicable.  This section shall not limit the power and authority of the governor under section 127A-13(a)(5).

     (d)  A state of emergency and a local state of emergency shall terminate automatically sixty days after the issuance of a proclamation of a state of emergency or local state of emergency, respectively, [or] unless extended or terminated by a separate or supplementary proclamation of the governor or mayor[, whichever occurs first]."

     SECTION 4.  Section 127A-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  The administrator shall submit requests to the legislature to appropriate from the general revenues of the State sufficient moneys as may be necessary for expenditure by or under the direction of the governor for immediate relief in response to an emergency or disaster in any part of the State; provided that:

     (1)  The governor has issued a proclamation of a state of emergency;

     (2)  The governor shall not expend in excess of $10,000,000 for immediate relief as a result of any single emergency or disaster; and

     (3)  In addition to the funds in paragraph (2), an additional [$5,000,000] $10,000,000 may be made available solely for the purpose of matching federal disaster relief funds when these funds become available to the State following a [presidential] federal disaster declaration.

In expending the moneys, the governor may allot any portion thereof to any agency, office, or employee of the State or a county for the most efficient relief for the population.  Notwithstanding this subsection, the only exception to paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) is that the administrator may use up to $250,000 per year to support the emergency management reserve corps.  The funds identified in this subsection shall be deemed to be trust moneys and shall be deposited into a trust account with and under the control of the Hawaii emergency management agency.  These funds may be used for open federally declared disasters that are being managed by the Hawaii emergency management agency."

     SECTION 5.  Section 127A-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

     1.  By amending subsections (a) to (c) to read:

     "(a)  Whenever the governor declares a state of emergency for the entire State or any portion thereof, or a mayor declares a local state of emergency for the county or any portion thereof, or when the State, or any portion thereof, is the subject of a severe [weather] warning:

     (1)  There shall be prohibited any increase in the selling price of any commodity, whether at the retail or wholesale level, in the area that is the subject of the proclamation or [the] severe [weather] warning; and

     (2)  No landlord shall terminate any tenancy for a residential dwelling unit in the area that is the subject of the proclamation or [the] severe [weather] warning, except for a breach of a material term of a rental agreement or lease, or if the unit is unfit for occupancy as defined in this chapter; provided that:

          (A)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to extend a fixed-term lease beyond its termination date, except that a periodic tenancy for a residential dwelling unit may be terminated by the landlord upon forty-five days' written notice:

              (i)  When the residential dwelling unit is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value; or

             (ii)  When the landlord or an immediate family member of the landlord will occupy the residential dwelling unit; or

          (B)  Under a fixed-term lease or [a] periodic tenancy, upon forty-five days' written notice, a landlord may require a tenant or tenants to relocate during the actual and continuous period of any repair to render a residential dwelling unit fit for occupancy; provided that:

              (i)  Reoccupancy shall first be offered to the same tenant or tenants upon completion of the repair;

             (ii)  The term of the fixed-term lease or periodic tenancy shall be extended by a period of time equal to the duration of the repair; and

            (iii)  It shall be the responsibility of the tenant or tenants to find other accommodations during the period of repair.

     (b)  Notwithstanding this section, any additional operating expenses incurred by the seller or landlord because of the emergency [or], disaster, or [the] severe [weather, and which] warning that can be documented[,] may be passed on to the consumer.  In the case of a residential dwelling unit, if rent increases are contained in a written instrument that was signed by the tenant [prior to] before the declaration or severe [weather] warning, the increases may take place pursuant to the written instrument.

     (c)  The prohibitions under subsection (a) shall remain in effect until twenty-four hours after the severe [weather] warning is canceled by the [National Weather Service;] issuing agency; or in the event of a declaration, [the later of a date specified by the governor or mayor in the declaration or ninety-six] seventy-two hours after the effective date and time of the declaration, unless [such] the prohibition is identified and continued [by a supplementary declaration issued] and the types of commodities are identified by the governor or mayor[.] in the proclamation or any supplementary proclamation.  Any proclamation issued under this chapter that fails to state the time at which it will take effect, shall take effect at [twelve] noon [of] on the day on which it takes effect."

     2.  By amending subsection (f) to read:

     "(f)  As used in this section:

     "Breach of a material term" means the failure of a party to perform an obligation under the rental agreement or lease, which constitutes the consideration for entering into the contract and includes the failure to make a timely payment of rent.

     "Commodity" means any good or service necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of the people of Hawaii; provided that this term shall include[,] but not be limited to: materials; merchandise; supplies; equipment; resources; and other articles of commerce that shall include food; water; ice; chemicals; petroleum products; construction materials; or residential dwellings.

     "Fixed-term lease" means a lease for real property that specifies its beginning date and its termination date as calendar dates, or contains a formula for determining the beginning and termination dates; and the application of the formula as of the date of the agreement will produce a calendar date for the beginning and termination of the lease.

     "Periodic tenancy" means a tenancy wherein real property is leased for an indefinite time with monthly or other periodic rent reserved.  A periodic tenancy may be created by express agreement of the parties, or by implication upon the expiration of a fixed-term lease when neither landlord nor tenant provides the other with written notice of termination and the tenant retains possession of the premises for any period of time after the expiration of the original term.

     "Severe warning" means the issuance by the National Weather Service, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, United States Geological Survey, or other public authority of a public notification that a dangerous condition exists that could impact the State, or any portion of it, within a specified period of time.  "Severe warning" includes but is not limited to warnings of coastal inundation, high surf, flash flooding, volcano, tsunami, or hurricane.

     "Unfit for occupancy" means that a residential dwelling unit has been damaged to the extent that the appropriate county agency determines that the unit creates a dangerous or unsanitary situation and is dangerous to the occupants or [to the] neighborhood."

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on June 30, 3000.

 

 

 

Report Title:

Emergency Management Powers; State of Emergency; Price Control; Severe Warning

 

Description:

Clarifies that the Governor's and mayors' emergency management powers shall be consistent with the state constitution.  Clarifies the scope of the comprehensive emergency management plan.  Clarifies the powers of the Governor and mayors to extend or terminate a state of emergency.  Specifies the status and the allowable uses of Major Disaster Fund moneys, including increasing the amount of the additional funds that may be made available for the purpose of matching federal disaster relief fund from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000.  Shortens the duration of price control periods from ninety-six hours to seventy-two hours.  Defines the term "severe warning", clarifying that entities other than the National Weather Service issue warnings that may require the activation of the emergency management system.  Effective 6/30/3000.  (HD1)

 

 

 

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