Bill Text: HI SB2681 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Emergency Management.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-24 - Referred to PSM, JDC. [SB2681 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2681-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2681 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to emergency management.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature finds that chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, should clearly specify and articulate the bases for emergency actions. To that end, this Act amends chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to require specificity when suspending provisions of law during an emergency; clarify when and how Hawaiʻi's emergency management system involves coordination between state and county emergency management functions; and clarify the legal framework governing the extension and termination of states of emergency.
The purpose of this Act is to clarify state and county emergency management authority, ensure effective and adaptable emergency responses, and further the goals of transparency and democratic accountability within our constitutional system.
SECTION 2. Chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§127A- Suspension of certain record requests;
prohibited. (a)
The governor or mayor shall not, through any proclamation or declaration
of emergency or any rule or order adopted pursuant to this chapter, suspend
agency response deadlines for requests to:
(1) Public records pursuant to part II
of chapter 92F; or
(2) Vital records or statistics pursuant
to sections 338‑18 or 338-18.5.
(b) Due to extenuating circumstances, there may
be a reasonable delay in an agency's response to a request; provided that an
agency shall not reject a request at any time, regardless of whether an emergency
has been declared."
SECTION 3. 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 4. Section 127A-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:
""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. This term includes but is not limited to
warnings of coastal inundation, high surf, flash flooding, volcano, tsunami, or
hurricane."
SECTION 5. Section 127A-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§127A-13 Additional
powers in an emergency period. (a) In
the event of a state of emergency declared by the governor pursuant to section
127A-14, the governor may exercise the following additional powers pertaining
to emergency management during the emergency period:
(1) Provide for and require the
quarantine or segregation of persons who are affected with or believed to have
been exposed to any infectious, communicable, or other disease that is, in the
governor's opinion, dangerous to the public health and safety, or persons who
are the source of other contamination, in any case where, in the governor's
opinion, the existing laws are not adequate to assure the public health and safety;
provide for the care and treatment of the persons; supplement the provisions of
sections 325-32 to 325-38 concerning compulsory immunization programs; provide
for the isolation or closing of property [which] that is a source
of contamination or is in a dangerous condition in any case where, in the
governor's opinion, the existing laws are not adequate to assure the public
health and safety, and designate as public nuisances acts, practices, conduct,
or conditions that are dangerous to the public health or safety or to property;
authorize that public nuisances be summarily abated and, if need be, that the
property be destroyed, by any police officer or authorized person, or provide
for the cleansing or repair of property, and if the cleansing or repair is to
be at the expense of the owner, the procedure therefor shall follow as nearly
as may be the provisions of section 322-2, which shall be applicable; and
further, authorize without the permission of the owners or occupants, entry on
private premises for any such purposes;
(2) Relieve hardships and
inequities, or obstructions to the public health, safety, or welfare, found by
the governor to exist in the laws and to result from the operation of federal
programs or measures taken under this chapter, by suspending the laws, in whole
or in part, or by alleviating, [the provisions of laws on such] subject
to terms and conditions [as] that the governor may [impose]
specify, the provisions of laws, including licensing laws, quarantine
laws, and laws relating to labels, grades, and standards;
(3) [Suspend] Except as provided in section 127A- , suspend
any law that impedes or tends to impede or be detrimental to the expeditious
and efficient execution of, or to conflict with, emergency functions, including
laws [which] that by this chapter specifically are made
applicable to emergency personnel; provided that any suspension of law shall
be no broader and last no longer than the governor deems necessary for the
execution of emergency management functions, and any suspension of law shall
identify the section of law suspended and, for each section, shall both specify the emergency
management functions facilitated and justify the suspension based on protecting
the public health, safety, and welfare; provided further that any suspension of
any law that requires permits, authorizations, or approvals from any state or
county agency may continue beyond the emergency period to allow for the
completion of any repairs, reconstruction, rebuilding, or construction of any
state or county infrastructure, facilities, or properties that would otherwise
be delayed by any permit, authorization, or approval;
(4) Suspend
the provisions of any regulatory law prescribing the procedures for
out-of-state utilities to conduct business in the State including any licensing
laws applicable to out-of-state utilities or their respective employees, as
well as any order, rule, or regulation of any state agency, if strict
compliance with the provisions of any such law, order, rule, or regulation
would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action of a state utility
in coping with the emergency or disaster with assistance that may be provided
under a mutual assistance agreement;
(5) In the event of disaster or
emergency beyond local control, [or] an event [which,] that,
in the opinion of the governor, [is such as to make] makes state
operational control or coordination necessary, or upon request of the [local
entity,] county, assume direct operational control over all or any
part of the emergency management functions within the affected area[;] and
notwithstanding sections 127A-14 and 127A‑25, requires the county to obtain
the governor's approval, or the approval of the director of the Hawaii
emergency management agency, prior to issuing any emergency order, rule, or
proclamation under this chapter;
(6) Shut off water mains, gas
mains, electric power connections, or suspend other services, and, to the
extent permitted by or under federal law, suspend electronic media
transmission;
(7) Direct and control the
mandatory evacuation of the civilian population;
(8) Exercise additional
emergency functions to the extent necessary to prevent hoarding, waste, or
destruction of materials, supplies, commodities, accommodations, facilities,
and services, to effectuate equitable distribution thereof, or to establish
priorities therein as the public welfare may require; to investigate; and
notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, to regulate or prohibit, by
means of licensing, rationing, or otherwise, the storage, transportation, use,
possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution thereof, and any
business or any transaction related thereto;
(9) Suspend section 8-1,
relating to state holidays, except the last paragraph relating to holidays
declared by the president, which shall remain unaffected, and in the event of
the suspension, the governor may establish state holidays by proclamation;
(10) Adjust the hours for voting
to take into consideration the working hours of the voters during the emergency
period, and suspend those provisions of section 11-131 that fix the hours for
voting, and fix other hours by stating the same in the election proclamation or
notice, as the case may be;
(11) Assure the continuity of
service by critical infrastructure facilities, both publicly and privately
owned, by regulating or, if necessary to the continuation of the service
thereof, by taking over and operating the same; and
(12) Except as provided in section 134-7.2, whenever in the governor's opinion, the laws of the State do not adequately provide for the common defense, public health, safety, and welfare, investigate, regulate, or prohibit the storage, transportation, use, possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution of, as well as any transaction related to, explosives, firearms, and ammunition, inflammable materials and other objects, implements, substances, businesses, or services of a hazardous or dangerous character, or particularly capable of misuse, or obstructive of or tending to obstruct law enforcement, emergency management, or military operations, including intoxicating liquor and the liquor business; and authorize the seizure and forfeiture of any such objects, implements, or substances unlawfully possessed, as provided in this chapter.
(b) In the event of a local state of emergency
declared by the mayor pursuant to [[]section[]] 127A-14, the mayor
may exercise the following additional powers pertaining to emergency management
during the emergency period:
(1) Relieve hardships and
inequities, or obstructions to the public health, safety, or welfare, found by
the mayor to exist in the laws of the county and to result from the operation
of federal programs or measures taken under this chapter, by suspending the
county laws, in whole or in part, or by alleviating [the provisions of
county laws on such], subject to terms and conditions [as] that
the mayor may [impose] specify, the provisions of county laws,
including county licensing laws[,] and county laws relating to labels,
grades, and standards;
(2) [Suspend] Except as provided in section 127A- , suspend
any county law that impedes or tends to impede or be detrimental to the
expeditious and efficient execution of, or to conflict with, emergency
functions, including laws [which] that by this chapter
specifically are made applicable to emergency personnel; provided that any
suspension of law shall be no broader and last no longer than the mayor deems
necessary for the execution of emergency management functions, and any
suspension of law shall identify the section of law suspended and, for each
section, shall both specify the emergency management functions facilitated and
justify the suspension based on protecting the public health, safety, and
welfare; provided further that any suspension of any law that requires permits,
authorizations, or approvals from any state or county agency may continue
beyond the emergency period to allow for the completion of any repairs,
reconstruction, rebuilding, or construction of any state or county infrastructure,
facilities, or properties that would otherwise be delayed by any
such permit, authorization, or approval;
(3) Shut off water mains, gas
mains, electric power connections, or suspend other services; and, to the
extent permitted by or under federal law, suspend electronic media
transmission;
(4) Direct and control the
mandatory evacuation of the civilian population; and
(5) Exercise additional emergency functions, to the extent necessary to prevent hoarding, waste, or destruction of materials, supplies, commodities, accommodations, facilities, and services, to effectuate equitable distribution thereof, or to establish priorities therein as the public welfare may require; to investigate; and any other county law to the contrary notwithstanding, to regulate or prohibit, by means of licensing, rationing, or otherwise, the storage, transportation, use, possession, maintenance, furnishing, sale, or distribution thereof, and any business or any transaction related thereto."
SECTION 6. 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 disaster has occurred or that there is imminent danger or threat
of an emergency or 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 disaster has occurred or that there is imminent danger or threat
of an emergency or disaster in any portion of the county.
(c) [The] Except as provided in
subsections (e) and (f), the governor or mayor shall be the sole judge of
the existence of the danger, threat, or circumstances giving rise to a
declaration, extension, or 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]. The governor or
mayor shall proclaim the termination of a state of emergency or local state of
emergency, respectively, at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant.
(e) The legislature may, by an affirmative vote
of two— thirds of the members to which each house is entitled, terminate a
state of emergency, in part or in whole, declared by the governor pursuant to
this section.
(f) The county council may, by an affirmative vote of two— thirds, terminate a state of emergency, in part or in whole, declared by the mayor pursuant to this section."
SECTION 7. Section 127A-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(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; 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 prohibition is identified and continued [by
a supplementary declaration issued] 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."
SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Emergency Management; State of Emergency
Description:
Amends chapter 127A, HRS, to clarify State and local authority. Prohibits the Governor or Mayor from suspending requests for public records or vital specifics during a state of emergency. Clarifies that powers granted for emergency purposes shall not be construed as permitting actions inconsistent with the state constitution. Adds definition of the term "severe warning" as used in 127A-30, HRS. Allows the Legislature and city councils to terminate a state of emergency, in whole or in part, issued by the Governor or Mayor, respectively.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
