§343-7 Limitation of actions. (a) Any judicial proceeding, the subject of which is the lack of assessment required under section 343-5, shall be initiated within one hundred twenty days of the agency’s decision to carry out or approve the action, or, if a proposed action is undertaken without a formal determination by the agency that a statement is or is not required, a judicial proceeding shall be instituted within one hundred twenty days after the proposed action is started. The council or office, any agency responsible for approval of the action, or the applicant shall be adjudged an aggrieved party for the purposes of bringing judicial action under this subsection. Others, by court action, may be adjudged aggrieved.
(b) Any judicial proceeding, the subject of which is the determination that a statement is required for a proposed action, shall be initiated within sixty days after the public has been informed of such determination pursuant to section 343-3. Any judicial proceeding, the subject of which is the determination that a statement is not required for a proposed action, shall be initiated within thirty days after the public has been informed of such determination pursuant to section 343-3. The council or the applicant shall be adjudged an aggrieved party for the purposes of bringing judicial action under this subsection. Others, by court action, may be adjudged aggrieved.
(c) Any judicial proceeding, the subject of which is the acceptance of an environmental impact statement required under section 343-5, shall be initiated within sixty days after the public has been informed pursuant to section 343-3 of the acceptance of such statement. The council shall be adjudged an aggrieved party for the purpose of bringing judicial action under this subsection. Affected agencies and persons who provided written comment to such statement during the designated review period shall be adjudged aggrieved parties for the purpose of bringing judicial action under this subsection; provided that the contestable issues shall be limited to issues identified and discussed in the written comment. [L 1974, c 246, pt of §1; am and ren L 1979, c 197, §1(8); am L 1983, c 140, §10; am L 1992, c 241, §3]
Case Notes
Plaintiff's claims that Hawai‘i environmental policy act was violated were barred; plaintiff did not submit comment and filed suit more than sixty days after office of environmental quality control informed the public that the state final environmental impact statement had been accepted. 307 F. Supp. 2d 1149.
Court has no jurisdiction over actions initiated after time limit. 64 H. 126, 637 P.2d 776.
Date of commission’s decision to grant SMA permit triggered time period for appeal, not date when commission made express determination that no environmental assessment was required for project; plaintiff’s challenge to lack of environmental assessment thus timely. 86 H. 66, 947 P.2d 378.
Where the federal construct of a procedural right was not germane to case because this section, the statute at issue, establishes who and under what circumstances the lack of an environmental assessment, may be challenged, and federal cases recognizing this standard were inapposite because they rested on non-analogous statutes, petitioner could not be afforded so-called "procedural standing" under subsection (a). 100 H. 242, 59 P.3d 877.
Where Hawaiian homes commission did not accept the proposal for an environmental impact statement, the subject of the judicial proceeding before the trial court was not the "acceptance" of such statement; intervenors were not required to provide written comments pursuant to subsection (c) as subsection (c) did not apply; intervenor's objections, therefore, were subject to judicial review under subsection (b). 106 H. 270, 103 P.3d 939.