Allows the UH to manage and regulate public activity on lands it controls. Allows the UH to assess and collect administrative fines, and to deposit such fines into a newly established Mauna Kea Management Special Fund.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Pursuant to the Constitution and statutes of the State of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii is vested with autonomous authority to control and manage its educational and proprietary affairs. Such authority extends to the use and oversight of lands and real property owned, leased, or otherwise demised or transferred from various owners, including state, federal, or private entities, to the university for the furtherance of its educational, research, and agricultural activities.

Such autonomous authority presumably carries with it the necessary legal means to supervise, oversee, and permit public activities on those lands and may be implied from the autonomous character of the university. Nevertheless, the purpose of this measure is to clarify and add certainty to the law relating to the university's authority to manage and control public activities on lands which it may own or otherwise possess by providing express authority to the university to adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to public activity permitted or occurring on its lands that do not conflict with other statutes or their implementing rules that are applicable to these lands.

In addition, the university lacks the ability to enforce its rules and needs the authority to provide for fines for rule violations. Thus, another purpose of this bill is to grant the university the authority to create a scheme for levying fines for violations of its rules, and to provide a system for those accused of committing a violation to contest the allegation in a manner consistent with the Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act.

SECTION 2. Chapter 304, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§304-   Mauna Kea management special fund. (a) There is established a university of Hawaii Mauna Kea management special fund into which shall be deposited one hundred per cent of the total amount of moneys collected for violations of the administrative rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, commercial permitting and related activities, and other fees collected relating to the management and use of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Mauna Kea access road, and Hale Pohaku mid-level facilities. The board of regents of the university of Hawaii, or its designated representative, may expend the moneys deposited in the fund for:

(b) The university of Hawaii shall prepare and submit an annual report on the status of the Mauna Kea management special fund to the legislature twenty days before the convening of each regular session.

(c) Moneys deposited into the fund shall not be used as a basis for reducing any current or future budget request or allotment to the university of Hawaii unless the university requests such a reduction."

SECTION 3. Section 304-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The board of regents shall have management and control of the general affairs, and exclusive jurisdiction over the internal organization and management, of the university. It may appoint a treasurer and such other officers as it deems necessary. It may authorize any officer, elected or appointed by it, to approve and sign on its behalf any voucher or other document which the board may approve and sign. It may delegate to the president or the president's designee the authority to render the final decision in contested case proceedings subject to chapter 91, as it deems appropriate. It may purchase or otherwise acquire lands, buildings, appliances, and other property for the purposes of the university and expend such sums of money as may be from time to time placed at the disposal of the university from whatever source. All lands, buildings, appliances, and other property so purchased or acquired shall be and remain the property of the university to be used in perpetuity for the benefit of the university. The board of regents, in accordance with law, shall manage the inventory, equipment, surplus property, and expenditures of the university, and any real property owned, leased, or otherwise under its control, and, subject to chapter 91, may adopt rules, further controlling and regulating the same. The board of regents may also adopt rules, subject to chapter 91, to regulate activities at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, Hale Pohaku, and the road corridor leading to and from Hale Pohaku to the Mauna Kea Science Reserve.

Through rulemaking, the board may set and provide for the assessment, and collection of fines for violations of any administrative rule adopted pursuant to this chapter. The board shall provide for procedures pursuant to chapter 91, including contested case hearings, for the purpose of enforcing its rules. Fines shall be established as follows:

Each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense.

The board may also assess against a party found to have violated a rule the costs of the enforcement proceeding, including costs of holding the contested case. Reasonable attorney's fees may also be assessed.

The board may institute court action to collect any fines and any costs and attorney's fees."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.