SB1411

SECTION 1. Section 6E-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Pre-contact historic property" means any building, structure, object, district, area, or site, including but not limited to heiau, ahu, ko‘a fishing shrine, loko i‘a fishpond, agricultural complex, habitation complex, salt pond complex, and holua slide, that existed prior to 1779."

SECTION 2. Section 6E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§6E-3 Historic preservation program. There is established within the department a division to administer a comprehensive historic preservation program, which shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) Development of an ongoing program of historical, architectural, and archaeological research and development, including surveys, excavations, scientific recording, interpretation, signage, and publications on the State's historical and cultural resources;

(2) Acquisition of historic or cultural properties, real or personal, in fee or in any lesser interest, by gift, purchase, condemnation, devise, bequest, land exchange, or other means; preservation, restoration, administration, or transference of the property; and the charging of reasonable admissions to that property;

(3) Development of a statewide survey and inventory to identify and document historic properties, aviation artifacts, and burial sites, including all those owned by the State and the counties;

(4) Preparation of information for the Hawaii register of historic places and listing on the national register of historic places;

(5) Preparation, review, and revisions of a state historic preservation plan, including budget requirements and land use recommendations;

(6) Application for and receipt of gifts, grants, technical assistance, and other funding from public and private sources for the purposes of this chapter;

(7) Provision of technical and financial assistance and consultation to the counties and public and private agencies involved in historic preservation activities;

(8) Development, publication, and distribution to the public of informational materials regarding statutory protections for burials, historic sites, and archaeological resources, including the process of project reviews established by this chapter;

[~~(8)~~] (9) Coordination of activities of the counties in accordance with the state plan for historic preservation;

[~~(9)~~] (10) Stimulation of public interest in historic preservation, including the development and implementation of interpretive programs for historic properties listed on or eligible for the Hawaii register of historic places;

[~~(10)~~] (11) Coordination of the evaluation and management of burial sites as provided in section 6E-43;

[~~(11)~~] (12) Acquisition of burial sites in fee or in any lesser interest, by gift, purchase, condemnation, devise, bequest, land exchange, or other means, to be held in trust;

[~~(12)~~] (13) Submittal of an annual report to the governor and legislature detailing the accomplishments of the year, recommendations for changes in the state plan or future programs relating to historic preservation, and an accounting of all income, expenditures, and the fund balance of the Hawaii historic preservation special fund;

[~~(13)~~] (14) Regulation of archaeological activities throughout the State;

[~~(14)~~] (15) Employment of sufficient professional and technical staff for the purposes of this chapter which shall be in accordance with chapter 76;

[~~(15)~~] (16) The charging of fees to be determined by the department that are proportional to the nature and complexity of the projects or services provided, and adjusted from time to time to ensure that the proceeds, together with all other fines, income, and penalties collected under this chapter, do not surpass the annual operating costs of the comprehensive historic preservation program;

[~~(16)~~] (17) Adoption of rules in accordance with chapter 91, necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter; and

[~~(17)~~] (18) Development and adoption, in consultation with the office of Hawaiian affairs native historic preservation council, of rules governing permits for access by native Hawaiians and Hawaiians to cultural, historic, and pre-contact sites and monuments."

SECTION 3. Section 6E-5.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) There is created a review board, to be designated the Hawaii historic places review board, for the Hawaii register of historic places and the national register of historic places which shall meet the requirements of federal law. The board shall be placed within the department of land and natural resources for administrative purposes and shall consist of ten members to be appointed and removed by the governor as provided in section 26-34. The board shall include one professionally qualified member of each of the following disciplines: archaeology, architecture, history, and sociology. In addition, there shall be [~~one person~~] two people knowledgeable in traditional Hawaiian society and culture.

(b) The review board shall:

(1) Order and enter historic properties into the Hawaii register of historic places on the basis of their value to Hawaii's heritage[;], including but not limited to native Hawaiian culture and history;

(2) Evaluate and, when appropriate, recommend the nomination of historic properties to the national register of historic places;

(3) Review the state survey of historic properties undertaken in accordance with this chapter;

(4) Review the content of the state historic preservation plan developed in accordance with this chapter;

(5) Elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson and adopt such rules as are necessary for the purposes of this section;

(6) Maintain the Hawaii register of historic places, including all those listed on the national register of historic places, and a program of notification and publication regarding properties on the registers; and

(7) Develop policies on signage in historic districts."

SECTION 4. Section 6E-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:

"(f) Any person who violates this section shall be fined not more than [~~$10,000~~] $20,000 for each separate violation. If the violator directly or indirectly causes the loss of, or damage to, any pre-contact historic property as determined by the department in consultation with the office of Hawaiian affairs, the violator shall be fined no more than $30,000 for each separate violation. If the violator directly or indirectly has caused the loss of, or damage to, any historic property or burial site, the violator shall be fined an additional amount determined by the environmental court or an administrative adjudicative authority to be equivalent to the value of the lost or damaged historic property or burial site. Each day of continued violation of this provision shall constitute a distinct and separate violation for which the violator may be punished. Any landowner or developer responsible for any project where violations are found to have occurred shall execute any mitigation and preservation measures ordered by the department and shall be jointly and severally liable for any costs of mitigation and preservation. Equipment used by a violator for the taking, appropriation, excavation, injury, destruction, or alteration of any historic property or burial site, or for the transportation of the violator to or from the historic property or burial site, shall be subject to seizure and disposition by the State without compensation to its owner or owners."

SECTION 5. Section 6E-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§6E-11.5 Civil penalties. Except as provided in section 6E-11, any person who violates this chapter, or any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than [~~$10,000~~] $20,000 for each separate violation. If the violator directly or indirectly causes the loss of, or damage to, any pre-contact historic property as determined by the department in consultation with the office of Hawaiian affairs, the violator shall be fined no more than $30,000 for each separate violation. Each day of each violation constitutes a separate violation."

SECTION 6. Section 6E-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) Any person violating this section shall be fined no more than [~~$10,000.~~] $25,000. Each historic object or part of a prehistoric or historic human skeleton or associated burial good offered for sale or trade or removed from the jurisdiction in violation of this section shall constitute a distinct and separate offense for which the offender may be punished."

SECTION 7. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

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.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1411
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII