(b)...In carrying out programs authorized by this chapter, the department may enter into agreements with federal agencies, counties, private landowners, and organizations for the administration and management of any area or facility established under section 195D-21 or 195D-22, or public lands utilized for conserving, managing, enhancing, or protecting indigenous aquatic life, wildlife, land plants, threatened and endangered species, and their habitat.
(c) In carrying out programs authorized by this section, the department may enter into agreements with federal agencies and with the counties for administration and management of any area established under this section, or utilized for conserving, managing, enhancing, or protecting indigenous aquatic life, wildlife, land plants, and endangered species...
Citation: HRS § 195D-5.
(a) The department may enter into a planning process with any landowner for the purpose of preparing and implementing a habitat conservation plan. An agreement may include multiple landowners. Applications to enter into a planning process shall identify:
(1) The geographic area encompassed by the plan;
(2) The ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area that are the focus of the plan;
(3) The endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species known or reasonably expected to occur in the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types in the plan area;
(4) The measures or actions to be undertaken to protect, maintain, restore, or enhance those ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area;
(5) A schedule for implementation of the proposed measures and actions; and
(6) An adequate funding source to ensure that the proposed measures and actions are undertaken in accordance with the schedule.
After a habitat conservation plan is prepared, the board shall notify the public of the proposed habitat conservation plan through the periodic bulletin of the office of environmental quality control and make the proposed plan and the application available for public review and comment not less than sixty days prior to approval. The notice shall include, but not be limited to, identification of the area encompassed by the plan, the proposed activity, and the ecosystems, natural communities, and habitat types within the plan area. The notice shall solicit public input and relevant data.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by law, the board, upon recommendation from the department, in cooperation with other state, federal, county, or private organizations and landowners, after a public hearing on the island affected, and upon an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of its authorized membership, may enter into a habitat conservation plan, if it determines that:
(A) The plan will further the purposes of this chapter by protecting, maintaining, restoring, or enhancing identified ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types upon which endangered, threatened, proposed, or candidate species depend within the area covered by the plan;
(B) The plan will increase the likelihood of recovery of the endangered or threatened species that are the focus of the plan; and
(C) The plan satisfies all the requirements of this chapter.
In the event the board votes to enter into a habitat conservation plan for which the majority of the endangered species recovery committee recommended disapproval, the board may not enter into the habitat conservation plan unless the plan is approved by a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the legislature. Habitat conservation plans may allow conservation rental agreements, habitat banking, and direct payments. Any habitat conservation plan approved pursuant to this section shall be based on the best available scientific and other reliable data available at the time the plan is approved.
(2) Each habitat conservation plan shall:
(A) Identify the geographic area encompassed by the plan; the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area that are the focus of the plan; and the endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species known or reasonably expected to be present in those ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types in the plan area;
(B) Describe the activities contemplated to be undertaken within the plan area with sufficient detail to allow the department to evaluate the impact of the activities on the particular ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area that are the focus of the plan;
(C) Identify the steps that will be taken to minimize and mitigate all negative impacts, including without limitation the impact of any authorized incidental take, with consideration of the full range of the species on the island so that cumulative impacts associated with the take can be adequately assessed; and the funding that will be available to implement those steps;
(D) Identify those measures or actions to be undertaken to protect, maintain, restore, or enhance the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area; a schedule for implementation of the measures or actions; and an adequate funding source to ensure that the actions or measures, including monitoring, are undertaken in accordance with the schedule;
(E) Be consistent with the goals and objectives of any approved recovery plan for any endangered species or threatened species known or reasonably expected to occur in the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types in the plan area;
(F) Provide reasonable certainty that the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types will be maintained in the plan area, throughout the life of the plan, in sufficient quality, distribution, and extent to support within the plan area those species typically associated with the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types, including any endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species known or reasonably expected to be present in the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types within the plan area;
(G) Contain objective, measurable goals, the achievement of which will contribute significantly to the protection, maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of the ecosystems, natural communities, or habitat types; time frames within which the goals are to be achieved; provisions for monitoring (such as field sampling techniques), including periodic monitoring by representatives of the department or the endangered species recovery committee, or both; and provisions for evaluating progress in achieving the goals quantitatively and qualitatively; and
(H) Provide for an adaptive management strategy that specifies the actions to be taken periodically if the plan is not achieving its goals.
(c) The board shall disapprove a habitat conservation plan if the board determines, based upon the best scientific and other reliable data available at the time its determination is made, that the cumulative activities, if any, contemplated to be undertaken within the areas covered by the plan are not environmentally beneficial, or that implementation of the plan:
(1) Is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered, threatened, proposed, or candidate species identified in the plan area;
(2) Is likely to cause any native species not endangered or threatened at the time of plan submission to become threatened or endangered;
(3) Fails to meet the criteria of subsections (a) and (b); or
(4) Fails to meet the criteria of section 195D-4(g).
The habitat conservation plan shall contain sufficient information for the board to ascertain with reasonable certainty the likely effect of the plan upon any endangered, threatened, proposed, or candidate species in the plan area and throughout its habitat range.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the board shall suspend or revoke the approval of any habitat conservation plan approved under this section if the board determines that:
(1) Any parties to the plan, or their successors, have breached their obligations under the plan or under any agreement implementing the plan and have failed to cure the breach in a timely manner, and the effect of the breach is to diminish the likelihood that the plan will achieve its goals within the time frames or in the manner set forth in the plan;
(2) The plan no longer has the funding source specified in subsection (a) or another sufficient funding source to ensure the measures or actions specified in subsection (b) are undertaken in accordance with this section.
(e) The rights and obligations under any habitat conservation plan shall run with the land and shall be recorded by the department in the bureau of conveyances or the land court, as may be appropriate.
(f) Participants in a habitat conservation plan shall submit an annual report to the department within ninety days of each fiscal year ending June 30, that includes a description of activities and accomplishments, analysis of the problems and issues encountered in meeting or failing to meet the objectives set forth in the habitat conservation plan, areas needing technical advice, status of funding, and plans and management objectives for the next fiscal year, including any proposed modifications thereto.
Citation: HRS § 195D-21.
(a) After approval of a habitat conservation plan or safe harbor agreement, or issuance of an incidental take license pursuant to this chapter, no agencies or departments of the State, in order to protect a threatened or endangered species, may impose any new requirements or conditions on, or modify any existing requirements or conditions applicable to, a landowner or successor to the landowner, to mitigate or compensate for changes in the conditions or circumstances of any species or ecosystem, natural community, or habitat covered by the plan, agreement, or license unless:
(1) The landowner, or the landowner's successor, expressly consents to the requirement, condition, or modification;
(2) The board has found, in accordance with those special procedures agreed to by the board and the landowner, or in the absence of any special procedures, in accordance with those procedures that govern the findings generally, that:
(A) The requirement, condition, or modification does not impose any additional restriction on any parcel of land or body of water available for use or development under the plan or agreement; and
(B) The requirement, condition, or modification will not increase the cost to the landowner or other parties to the plan or agreement of implementing the plan or agreement;
(3) The department is prepared to exercise its authority to:
(A) Pay the landowner for the costs of any new requirement or condition or any modification of any existing requirement or condition, which costs may be determined through binding arbitration; and
(B) Take any other action to ensure that any party to the plan or agreement is not, without the party's consent, unduly burdened by the requirement, condition, or modification, in which case the department shall implement that necessary requirement, condition, or modification upon committing to pay the costs, mitigate the actions, or undertake the action;
(4) The board has revoked the approval of the plan or rescinded the agreement in accordance with section 195D-21(d) or 195D-22(c); or
(5) Extraordinary new circumstances or information indicate that failure to modify the plan or agreement is likely to appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival or recovery of any threatened or endangered species in its natural habitat. If additional mitigation measures are subsequently deemed necessary to provide for the conservation of a species that was otherwise adequately covered under the terms of a habitat conservation plan, safe harbor agreement, or incidental take license as a result of extraordinary circumstances, the primary obligation for executing mitigation measures shall rest with the State, or the federal government with its consent, and not with the landowner.
(b) Entry by a landowner into a habitat conservation plan or safe harbor agreement shall be voluntary.
(c) The department may establish a landowner contact and recognition program that:
(1) Contacts landowners who may have threatened or endangered species or their habitat on their land and that sends information on the species or habitat in question. If the landowner is willing, a nonbinding memorandum of understanding may be signed, which states a general intention to protect the species or habitat found on the land;
(2) If available, provides participating landowners with a current supply of information on the conservation of species and habitat found on their land;
(3) On an annual basis, recognizes one or more private landowners who have demonstrated, through past and current efforts, sound conservation practices and principles on their land; and
(4) On an annual basis, awards a private landowner participating in a habitat conservation plan an “Outstanding Participant of the Year” award.
(d) The department may establish a habitat conservation technical assistance program to assist landowners in developing, reviewing, or monitoring habitat conservation plans by providing technical assistance. The department may collect fees and payment for costs incurred for use of the technical assistance program in the development, review, or monitoring of a specific habitat conservation plan. Fees shall be charged at an hourly rate of $50. The fees and payment for costs collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the endangered species trust fund established under section 195D-31.
(e) Persons participating within voluntary programs under this chapter may receive consideration from the board to use adjacent public lands for commercial nature tourism activities that increase public education and support for endangered species; provided that an agreed percentage of the fees charged for nature tourism activities shall be donated to the trust fund to implement this chapter.
(f) The execution of habitat conservation plans and safe harbor agreements under sections 195D-21 and 195D-22, respectively, shall, for the purposes of providing incentives and assistance to landowners, be deemed to be a public purpose and in the public interest, and for the general welfare of the State.
Citation: HRS § 195D-23.
(a) To encourage landowners to voluntarily engage in efforts that benefit endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species, except as otherwise provided by law, the board, upon approval by not less than two-thirds of the board's authorized membership, after a public hearing on the island affected, may enter into a safe harbor agreement with one or more landowners to create, restore, or improve habitats or to maintain currently unoccupied habitats that threatened or endangered species can be reasonably expected to use, if the board determines that the cumulative activities, if any, contemplated to be undertaken within the areas covered by the agreement are environmentally beneficial. In the event the board votes to enter into a safe harbor agreement for which the majority of the endangered species recovery committee recommended disapproval, the board may not enter into the safe harbor agreement unless the agreement is approved by a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the legislature. The board shall notify the public of the proposed safe harbor agreement through the periodic bulletin of the office of environmental quality control and make the proposed agreement available for public review and comment not less than sixty days prior to approval...
(c) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the board shall suspend or rescind any safe harbor agreement approved under this section if the board determines that:
(1) Any parties to the safe harbor agreement, or their successors, have breached their obligations under the safe harbor agreement or under any other agreement implementing the safe harbor agreement and have failed to cure the breach in a timely manner, and the effect of the breach is to diminish the likelihood that the agreement will achieve its goals within the time frames or in the manner set forth in the agreement; or
(2) To the extent that funding is or will be required, the funding source specified in subsection (b) no longer exists and is not replaced by another sufficient funding source to ensure that the measures or actions specified in subsection (b) are undertaken in accordance with this section.
(d) The rights and obligations under any safe harbor agreement shall run with the land for the term agreed to in the agreement and shall be recorded by the department in the bureau of conveyances or the land court, as may be appropriate.
Citation: HRS § 195D-22.
In advising the department and the board, the commission shall give the following lands priority in its recommendations for acquisitions:
(1) Lands having exceptional value due to the presence of:..
(C) Habitats for threatened or endangered species of flora, fauna, or aquatic resources...
(4) Lands providing critical habitats for threatened or endangered species that are in imminent danger of being harmed or negatively impacted.
Citation: HRS § 173A-2.6.