2023 Hawaii Revised Statutes › Title 19. Health › 342D. Water Pollution › 342D-9 Enforcement.

§342D-9 Enforcement.
(a) If the director determines that any person has violated or is violating this chapter, any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, or any permit, water quality certification, or variance issued pursuant to this chapter, the director:
(1) Shall cause written notice to be served upon the alleged violator or violators. The notice shall specify the alleged violation and may contain an order specifying a reasonable time during which that person shall be required to take any measures that may be necessary to correct the violation and to give periodic progress reports; provided that if all attempts of service of process upon the alleged violator or violators are unsuccessful by personal service and by certified mail, notice may be given via a posting on a searchable government website and a sign conspicuously posted on the property, if appropriate;
(2) May require that the alleged violator or violators appear before the director for a hearing at a time and place specified in the notice and answer the charges complained of; and
(3) May impose penalties as provided in section 342D-31 by sending written notice, either by certified mail or by personal service, to the alleged violator or violators describing the violation.
(b) If the director determines that any person is continuing to violate this chapter, any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, or any permit, water quality certification, or variance issued pursuant to this chapter after having been served notice of violation, the director:
(1) Shall cause written notice to be served upon the alleged violator or violators. The notice shall specify the alleged violation and shall contain an order requiring that person to submit a written schedule within thirty days specifying the measures to be taken and the time within which the measures shall be taken to bring that person into compliance with this chapter, any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, or any permit, water quality certification, or variance issued pursuant to this chapter;
(2) Shall accept or modify the submitted schedule within thirty days of receipt of the schedule. Any schedule not acted upon after thirty days of receipt by the director shall be deemed accepted by the director;
(3) Shall issue to the alleged violator or violators a cease and desist order against the activities that violate this chapter, any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, or any permit, water quality certification, or variance issued pursuant to this chapter if that person does not submit a written schedule to the director within thirty days. This order shall remain in effect until the director accepts the written schedule; and
(4) May impose penalties as provided in section 342D-31 by sending a notice in writing, either by certified mail or by personal service, to the alleged violator or violators describing the violation.
(c) If the director determines that any person has violated an accepted schedule or an order issued under this section, the director shall impose penalties by sending a notice in writing, either by certified mail or by personal service, to that person, describing such nonadherence or violation with reasonable particularity.
(d) Any order issued under this chapter shall become final, unless not later than twenty days after the notice of order is served, the person or persons named therein request in writing a hearing before the director. Any penalty imposed under this chapter shall become due and payable twenty days after the notice of penalty is served unless the person or persons named therein request in writing a hearing before the director. Whenever a hearing is requested on any penalty imposed under this chapter, the penalty shall become due and payable only upon completion of all review proceedings and the issuance of a final order confirming the penalty in whole or in part. Upon request for a hearing, the director shall require that the alleged violator or violators appear before the director for a hearing at a time and place specified in the notice and answer the charges complained of.
(e) Any hearing conducted under this section shall be conducted as a contested case under chapter 91. If after a hearing held pursuant to this section, the director finds that a violation or violations have occurred, the director shall affirm or modify any penalties imposed or shall modify or affirm the order previously issued or issue an appropriate order or orders for the prevention, abatement, or control of the violation or discharges involved, or for the taking of such other corrective action as may be appropriate. If, after a hearing on an order or penalty contained in a notice, the director finds that no violation has occurred or is occurring, the director shall rescind the order or penalty. Any order issued after hearing may prescribe the date or dates by which the violation or violations shall cease and may prescribe timetables for necessary action in preventing, abating, or controlling the violation or discharges.
(f) If the amount of any penalty is not paid to the department within thirty days after it becomes due and payable, the director may institute a civil action in the name of the State to collect the administrative penalty which shall be a government realization.
In any proceeding to collect the administrative penalty imposed, the director need only show that:
(1) Notice was given;
(2) A hearing was held or the time granted for requesting a hearing expired without a request for a hearing;
(3) The administrative penalty was imposed; and
(4) The penalty remains unpaid.
(g) In connection with any hearing held pursuant to this section, the director shall have the power to subpoena the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence on behalf of all parties. [L 1989, c 212, pt of §2; am L 1990, c 298, §3; am L 1995, c 180, §9; am L 2016, c 45, §1; am L 2023, c 233, §5]
Law Journals and Reviews
Ala Loop and the Private Right of Action Under Hawai`i Constitution Article XI, Section 9: Charting a Path Toward a Cohesive Enforcement Scheme. 33 UH L. Rev. 367 (2010).
Case Notes
Department notice sent under subsection (a)(1) by regular mail was not considered commencement of an action for penalties. 891 F. Supp. 1389 (1995).
Hawaii laws relevant to citizens' enforcement action (brought under section of Clean Water Act), which required it to provide only violators with notice and an opportunity to be heard on pre-final decisions, failed to establish public's right to early information and intervention; Hawaii law was not sufficiently "comparable" to Clean Water Act to allow preemption of plaintiff's lawsuit. 904 F. Supp. 1098 (1994).