Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Subtitle 3 - HARBORS DIVISION › Chapter 42 - VESSEL AND HARBOR CONTROLS › Subchapter 2 - SMALL CRAFT AND SMALLER COMMERCIAL VESSELS › Section 19-42-56 - Removal and impoundment procedures

Current through June, 2024
The department may impound and remove or dispose, or
					 engage others to impound and remove or dispose, from the harbor, or from a
					 particular berth, any vessel whose presence is contrary to law, or these rules
					 or when the department deems it necessary to protect persons using the harbor,
					 facilities owned by the State, or the property of other persons that may be
					 lawfully within the confines of the harbor. Vessels in the harbor illegally, or
					 under a permit which has expired or which has been revoked may be impounded and
					 removed after the appropriate seventy-two hour notification period elapses as
					 delineated in section
					 19-42-55; except that where there
					 is an imminent peril to life, property, or to public health and safety, notice
					 to the owner is not required.
Any vessel whose presence creates a danger to persons or
					 property may be impounded immediately. Where circumstances allow, the
					 department shall notify the vessel's owner by certified mail, by posting a
					 notice on or as near to the vessel as possible, by personal service or in any
					 other reasonable manner, to effect the removal of the vessel within seventy-two
					 hours or a reasonable time set by the department. If the vessel's owner cannot
					 be identified, located, or notified, or the owner does not comply with the
					 order to remove the vessel, the department may proceed to remove the vessel. If
					 no emergency exists, an independent marine surveyor shall be engaged to inspect
					 the vessel and to certify its seaworthiness prior to its removal. An inventory
					 of loose property shall be conducted and easily removed property shall be
					 removed for safekeeping. The vessel's owner shall be responsible for all costs
					 of removal and impoundment.
Appropriate fees and charges stemming from impoundment and
					 removal shall be charged to the boat owner. Custody of the offending vessel
					 shall not be released until all fees including costs of removal and storage,
					 and fines levied by a court are paid.
Any action taken by the department to impound and remove
					 the vessel or contrivance and/or remove any property or personal articles
					 located on board the offending vessel, including its tackle, apparel, fixtures,
					 equipment, and furnishings, shall be at the sole cost and risk to the
					 owner.
In addition, the department, within seventy-two hours of
					 impoundment, shall send by certified mail, return receipt requested, a notice
					 of impoundment to the registered owner or operator and/or all lien holder(s) of
					 record of any impounded vessel. The owner or operator of an impounded vessel
					 shall have ten days after receipt of the notice of impoundment of the vessel to
					 request in writing an administrative hearing. The administrative hearing is
					 solely for the purpose of allowing the owner or operator of an impounded vessel
					 to contest the basis given by the department for the impoundment of the vessel.
					 The administrative hearing must be held within five days, or such longer period
					 as may be allowed by statute, of the department's receipt of the written
					 request excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays designated under Section
					 8-1. The
					 procedures for the administrative hearing are contained in sections
					 19-42-57 and
					 19-42-57.1 of these
					 rules.