Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 15 - DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM › Hawaii Community Development Authority › Chapter 212 - KEWALO BASIN RULES FOR VESSEL AND HARBOR CONTROLS › Subchapter 2 - VESSELS › Section 15-212-59 - Removal and impoundment procedures

Current through June, 2024
The HCDA 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
					 HCDA deems it necessary to protect persons using the harbor, facilities owned
					 by the HCDA, 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					 which has expired or which has been revoked may be impounded and removed after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 15-212-58; 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 HCDA 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 HCDA. 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 HCDA 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 repermitted until all fees including costs of
					 removal and storage, and fines levied by a court are paid. Any action taken by
					 the HCDA 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 HCDA, 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 HCDA 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 HCDA's receipt of the written request
					 excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays designated under section
					 8-1, Hawaii
					 Revised Statutes. The procedures for the administrative hearing are contained
					 in sections
					 15-212-60 and
					 15-212-61 of these
					 rules.