Opinion ID: 2515085
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: second prong: the necessity for private enforcement and the magnitude of the resultant burden on the plaintiff

Text: As to the second prong, DOT and Superferry argue that this litigation was not necessary to enforce DOT's duties under HRS chapter 343, and the burden on Sierra Club for bringing the action was relatively minor. They argue that (1) there were three separate organizations to share the expenses of attorney's fees and costs, (2) litigation is one of the purposes of Sierra Club, and (3) Sierra Club has received fee discounts from its attorney. Sierra Club argues that it was necessary for it to bring this action to enforce DOT's duties to the public under the Hawai'i Constitution, statutes, and the public trust doctrine. We agree with Sierra Club. Unlike Waiahole II, the plaintiffs in this case were comprised of two non-profit organizations and an unincorporated association. See Waiahole II, 96 Hawai'i at 32, 25 P.3d at 807. These groups were solely responsible for challenging DOT's erroneous application of its responsibilities under HRS chapter 343. As this court stated in Sierra Club I, [s]tated simply, the record in this case shows that DOT did not consider whether its facilitation of the Hawaii Superferry Project will probably have minimal or no significant impacts, both primary and secondary, on the environment. Therefore, based on this record, we can only conclude that DOT's determination that the improvements to Kahului Harbor are exempt from the requirements of HEPA was erroneous as a matter of law. The exemption being invalid, the EA requirement of HRS ง 343-5 is applicable. Sierra Club I, 115 Hawai'i at 342, 167 P.3d at 335. In contravention of its responsibilities under the laws of this state, DOT exempted the Superferry project from the requirements of HRS chapter 343 without considering its secondary impacts on the environment. The action brought by Sierra Club clarified DOT's responsibilities under HRS chapter 343 by challenging DOT's erroneous interpretation of those duties. This case is similarly distinguishable from Maui Tomorrow, where the challenged government policy resulted from an erroneous understanding that another state agency was to perform the duty at issue. Maui Tomorrow, 110 Hawai'i at 245, 131 P.3d at 528. In Maui Tomorrow, the duty had not been abandoned, rather it had been recognized with an assumption that it would be addressed by another agency. Id. In this case, DOT simply did not recognize its duty to consider both the primary and secondary impacts of the Superferry project on the environment. DOT was not under the erroneous understanding that another agency was considering those impacts, as in Maui Tomorrow; rather, in this case DOT wholly abandoned that duty by issuing an erroneous exemption to Superferry.