HAR §4-159-1. Definitions

As used in this chapter: "Abandoned property" means any and all property, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, including personal property, items, materials, equipment, fixtures, motor vehicles, or vessels, that have been left unattended on land owned or controlled by the State without authority for a continuous period of more than twenty-four hours. "Administrator" means the head of the division of agricultural resource management, department of agriculture and biosecurity, or any officer or employee to whom authority has been duly designated. "Agricultural activities" includes the care and production of livestock, livestock products, poultry, and poultry products; the care and production of apiary, horticultural, and floricultural products; the planting, cultivating, harvesting of crops or trees; aquaculture; and any other activity that is directly associated with agriculture; and has the same meaning as defined in section 141D-2, HRS. "Agricultural commodity" means any agricultural product, including but not limited to, horticultural (including floriculture), nuts, coffee, whether cherry (berry), parchment, or green beans, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables of every kind and character, whether or not frozen or packed in ice, whether produced in the State or imported, products, livestock and livestock products, bees and honey, poultry and poultry products, egg and egg products, timber and Christmas trees, fish and fish products either in their natural state or as processed by the producer thereof or by a processor, as defined in this section. "Agricultural enterprise" means any business, company, or economic activity with direct and demonstrated ties and relations to any definition of "agricultural or aquacultural" activities defined in this section, either for profit or not for profit, and 159-3 3620 4-159-1 may include but not be limited to agricultural education centers, food hubs, farmers markets, and feed mills. All agricultural enterprises must be approved by the administrator. "Agricultural enterprise lands" means agricultural lands that are not designated as agricultural parks or non-agricultural park lands pursuant to chapter 166 or 166E. "Agricultural processing" means the processing of agricultural produce or products, including dairying, grown, raised, or produced in Hawaii. "Agriculture or agricultural" means the planting, cultivating, harvesting, and processing of crops, including those planted, cultivated, harvested, and processed for food, ornamental, grazing, or forestry purposes, including aquatic life farmed or ranched. "Animal unit" means one mature cow or horse; two yearling steers or heifers; five mature sheep; twelve weaned lambs; or two colts. "Applicant" means any person or entity, which acts to acquire or obtain a lease or any interest therein, including a sublease, or an interest in an association or a partnership which either holds the lease or owns the stock in a corporation which holds the lease. "Aquacultural activities" means the farming or ranching of any plant or animal species in a controlled salt, brackish, or freshwater environment; provided that such farm or ranch is on or directly adjacent to land. "Board" means the board of agriculture and biosecurity or its designated representative. "Bona fide operator" means a person who: (1) Was an operator of an established agricultural enterprise or similar for at least two years; or (2) Has at least four years' experience as a part-time operator of an established agricultural enterprise or similar enterprise and who, in the administrator's judgment, is likely to successfully operate the enterprise by reason of ability, experience, and training as a vocational 159-4 3620 4-159-1 trainee. "Carrying capacity" means the maximum number of animal units that an area is able to support over a period of years without injury to the soil, forage resources, tree growth, watershed, or unwarranted interference with other services of the land. "Chairperson" means the chairperson of the board of agriculture and biosecurity. "Commercial exporter" means any person who is engaged in the business of exporting fresh or processed agricultural commodities to points outside the State. "Commercial importer" means any person who is engaged in the business of importing fresh or processed agricultural products from points outside of the State. "Consumer" means any person or firm purchasing agricultural commodities for human consumption or animal consumption. "Conversion" means the extinguishing of an existing encumbrance and the issuance of a new long-term lease to the existing lessee. "Corporate successor" means a solely-owned corporation which, through assignment of lease, succeeds the interest of a lessee and who shall own all of the stock issued by, and be the principal officer of, the corporation. "Department" means the department of agriculture and biosecurity. "Division" means the agricultural resource management division of the department of agriculture and biosecurity. "Encumbrance" means any instrument issued including but, not limited to, a lease, permit, license, easement, grant, contract, or authorization to occupy and use agricultural enterprise lands under the terms and conditions of this chapter. "Established date of operation" means the date on which the original agricultural enterprise operation first commenced operation. If the physical facilities of the enterprise operation are subsequently expanded or new technology adopted, the established date of 159-5 3620 4-159-1 operation for each change shall be the same as the established date of operation for the original operation, provided that this does not violate existing state law or county ordinances. "Farm" means the parcel, area or building where the "farming operation" occurs. "Farm" also means "ranch" and "farmer" also means "rancher". "Farm dwelling" means a single- or multiple-family dwelling or employee dwelling used in connection with agricultural or aquacultural activities. "Farming operation" means: (1) A commercial agricultural, aquacultural facility, or agricultural enterprise or pursuit conducted, in whole or in part, including the care and production of livestock and livestock products, ranching, poultry and poultry products, and apiary, horticultural, or floricultural products; (2) The planting, cultivating, and harvesting and processing of crops; (3) The farming or ranching of any plant or animal species in a controlled salt, brackish, or freshwater environment; (4) Marketed produce at roadside stands or farm markets; (5) Noises, odors, dust, and fumes emanating from a commercial agricultural, aquacultural facility, or agricultural enterprise or pursuit; (6) Operation of machinery and irrigation pumps; (7) Ground and aerial seeding and spraying; (8) Application of chemical fertilizers, conditioners, insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides; and the employment and use of labor; or (9) A "farming operation" that conducts processing operations or salt, brackish, or freshwater aquaculture operations on land that is zoned for industrial, commercial, or other agricultural enterprise use shall not, by reason of that zoning, fall beyond the scope of this definition; provided that those 159-6 3620 4-159-1 processing operations form an integral part of operations that otherwise meet the requirements of this definition. "Holder of record having a security interest" means a person who is the owner or possessor of a security interest in any land covered in section 4- 159-32 and who has filed a copy of the interest with the department and the bureau of conveyances of the State. "Institutional lender" means a federal, state, or private lending institution, licensed to do business in the State, that makes loans to qualified applicants on the basis of a lease awarded for security, in whole or in part, together with any other entity that acquires all or substantially all of an institutional lender's loan portfolio. "Land" includes all interests therein and natural resources including water, minerals, and all such things connected with land, unless otherwise expressly provided. "Land agent" means the land agent of the public lands of the district where the land is situated, and is interchangeable with "property manager". "Land license" means a privilege granted to enter land for a certain special purpose such as the removal of timber, soil, sand, gravel, stone, hapuu, and plants. "Land license" does not include ground or surface water rights, or removal of minerals. "Land patent" means a government grant of real estate in fee simple. "Lease" means the right to possess and use land for a term of years. "Lessee" means a lessee under a lease issued by or transferred to the department or any tenant, licensee, grantee, permittee, assignee, or other person authorized to conduct an agricultural enterprise by the board or department. "Non-conforming use" means a use formerly permitted but presently incompatible with the permitted land use in a zoning district. "Offgrade" is a descriptive term applicable to 159-7 862 4-159-1 agricultural commodities which have a market value, and designates a quality lower than the lowest applicable grade in Hawaii, or other states in the United States for each agricultural commodity. "Partner" means a person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other legal entity, or a combination of any thereof, who or which has experience in the development and subdivision of land for agricultural or aquacultural uses and has the financial ability satisfactory to the board to develop and subdivide land and enter a joint venture as provided in this section. "Processed" means canned, preserved, frozen, pickled, dried, or otherwise prepared with or without any ingredients added thereto. "Processor" means any person engaged within this State in the operation of producing for processing, or in the operation of receiving, grading, packing, canning, fermenting, distilling, extracting, preserving, grinding, crushing, or changing the form of an agricultural commodity for the purposes of marketing such product. "Produce dealer" means any person other than a producer who is engaged in the selling, marketing, or distributing of any agricultural commodity or in the business of soliciting. "Producer" means any person, or any cooperative association of such persons, engaged within this State in the growing or producing for market of any agricultural commodity. "Product" means an agricultural commodity which has been produced by the producer and placed in condition for sale or distribution by the producer, distributor, or handler. "Public lands" means all lands which have been given the status of public lands under chapter 171, HRS, and excluded by section 171-2, HRS; including all of the transferred lands collectively and individually under chapter 141D, HRS, and to which the department of agriculture and biosecurity holds title by way of foreclosure, voluntary surrender, or otherwise, to recover moneys loaned or to recover debts otherwise 159-8 3620 4-159-2 owed the department under chapter 167, HRS. "Public purpose" as used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, includes but shall not be limited to all public uses, the straightening of boundaries of public lands, acquisition of access to landlocked public lands, the consolidation of the holdings of public lands, development of houselots, farmlots, and industrial parks. "Security interest" means any interest created or perfected by a mortgage, assignment by way of mortgage, or by a financing statement and encumbering a lease, land demised by the lease, or personal property located at, affixed or to be affixed to, or growing or to be grown upon the demised land. "Seized property" or "property seized" means any and all property, including personal property, items, materials, equipment, fixtures, motor vehicles, or vessels, that has been seized by the State as the result of an unauthorized use of or encroachment on land owned or controlled by the State. "State" means the State of Hawaii. "Unencumbered public lands" means any lands defined as public lands by section 171-2, HRS, and which have not been: (1) Set aside for any purpose, by statute, executive order, or other means to a governmental agency; or (2) Encumbered by lease, license, permit, easement, or other document issued by the department. Unencumbered public lands include, but are not limited to, beach and coastal areas, submerged lands, and mountainous nonforest reserve, wildlife, or park areas. [Eff JAN 23 2026 ] (Auth: SLH 2022, HRS §141D-7, §7) (Imp: SLH 2022, HRS §141D-7, §2)