HAR §13-1-31. Parties

(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 13-1-31.1, parties to a contested case shall be determined within a reasonable time following the ten-day period following the board meeting, the presiding officer shall notify all persons and agencies, including the applicant or alleged violator, as the case may be, who timely petitioned for the contested case hearing of the date and time for a hearing to determine whether any or all of the persons and agencies seeking to participate in the contested case hearing are entitled to be parties in the contested case. Such notice shall also set the time for filing any objections to the admission of any requestor as a party to the contested case. Without a hearing, an applicant or an alleged violator shall be a party. (b) The following persons or agencies shall be admitted as parties: (1) All government agencies whose jurisdiction includes the land in question shall be admitted as parties upon timely application. (2) All persons who have some property interest in the land, who lawfully reside on the land, who are adjacent property owners, or who otherwise can demonstrate that they will be so directly and immediately affected by the requested action that their interest in the proceeding is clearly distinguishable from that of the general public shall be admitted as parties upon timely application. (c) Other persons who can show a substantial interest in the matter may be admitted as parties. The board may approve such requests if it finds that the requestor’s participation will substantially assist the board in its decision making. The board may deny any request to be a party when it appears that: (1) The position of the requestor is substantially the same as the position of a party already admitted to the proceedings; 1-26 and (2) The admission of additional parties will not add substantially new relevant information or the addition will make the proceedings inefficient and unmanageable. (d) All persons with similar interests seeking to be admitted as parties shall be considered at the same time so far as possible. (e) If any party opposes another person’s request to be a party, the party may file objections within the time set forth by the presiding officer. (f) The hearing to determine parties to the contested case may be conducted by the board or the presiding officer, or by a hearing officer appointed by the board. At such hearing, evidence and argument shall be limited to matters necessary to determine whether the requestor shall be admitted as a party. Only a party objecting to a requestor’s admission as a party shall have the opportunity to cross-examine a requestor or the requestor’s witness; provided, however, that the board or presiding officer or hearing officer may cross-examine any witness at such hearing. The hearing to determine parties may be waived upon concurrence of the applicant and all requestors. (g) If the hearing to determine parties to the contested case was not conducted by the board, and the person who conducted such hearing recommends that any agency or person requesting to be a party should not be allowed to participate in the contested case, such recommendation and the reasons therefor shall be immediately submitted to the board in writing. The requestor whose request is recommended for denial shall have the opportunity to file objections to the recommendation. Such recommendation shall be acted upon by the board as soon as practicable and shall be decided, by written order, not later than the commencement of the contested case hearing. (h) A person whose request to be admitted as a party has been denied by the board may appeal that denial to the circuit court pursuant to section 91-14, HRS. [Eff 9/7/82; am 11/1/85; am and comp 2/27/09] 1-27 (Auth: HRS §§91-2, 171-6) (Imp: HRS §§91-9, 91-9.5)