HAR §13-5-35. Emergency permits

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the chairperson or deputy director of the department in the absence of the chairperson may authorize through an emergency permit any land use deemed to be essential to alleviate any emergency that is a threat to public health, safety, and welfare, including natural resources, and for any land use that is imminently threatened by natural hazards. These actions shall be temporary in nature to the extent that the threat to public health, safety, and welfare, including natural resources, is alleviated (e.g., erosion control, rockfall mitigation). The emergency action shall be designed and installed by a licensed contractor, and include contingencies for removal [methods,] and estimates for duration of the activity[, and future response plans if required by the department]. Emergency permits will not be authorized for shoreline erosion control except in response to situations where loss of an inhabited dwelling or public facility (e.g., road) critical to public health and safety is imminently threatened by an actively eroding shoreline. Emergency shoreline protection under this section shall not remain for more than eighteen months. The lifetime of an emergency shoreline protection structure approved under this section may only be extended for more than one year when the imminently dangerous situation has extended beyond the time period of an "emergency" and is classified as an "unmanaged hazardous condition." Proposals to extend the lifetime of an emergency shoreline protection structure approved under this section may be made through an application for temporary shoreline hardening under section 13-5-22 (P- 15). Further, the provisions of this section (excepting shoreline armoring) shall not be applicable to an agency of the county, state, or federal government, or an independent non-governmental regulated public utility conducting repair, §13-5-35 5-59 maintenance, or operation for a public purpose use, [which shall have a letter (A) land use designation,] provided that the public utility, or agency of the county, state, or federal government provides the department with a post-emergency repair report describing the work that was conducted within thirty days of the date of the emergency repair. Any emergency permit application is subject to the conditions of §13-5-6(c). (b) Where a natural disaster has occurred, such as a hurricane, flood, tsunami, volcanic eruption, earthquake, fire, or landslide, damaged structures and land uses may only be repaired or reconstructed in conformance with section 13-5-7 for nonconforming structures, or sections 13-5-22 (P-8) for existing structures or 13-5-22 (P-15) for shoreline hardening. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to an agency of the county, state, or federal government, or an independent non-governmental regulated public utility conducting repairs or reconstruction of such structures and land uses for public purpose uses, [which shall have a letter (A) land use designation,] provided that the public utility, or agency of the county, state, or federal government provides the department with a post-disaster repair report describing the work that was conducted within thirty days of the date of the repair or reconstruction. (c) If there is a question regarding the legality of a land use or structure, the burden of proof shall be upon the applicant. For nonconforming structures, this section shall not supersede the provisions contained in section 13-5-7. (d) Repair and reconstruction of any structure or land use being investigated for possible violation of this chapter, or in situations in which fines for a violation have not been collected, shall not be processed until the violation is resolved. (e) The application fee for an emergency permit shall be waived. [Eff 12/12/94; am and comp 12/05/11; am and comp ] (Auth: HRS §183C-3) (Imp: HRS §§183C-3, 183C-5, 183C-6) §13-5-35 5-60 [