RELATING TO STATE WATER CODE PENALTIES.
HB509 would amend Hawaii’s State Water Code penalty provisions to strengthen enforcement by the Commission on Water Resource Management. The bill raises the penalty range for violations from a maximum of $5,000 to a maximum of $25,000 per violation, while also establishing a minimum fine of $50. It expands the list of sanctionable conduct to include not only violations of the chapter, rules, and commission orders, but also failures to obtain required permits, failures to comply with permit conditions, and failures to comply with standardized water audit requirements.
The bill also clarifies how continuing violations are treated. Each day a violation exists or continues would count as a separate offense, and penalties would be assessed from the earliest known date of the violation. If that date cannot be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, the commission would use the earliest date it became aware of the violation. In addition, the commission would be required to consider specified penalty factors, such as the seriousness of the violation, prior history, economic benefit to the violator, corrective action, good-faith compliance efforts, and culpability, and to adopt further penalty guidelines at a public meeting.
If enacted, HB509 would directly amend section 174C-15 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, increasing the enforcement authority and penalty structure under the State Water Code. It would broaden the range of conduct subject to fines, make continuing violations more costly by treating each day as a separate offense, and require the commission to apply a more structured set of considerations when setting penalties. The bill would affect regulated water users, permit holders, and any person or entity subject to the Water Code, while also reinforcing the commission’s ability to seek administrative fines, fees, costs, attorney’s fees, and damages.
The available context suggests the bill is generally supportive of stronger water-resource enforcement and accountability, with the stated legislative purpose emphasizing deterrence and protection of Hawaii’s water resources. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes indicating opposition or amendment debate in the provided materials. The referral to multiple committees suggests the measure was still in the early legislative process at the time of the last action.
The main policy tension in HB509 is between stronger deterrence and the burden of higher penalties on regulated parties. Supporters are likely to favor the larger maximum fine, the minimum penalty, and the daily accrual of continuing violations as tools to discourage noncompliance and protect scarce water resources. Potential concerns for affected parties include the significant increase in exposure for ongoing violations, the expanded list of punishable conduct, and the commission’s discretion in determining the earliest known violation date and applying penalty factors. No specific objections are documented in the provided record, but those are the likely points of contention.