HRS

[§150A-60] Biosecurity emergency. [Section effective January 1, 2028.] (a) The department, with the approval of the governor, may declare a biosecurity emergency if:

(1) There has been in the State an outbreak or occurrence of a pest or prohibited or restricted organism that has the potential to cause significant economic or environmental loss if the pest or organism becomes established in the State;

(2) There is established in one area of the State a pest or prohibited or restricted organism that has the potential to cause significant economic or environmental loss if the pest or organism expands to other areas within a county or becomes established in another area of the State; or

(3) A pest or prohibited or restricted organism is, or threatens to be, beyond the State's ability to control.

(b) A biosecurity emergency shall automatically terminate one hundred calendar days after its declaration, unless the declaration is extended by the department with the approval of the governor.

(1) The department shall be exempt from chapter 103D;

(2) The Hawaii invasive species council shall work with the chairperson; and

(3) The governor may transfer moneys to the department from any account within the governor's control.

(d) The governor may requisition and take control of any goods, real property, or watercraft required for the purposes of this section, or requisition and take control of the temporary use thereof; provided that:

(1) This subsection shall not apply to any vessel that:

(A) Has anti-fouling hull coating; and

(B) Does not discharge ballast water, uses freshwater for ballasting, or is equipped with ultraviolet filtration systems for ballast water;

(2) The requisition shall be made by serving notice upon any person found in occupation of the premises or having the property in the person's custody, possession, or control, and a like notice shall also be served upon any person who has filed with the governor, or with a person the governor designates for the purpose, a request for notice with respect to the property; provided further that if any person entitled to compensation for the property is unable to be served, the governor shall publish a notice of the requisition at the earliest practicable date; and

(3) A requisition shall terminate automatically one hundred calendar days after the declaration of a biosecurity emergency, or by a separate proclamation of the governor, whichever occurs first.

(e) If the governor requisitions and takes control of any property or the temporary use thereof, the owner, or other person entitled thereto, shall be paid a sum, determined by the governor to be fair and just compensation for the property or use, within twenty days after the property has been requisitioned and taken, or in monthly or lesser installments if the property is taken for temporary use.

If any person is unwilling to accept the sum determined by the governor as full and complete compensation for the property or use, the person shall be paid seventy-five per cent of that sum and may sue the State for an additional sum that, when added to the sum already received by the person, the person may consider fair and just compensation for the property or use, in the manner provided by chapter 661 for actions against the State; provided that:

(1) Any suit under this section shall be instituted within two years after the requisition in the case of the taking of real property in fee simple, or within one year after the requisition in all other cases, subject to sections 657-13 to 657-15, which are hereby made applicable to the suit;

(2) No more than six months shall be allowed for the bringing of a suit after the appointment of a conservator of a person under disability, or the removal of the disability, or after the appointment of personal representatives; and

(3) Recovery shall be confined to the fair market value of the property or its fair rental value, as the case may be, without any allowance for prospective profits, or punitive or other damages.

If the owner of property, or other person entitled to compensation for the requisitioning of property or use thereof, is under a disability, or has died, and no conservator or personal representative has been appointed, the State, acting through the attorney general, may apply for the appointment of a conservator or for the appointment of a personal representative.

(f) The governor shall appoint a board of three disinterested certified appraisers with whom may be filed any claim for damages arising out of any failure to return private property, the temporary use of which was requisitioned, or which was leased, or any claim for damages arising out of the condition in which the private property is returned. No claim may be filed for deterioration of property resulting from ordinary wear and tear and not for any deterioration or damage, except any that is shown to have resulted from the taking or use of the property; provided that any claim shall be filed within thirty days after the return of the property or after the governor proclaims that all private property has been returned to the owners, whichever is earlier. The decision of the appraisers shall be final and binding upon the governor and the claimant. Either party may file a petition in the circuit court within sixty days after the rendering of a decision of the board of appraisers, praying for the decision of the court upon the claim. The petition, if filed by the State, shall be entitled in the name of the State by the attorney general and shall be heard and decided by the circuit court without the intervention of a jury. If filed by any other party, the petition shall be filed, heard, and decided in the manner provided for suits against the State. Appellate review may be had, subject to chapter 602, in the manner provided for civil appeals from the circuit courts. The court may order the joinder of other parties or may allow other parties to intervene. Any award that has become final shall be paid out of any funds available under this chapter and, if not sufficient, out of the general revenues of the State as appropriated. [L 2025, c 236, §22]