§343-6  Rules.  (a)  After consultation with the affected agencies and the environmental advisory council, the office of planning and sustainable development shall adopt, amend, or repeal necessary rules for the purposes of this chapter in accordance with chapter 91 including but not limited to rules that shall:

     (1)  Prescribe the procedures whereby a group of proposed actions may be treated by a single environmental assessment or statement;

     (2)  Establish procedures whereby specific types of actions, because they will probably have minimal or no significant effects on the environment, are declared exempt from the preparation of an environmental assessment;

     (3)  Prescribe procedures for the preparation of an environmental assessment;

     (4)  Prescribe the contents of an environmental assessment;

     (5)  Prescribe procedures for informing the public of determinations that a statement is either required or not required, for informing the public of the availability of draft environmental impact statements for review and comments, and for informing the public of the acceptance or nonacceptance of the final environmental statement;

     (6)  Prescribe the contents of an environmental impact statement;

     (7)  Prescribe procedures for the submission, distribution, review, acceptance or nonacceptance, and withdrawal of an environmental impact statement; and

     (8)  Establish criteria to determine whether an environmental impact statement is acceptable or not.

     (b)  At least one public hearing shall be held in each county prior to the final adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule. [L 1974, c 246, pt of §1; am and ren L 1979, c 197, §1(7); am L 1983, c 140, §9; am L 1986, c 186, §2; am L 1987, c 187, §3; am L 2008, c 110, §3; am L 2021, c 152, §14 and c 153, §9]

Law Journals and Reviews

  Determining the Expiration Date of an Environmental Impact Statement:  When to Supplement a Stale EIS in Hawai`i.  35 UH L. Rev. 249 (2013).

Case Notes

  Project requiring completely new drainage system serving over 300 residences was qualitatively incompatible with both letter and intent of administrative rules implementing subsection (a)(7) which intended to exempt only very minor projects from requirements of this chapter.  86 H. 66, 947 P.2d 378 (1997).

  Where all three elements under §343-5(c) were present:  (1) an applicant proposed an action specified by §343-5(a), (2) the action required the approval of an agency, and (3) the action was not exempt under this section, the land use commission, as the agency that received the request for approval of the boundary amendment petition, was required by statute to prepare an environmental assessment of the proposed action at the earliest practical time.  109 H. 411, 126 P.3d 1098 (2006).

  The environmental council is expressly granted the power to promulgate rules regarding environmental impact statements, and it clearly contemplates the possibility of changes to an original project that may dictate the need for a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS); the rules promulgated to address SEISs, including HAR §§11-200-26 and 11-200-27, were within the implied powers reasonably necessary to carry out the powers expressly granted; as the SEIS process was consistent with the Hawaii environmental protection act, the council did not exceed its authority in promulgating rules to guide the SEIS process, including HAR §§11-200-26 and 11-200-27.  123 H. 150, 231 P.3d 423 (2010).