SB2201

Report Title:

County Regulation of Motor & Water Carriers

 

Description:

Transfers regulation of passenger motor carriers and water carriers to counties on 7/1/2003. Transfers 50% of all fines & forfeitures for traffic violations to counties to fund state-mandated program. Prohibits counties from requiring certificates of public convenience and necessity.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2201
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to COMMON carriers.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§269-    Motor passenger carriers and water passenger carriers; regulation by counties; certificate of public convenience and necessity prohibited. (a) Effective July 1, 2004, the respective counties shall have full authority to regulate motor passenger carriers and water passenger carriers, currently regulated by the commission under chapters 271 and 271G, respectively, and the regulatory authority of the commission shall cease. The legislative bodies of the respective counties may enact all necessary ordinances and regulations to regulate motor passenger carriers and water passenger carriers within their respective jurisdictions.

(b) In regulating motor passenger and water passenger carriers, no county legislative body may enact an ordinance to require the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, as described in section 269-7.5, or any other similar document or permit that requires a motor passenger carrier or water passenger carrier to demonstrate that its service is, or will be, required by the present or future public convenience or necessity; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any county from enacting an ordinance to require an applicant motor passenger carrier or water passenger carrier to supply the following information in its application to operate in a county:

(1) Type of service to be performed;

(2) Geographical scope of the service operation;

(3) Type of equipment to be employed in the service;

(4) Name or names of competing passenger carriers for the proposed service;

(5) Statement of financial ability to render the proposed service;

(6) Current financial statement of the applicant; and

(7) Rates or charges proposed to be charged including rules and regulations governing the proposed service."

SECTION 2. Section 269-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definitions of "public utility" to read as follows:

""Public utility" includes every person who may own, control, operate, or manage as owner, lessee, trustee, receiver, or otherwise, whether under a franchise, charter, license, articles of association, or otherwise, any plant or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly for public use, for the transportation of passengers or freight, except for common passenger carriers by motor vehicle, contract passenger carriers by motor vehicle, and water carriers, or the conveyance or transmission of telecommunications messages, or the furnishing of facilities for the transmission of intelligence by electricity by land or water or air within the State, or between points within the State, or for the production, conveyance, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of light, power, heat, cold, water, gas, or oil, or for the storage or warehousing of goods, or the disposal of sewage; provided that the term:

(1) Shall include any person insofar as that person owns or operates a private sewer company or sewer facility;

(2) Shall include telecommunications carrier or telecommunications common carrier;

(3) Shall not include any person insofar as that person owns or operates an aerial transportation enterprise;

(4) Shall not include persons owning or operating taxicabs, as defined in this section;

(5) Shall not include common carriers transporting only freight on the public highways, unless operating within localities or along routes or between points that the public utilities commission finds to be inadequately serviced without regulation under this chapter;

(6) Shall not include persons engaged in the business of warehousing or storage unless the commission finds that regulation thereof is necessary in the public interest;

(7) Shall not include:

(A) The business of any carrier by water to the extent that the carrier enters into private contracts for towage, salvage, hauling, or carriage between points within the State and the carriage is not pursuant to either an established schedule or an undertaking to perform carriage services on behalf of the public generally; and

(B) The business of any carrier by water, substantially engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, transporting passengers on luxury cruises between points within the State or on luxury round-trip cruises returning to the point of departure;

(8) Shall not include any person who:

(A) Controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities for the production, transmission, or furnishing of power primarily or entirely from nonfossil fuel sources; and

(B) Provides, sells, or transmits all of that power, except such power as is used in its own internal operations, directly to a public utility for transmission to the public;

(9) Shall not include a telecommunications provider only to the extent determined by the commission pursuant to section 269-16.9;

(10) Shall not include any person who controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities developed pursuant to chapter 167 for conveying, distributing, and transmitting water for irrigation and such other purposes that shall be held for public use and purpose; and

(11) Shall not include any person who owns, controls, operates, or manages plants or facilities for the reclamation of wastewater; provided that:

(A) The services of the facility shall be provided pursuant to a service contract between the person and a state or county agency and at least ten per cent of the wastewater processed is used directly by the State or county which has entered into the service contract;

(B) The primary function of the facility shall be the processing of secondary treated wastewater that has been produced by a municipal wastewater treatment facility that is owned by a state or county agency;

(C) The facility shall not make sales of water to residential customers;

(D) The facility may distribute and sell recycled or reclaimed water to entities not covered by a state or county service contract; provided that, in the absence of regulatory oversight and direct competition, the distribution and sale of recycled or reclaimed water shall be voluntary and its pricing fair and reasonable. For purposes of this [[]subparagraph[]], "recycled water" and "reclaimed water" mean treated wastewater that by design is intended or used for a beneficial purpose; and

(E) The facility shall not be engaged, either directly or indirectly, in the processing of food wastes.

In the event the application of this chapter is ordered by the commission in any case provided in paragraphs (5), (6), (9), and (10), the business of any public utility that presents evidence of bona fide operation on the date of the commencement of the proceedings resulting in the order shall be presumed to be necessary to public convenience and necessity, but any certificate issued under this proviso shall nevertheless be subject to such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe, as provided in sections 269-16.9 and 269-20."

SECTION 3. Section 271-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-1 Declaration of policy. The legislature of this State recognizes and declares that the transportation of [persons and of] property, for commercial purposes, over the public highways of this State constitutes a business affected with the public interest. It is intended by this chapter to provide for fair and impartial regulation of such transportation in the interest of preserving for the public the full benefit and use of the highways consistent with the public safety and the needs of commerce; to promote safe, adequate, economical, and efficient service and foster sound economic conditions in transportation and among the several carriers, to encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable rates and charges for transportation and related accessorial service, without unjust discrimination, undue preference or advantage, or unfair or destructive competitive practices. This chapter shall be administered and enforced with a view to carrying out the above declaration of policy."

SECTION 4. Section 271-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-4 Definitions. As used in this chapter:

[(1) "Chapter" means the Motor Carrier Law.

(2) "Commission" means the public utilities commission.

(3) "Person" or "persons" means any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

(4) "Certificate" means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued under this chapter to common carriers by motor vehicle.

(5) "Permit" means a permit issued under this chapter to contract carriers by motor vehicle.

(6) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the safety, comfort, or convenience of persons transported and the receipt, carriage, and delivery of these persons and their baggage.

(7) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage in transit, handling, and its consolidation for the purposes of forwarding within the State.

(8) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used upon the highways in the transportation of passengers or property, or any combination thereof determined by the commission, but does not include any vehicle, locomotive, or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails or a trolley bus operated by electric power derived from a fixed overhead wire, furnishing local passenger transportation similar to street-railway service.

(9) "Highway" means the public roads, highways, streets, and ways in this State.

(10) "Rates" includes rates, fares, tolls, rentals, and charges of whatever kind and nature unless the context indicates otherwise.

(11) "Common carrier by motor vehicle" means any person which holds itself out to the general public to engage in the transportation by motor vehicle of passengers or property or any class or classes thereof for compensation.

(12) "Contract carrier by motor vehicle" means any person which engages in transportation by motor vehicle of passengers or property for compensation (other than transportation referred to in paragraph (11)) under continuing contracts with one person or a limited number of persons either (A) for the furnishing of transportation services through the assignment of motor vehicles for a continuing period of time to the exclusive use of each person served, or (B) for the furnishing of transportation services designed to meet the distinct need of each individual customer.

(13) "Motor carrier" includes both a common carrier by motor vehicle and a contract carrier by motor vehicle.

(14) "Private carrier of property by motor vehicle" means any person not included in the terms "common carrier by motor vehicle" or "contract carrier by motor vehicle", who or which transports by motor vehicle property of which the person is the owner, lessee, or bailee, when such transportation is for the purpose of sale, lease, rent, or bailment, or in the furtherance of any commercial enterprise.

(15) "Enforcement officer" means any person employed and authorized by the commission to investigate any matter on behalf of the commission. The term also means a motor vehicle safety officer employed and assigned, pursuant to section 271-38, by the department of transportation to enforce sections 271-8, 271-12, 271-13, and 271-29 through the assessment of civil penalties as provided in section 271-27(h), (i), and (j).]

"Certificate" means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued under this chapter to common property carriers by motor vehicle.

"Chapter" means the common property carrier law.

"Commission" means the public utilities commission.

"Common property carrier by motor vehicle" means any person who holds oneself out to the general public to engage in the transportation by motor vehicle of property or any class or classes thereof for compensation.

"Contract property carrier by motor vehicle" means any person who engages in transportation by motor vehicle of property for compensation other than transportation referred to in "common property carrier by motor vehicle" under continuing contracts with one person or a limited number of persons either for the furnishing of transportation services through the assignment of motor vehicles for a continuing period of time to the exclusive use of each person served, or for the furnishing of transportation services designed to meet the distinct need of each individual customer.

"Enforcement officer" means any person employed and authorized by the commission to investigate any matter on behalf of the commission. The term also means a motor vehicle safety officer employed and assigned, pursuant to section 271-38, by the department of transportation to enforce sections 271-8, 271-12, 271-13, and 271-29 through the assessment of civil penalties as provided in section 271-27(h), (i), and (j).

"Highway" means the public roads, highways, streets, and ways in this State.

"Motor carrier" includes both a common property carrier by motor vehicle and a contract property carrier by motor vehicle.

"Motor vehicle" means any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used upon the highways in the transportation of property, but does not include any vehicle, locomotive, or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails or a trolley bus operated by electric power derived from a fixed overhead wire, furnishing local passenger transportation similar to street-railway service.

"Permit" means a permit issued under this chapter to contract property carriers by motor vehicle.

"Person" or "persons" means any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

"Private carrier of property by motor vehicle" means any person not included in the terms "common property carrier by motor vehicle" or "contract property carrier by motor vehicle", who or which transports by motor vehicle property of which the person is the owner, lessee, or bailee, when the transportation is for the purpose of sale, lease, rent, or bailment, or in the furtherance of any commercial enterprise.

"Rates" includes rates, fares, tolls, rentals, and charges of whatever kind and nature unless the context indicates otherwise.

"Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage in transit, handling, and its consolidation for the purposes of forwarding within the State."

SECTION 5. Section 271-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-5 Exemptions, generally. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, its contents shall not apply to:

(1) Persons transporting their own property where the transportation is in furtherance of a primary business purpose or enterprise of that person, except where the transportation is undertaken by a motor carrier to evade the regulatory purposes of this chapter;

(2) Persons operating motor vehicles when engaged in the transportation of school children and teachers to and from school, and to and from school functions; provided that these persons may engage in providing transportation at special rates for groups of persons belonging to an eleemosynary or benevolent organization or association domiciled in this State where the organization or association sponsors or is conducting a nonregular excursion[; provided that whenever the persons engage in the transportation of persons other than those exempted in this paragraph, that portion of their operation shall not be exempt from this chapter. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize any person to engage in the transportation of persons, other than the transportation of persons exempted by the terms of this paragraph, without a permit or certificate issued by the commission authorizing such transportation;];

(3) Persons operating taxicabs or other motor vehicles utilized in performing a bona fide taxicab service. "Taxicab" includes:

(A) Any motor vehicle used in the movement of passengers on the public highways under the following circumstances, namely the passenger hires the vehicle on call or at a fixed stand, with or without baggage for transportation, and controls the vehicle to the passenger's destination;

(B) Any motor vehicle for hire having seating accommodations for eight or fewer passengers used in the movement of passengers on the public highways that may, as part of a continuous trip, pick up or discharge passengers from various unrelated locations; provided that they shall be regulated by the counties in accordance with section 46-16.5(c); and provided further that this subparagraph shall not apply to any exclusive rights granted by the department of transportation for taxicab services at facilities under the department's control; and

(C) Any motor vehicle having seating accommodations for eight or fewer passengers used in the movement of passengers on the public highways between a terminal, i.e., a fixed stand, in the Honolulu district, as defined in section 4-1 and a terminal in a geographical district outside the limits of the Honolulu district, and vice versa, without picking up passengers other than at the terminals or fixed stands; provided that the passengers may be picked up by telephone call from their homes in the rural area or may be unloaded at any point between the fixed stands or may be delivered to their homes in the rural area;

[(4) Persons operating motor vehicles in the transportation of persons pursuant to a franchise from the legislature and whose operations are presently regulated under chapter 269;

(5)] (4) Nonprofit agricultural cooperative associations to the extent that they engage in the transportation of their own property or the property of their members;

[(6)] (5) Persons operating motor vehicles specially constructed for the towing of disabled or wrecked vehicles but not otherwise used in the transportation of property for compensation or hire;

[(7)] (6) Persons operating motor vehicles in the transportation of mail, newspapers, periodicals, magazines, messages, documents, letters, or blueprints;

[(8)] (7) Persons operating funeral cars or ambulances;

[(9)] (8) Persons operating motor vehicles in the transportation of garbage or refuse;

[(10)] (9) Persons operating the type of passenger carrying motor vehicles known as "sampan buses" within the radius of twenty miles from the city of Hilo, Hawaii;

[(11)] (10) Persons transporting unprocessed pineapple to a cannery, seed corn to a processing facility, or returning any containers used in such transportation to the fields;

[(12)] (11) Sugar plantations transporting sugarcane, raw sugar, molasses, sugar by-products, and farming supplies for neighboring farmers pursuant to contracts administered by the United States Department of Agriculture;

[(13)] (12) Persons engaged in the ranching or meat or feed business who transport cattle to slaughterhouses for hire where such transportation is their sole transportation for hire and where their earnings from the transportation constitute less than fifty per cent of their gross income from their business and the transportation for hire;

[(14)] (13) Persons transporting unprocessed raw milk to processing plants and returning any containers used in such transportation to dairy farms for reloading;

[(15)] (14) Persons transporting animal feeds to animal husbandry farmers and farming supplies directly to animal husbandry farmers and returning any containers used in such transportation to these sources of such feeds and supplies for reloading;

[(16)] (15) Persons engaged in transporting not more than fifteen passengers between their places of abode, or termini near such places, and their places of employment in a single daily round trip where the driver is also on the driver's way to or from the driver's place of employment;

[(17)] (16) Persons transporting passengers without charge in motor vehicles owned or operated by [such] the person, where [such] the transportation is provided in conjunction with and in furtherance of a related primary business purpose or enterprise of that person, and [such] the transportation is provided only directly to and from the place of business of [such] the person, except that this exemption shall not apply [to persons making any contract, agreement, or arrangement to provide, procure, furnish, or arrange for transportation as a travel agent or broker or a person engaged in tour or sightseeing activities, nor shall this exemption apply] where the transportation is undertaken by a person to evade the regulatory purposes of this chapter; and

[(18)] (17) Persons conducting the type of county-regulated passenger carrying operation known as "jitney services". For the purposes of this paragraph, "jitney services" means public transportation services utilizing motor vehicles that have seating accommodations for six to twenty-five passengers, operate along specific routes during defined service hours, and levy a flat fare schedule."

SECTION 6. Section 271-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-8 Certificate or permit required. Except as provided in section 271-5, no person shall engage in the transportation of [persons or] property, for compensation or hire, by motor vehicle, over any public highway of this State unless there is in force with respect to the person a certificate or permit issued by the public utilities commission authorizing the transportation."

SECTION 7. Section 271-8.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person, including a person who is exempt under section 271-5, to advertise as a motor carrier of [passengers or] property, unless the person holds a valid certificate or permit required by this chapter as to the classification so advertised. The term "advertise", as used in this section, includes: the issuance of any card, sign, or device to any person, or the causing, permitting, or allowing of any sign or marking on or in any building or motor vehicle, or the advertising in any newspaper, magazine, or advertising other than in-column listings in any directory, or the commercial broadcasting by airwave transmission, or any and all communications media."

SECTION 8. Section 271-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) The general duties and powers of the public utilities commission shall be:

(1) To regulate common property carriers by motor vehicle, and to that end the commission shall establish reasonable requirements with respect to continuous and adequate service, leasing of motor vehicles, uniform system of accounts, records, and reports, and preservation of records.

(2) To regulate contract property carriers by motor vehicle, and to that end the commission shall establish reasonable requirements with respect to leasing of motor vehicles, uniform system of accounts, records, and reports, and preservation of records.

(3) To administer, execute, and enforce this chapter, to make all necessary orders in connection therewith, and to prescribe rules, regulations, and procedures for the administration.

(4) For purposes of the administration of this chapter, to inquire into the management of the business of motor carriers, and into the management of the business of persons controlling, controlled by, or under common control with, motor carriers to the extent that the business of these persons is related to the management of the business of one or more motor carriers, and the commission shall keep itself informed as to the manner and method in which the same are conducted, and may obtain from the carriers and persons such information as the commission deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

(5) To investigate any person acting in the capacity of or engaging in the business of a motor carrier within the State, without having a certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authority previously obtained under and in compliance with this chapter or the rules [promulgated] adopted thereunder.

(b) The commission may from time to time establish such just and reasonable classifications of groups of carriers included in the term "common property carrier by motor vehicle" or "contract property carrier by motor vehicle", as the special nature of the services performed by the carriers shall require, and such just and reasonable rules[, regulations,] and requirements, consistent with this chapter, to be observed by the carriers so classified or grouped, as the commission deems necessary or desirable in the public interest."

SECTION 9. Section 271-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-12 Applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in section 271-16, no person shall engage in the business of a common property carrier by motor vehicle on any public highway in this State, unless there is in force with respect to such carrier a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public utilities commission authorizing such operation.

(b) Applications for certificates shall be made in writing to the commission, be verified under oath, and shall be in such form and contain such information, and be accompanied by proof of service upon interested parties as the commission shall, by regulation, require.

(c) Subject to section 271-15, a certificate shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operations covered by the application if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the service proposed and to conform to this chapter and the requirements[,] and rules[, and regulations] of the commission thereunder, and that the proposed service, to the extent to be authorized by the certificate, is or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity; otherwise the application shall be denied.

(d) Any certificate issued under this section covering the transportation of property shall be issued as an irregular route certificate and shall specify the island or islands or portion or portions thereof within which service may be rendered. [Any certificate covering the transportation of passengers shall specify the service to be rendered and the routes over which, the fixed termini, if any, between which, and the intermediate and off-route points, if any, at which the motor carrier is authorized to operate, and the certificate may include authority to transport in the same vehicle with the passengers, baggage of passengers, express, and also to transport baggage of passengers in a separate vehicle.] There shall, at the time of issuance, and from time to time thereafter, be attached to the exercise of the privileges granted by the certificate such reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations as the public convenience and necessity may from time to time require, including terms, conditions, and limitations as to the extensions of the service territory or route or routes of the carriers, and such terms and conditions as are necessary to carry out, with respect to the operations of the carrier, the requirements established by the commission under sections 271-9(a)(1) and 271-9(a)(4), provided that the terms, conditions, or limitations shall not restrict the right of the carrier to add to his or its equipment and facilities in the service territory or over the routes or between the termini as the development of business and the demands of the public shall require.

[(e) Any common carrier by motor vehicle transporting passengers under any such certificate may occasionally deviate from the route over which and the fixed termini between which it is authorized to operate under the certificate under such rules and regulations as the commission may prescribe.]"

SECTION 10. Section 271-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-13 Permits for contract carriers by motor vehicle. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in section 271-16, no person shall engage in the business of a contract property carrier by motor vehicle over any public highway in this State unless there is in force with respect to such carrier a permit issued by the public utilities commission authorizing the person to engage in this business.

(b) Applications for permits shall be made in writing to the commission, be verified under oath, and shall be in such form and contain such information and be accompanied by proof of service upon interested parties, as the commission shall, by regulation, require.

(c) Subject to section 271-15, a permit shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing in whole or in part the operations covered by the application, if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the service of a contract property carrier by motor vehicle, and to conform to this chapter and the lawful requirements[,] and rules[, and regulations] of the commission thereunder, and that the proposed operation to the extent authorized by the permit will be consistent with the public interest and the transportation policy declared in this chapter; otherwise, the application shall be denied. In determining whether issuance of a permit will be consistent with the public interest and the transportation policy, the commission shall consider the number of shippers to be served by the applicant, the nature of the service proposed, whether the proposed service can be or is being properly performed by existing common carriers, the effect which granting the permit would have upon the services of the protesting carriers, the effect which denying the permit would have upon the applicant's proposed shipper or shippers, and the changing character of shipper requirements; provided, however, that a permit shall not be issued in any case where it has been established that an existing common carrier is properly performing, the proposed service. The commission shall specify in the permit the business of the contract property carrier covered thereby and the scope thereof, and it shall attach to it at the time of issuance, and from time to time thereafter such reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations consistent with the character of the holder of the permit as a contract property carrier, including terms, conditions, and limitations respecting the person or persons, their names, the number or class thereof for which the contract property carrier may perform transportation service, as may be necessary to assure that the business is that of a contract property carrier and within the scope of the permit, and to carry out with respect to the operation of the carrier the requirements established by the commission under sections 271-9(a)(2) and 271-9(a)(4). [Any permit covering the transportation of passengers may include authority to transport in the same vehicle with the passengers, baggage of passengers, and also authority to transport baggage of passengers in a separate vehicle; provided that within the scope of the permit and any terms, conditions, or limitations attached thereto, the carrier shall have the right to substitute or add to its equipment and facilities as the development of its business may require; and provided further that no] No motor carrier shall commence operations under any contract property carrier authority granted under this section until it has filed with the commission a certified copy of a written contract or contracts executed with the shipper or shippers for whom the service is authorized in the permit to be provided, the contract or contracts to be bilateral and impose specific obligations upon both carrier and shipper or shippers and to set forth all terms and conditions of any transportation agreement obtaining between the motor carrier and the shipper or shippers."

SECTION 11. Section 271-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-16 Temporary authority. To enable the provision of service for which there is an immediate and urgent need to a point or points or within a territory having no carrier service capable of meeting the need, the public utilities commission may, in its discretion and without hearings or other proceedings, grant temporary authority for service by a common property carrier or a contract property carrier by motor vehicle, as the case may be. The temporary authority, unless suspended or revoked for good cause, shall be valid for the time that the commission shall specify, but for no more than a period of one-hundred-twenty days for any one immediate and urgent need. If an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a permit seeking corresponding permanent authority is filed in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and instructions not later than thirty days after the issuance date of temporary authority, then the commission shall determine at a public hearing held not later than one-hundred-twenty days after the issuance date of temporary authority upon its own motion, or upon motion or upon request by any interested party, whether any temporary operating authority granted under this section shall be continued in force beyond the expiration date specified therein, and until the determination of the application filed by the holder of the temporary operating authority for a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a permit to engage in operations authorized by the temporary operating authority."

SECTION 12. Section 271-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-20 Rates, fares and charges of common property carriers by motor vehicle. [(a) It shall be the duty of every common carrier of passengers by motor carrier to provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities for the transportation of passengers and to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable rates, fares, and charges, and just and reasonable regulations and practices relating thereto, and to the issuance, form, and substance of tickets, the carrying of personal, sample, and excess baggage, the facilities for transportation, and all other matters relating to or connected with the transportation of passengers.

(b)] (a) It shall be the duty of every common property carrier [of property] by motor vehicle to provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities for the transportation of property and to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable rates, charges, and classifications, and just and reasonable regulations and practices relating thereto, and to the manner and method of presenting, marking, packing, and delivering property for transportation, the facilities for transportation, and all other matters relating to or connected with the transportation of property.

[(c)] (b) All charges made for any service rendered by any common property carrier by motor vehicle in the transportation of [passengers or] property or in connection therewith shall be just and reasonable, and every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service or any part thereof, is prohibited and declared to be unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any common property carrier by motor vehicle to make, give, or cause any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, locality, region, district, island, or description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever; or to subject any particular person, locality, region, district, island, or description of traffic to any unjust discrimination or undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever; provided that this subsection shall not be construed to apply to discrimination, prejudice, or disadvantage to the traffic of any other carrier of whatever description.

[(d)] (c) Any person, organization, or body politic may make complaint in writing to the public utilities commission that any such rate, fare, charge, classification, rule, regulation, or practice, in effect or proposed to be put into effect, is or will be in violation of this section or of section 271-21. Whenever, after hearing, upon complaint or an investigation of its own initiative, the commission shall be of the opinion that any individual rate, fare, or charge, demanded, charged, or collected by any common property carrier or carriers by motor vehicle for transportation, or any classification, rule, regulation, or practice whatsoever of the carrier or carriers, affecting such rate, fare, or charge or the value of the service thereunder, is or will be unjust or unreasonable, or unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential or unduly prejudicial, it shall determine and prescribe the lawful rate, fare, or charge or the maximum or minimum or maximum and minimum rate, fare, or charge thereafter to be observed, or the lawful classification, rule, regulation, or practice thereafter to be made effective.

[(e)] (d) Whenever there is filed with the commission any schedule stating a new rate, fare, charge, or classification for the transportation of [passengers or] property by a common property carrier or carriers by motor vehicle, or any rule, regulation, or practice affecting such rate, fare, or charge, or the value of the service thereunder, the commission may upon complaint of any interested person or upon its own initiative at once and, if it so orders, without answer or other formal pleading by the interested carrier or carriers, but upon reasonable notice, enter upon a hearing concerning the lawfulness of the rate, fare, or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice, and pending the hearing and the decision thereon the commission, by filing the schedule and delivering to the carrier or carriers affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons for such suspension, may from time to time suspend the operation of the schedule and defer the use of the rate, fare, or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice, but not for a longer period than five months beyond the time when it would otherwise go into effect, and after hearing, whether completed before or after the rate, fare, charge, classification, rule, regulation, or practice goes into effect, the commission may make such order with reference thereto as would be proper in a proceeding instituted after it had become effective. If the proceeding has not been concluded and an order made within the period of suspension, the proposed changed rate, fare, or charge, or classification, rule, regulation, or practice, shall go into effect at the end of such period; provided that this subsection shall not apply to any initial schedule or schedules filed by any carrier in bona fide operation when this section takes effect. At any hearing involving a change in a rate, fare, charge, or classification, or in a rule, regulation, or practice, the burden of proof shall be upon the carrier to show that the proposed changed rate, fare, charge, classification, rule, regulation, or practice, is just and reasonable.

[(f)] (e) In any proceeding to determine the justness or reasonableness of any rate, fare, or charge of any carrier, there shall not be taken into consideration or allowed as evidence or elements of value of the property of the carrier, either goodwill, earning power, or the certificate under which the carrier is operating; and in applying for and receiving a certificate under this part any carrier shall be deemed to have agreed to the provisions of this subsection on its own behalf and on behalf of all transferees of the certificate.

[(g)] (f) In the exercise of its power to prescribe just and reasonable rates, fares, and charges for the transportation of [passengers or] property by common property carriers by motor vehicle, and classifications, regulations, and practices relating thereto, the commission shall give due consideration, among other factors, to the effect of rates upon the movement of traffic by the carrier or carriers for which the rates are prescribed; to the need, in the public interest, of adequate and efficient transportation service by the carriers at the lowest cost consistent with the furnishing of the service; and to the need of revenues sufficient to enable the carriers, under honest, economical, and efficient management, to provide the service.

[(h)] (g) Nothing in this section shall be held to extinguish any remedy or right of action not inconsistent herewith."

SECTION 13. Section 271-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-21 Tariffs of common carriers by motor vehicle. (a) Every common property carrier by motor vehicle shall file with the public utilities commission, and print, and keep open to public inspection, tariffs showing all the rates, fares, and charges for transportation, and all services in connection therewith, of [passengers or] property. The rates, fares, and charges shall be stated in terms of lawful money of the United States. The tariffs required by this section shall be published, filed, and posted in such form and manner, and shall contain such information as the commission by regulations shall prescribe; and the commission may reject any tariff filed with it which is not in consonance with this section and with the regulations. Any tariff so rejected by the commission shall be void and its use shall be unlawful.

(b) No common property carrier by motor vehicle shall charge or demand or collect or receive a greater or less or different compensation for transportation or for any service in connection therewith between the points enumerated in the tariff than the rates, fares, and charges specified in the tariffs in effect at the time; and no carrier shall refund or remit in any manner or by any device, directly or indirectly, or through any agent, or otherwise, any portion of the rates, fares, or charges so specified, or extend to any person any privileges or facilities for transportation except such as are specified in its tariffs.

(c) No change shall be made in any rate, fare, charge, or classification, or any rule, regulation, or practice affecting the rate, fare, charge, or classification, or the value of the service thereunder, specified in any effective tariff of a common property carrier by motor vehicle; except after thirty days' notice of the proposed change filed and posted in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. The notice shall plainly state the change proposed to be made and the time when it will take effect. The commission may in its discretion and for good cause shown allow the change upon notice less than that herein specified or modify the requirements of this section with respect to posting and filing of tariffs either in particular instances or by general order applicable to special or peculiar circumstances or conditions.

(d) No common property carrier by motor vehicle shall engage in the transportation of [passengers or] property unless the rates, fares, and charges upon which the same are transported by the carrier have been filed and published in accordance with this chapter."

SECTION 14. Section 271-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-22 Schedules of contract carriers by motor vehicle. (a) It shall be the duty of every contract property carrier by motor vehicle to file and observe reasonable minimum rates and charges for any service rendered or to be rendered in the transportation of [passengers or] property in connection therewith, and to file and observe reasonable regulations and practices to be applied in connection with the reasonable minimum rates, fares, and charges. It shall be the duty of every contract property carrier by motor vehicle to file with the public utilities commission, publish, and keep open for public inspection, in the form and manner prescribed by the commission, schedules containing the actual rates or charges of the carrier for the transportation of [passengers or] property, and any rule, regulation, or practice affecting the rates or charges and the value of the service thereunder; provided that any contract carrier serving but one shipper having rendered continuous service to the shipper for not less than one year may file reasonable minimum rates and charges unless the commission in any individual case, after hearing, finds it in the public interest to require the filing of actual rates and charges. No contract carrier, unless otherwise provided by this chapter, shall engage in the transportation of [passengers or] property unless the actual rates or charges for the transportation by the carrier have been published, filed, and posted in accordance with this chapter. Nothing herein provided shall be so construed as to require the carriers to maintain the same rates, rules and regulations for the same services for all shippers served. No reduction shall be made in any such charge either directly or by means of any change in any rule, regulation, or practice affecting the charge or the value of the service thereunder, nor shall any new charge be permitted, except after thirty days' notice of the proposed change or new charge is filed in the aforesaid form and manner; but the commission [may], in its discretion and for good cause shown, may allow the change upon less notice, or modify the requirements of this subsection with respect to posting and filing of schedules, either in particular instances, or by general order applicable to special or peculiar circumstances or conditions. The notice shall plainly state the change proposed to be made and the time when the change will take effect. No carriers shall demand, charge, or collect compensation for transportation different from the charges filed in accordance with this subsection, as affected by any rule, regulation, or practice so filed, or less than the minimum rate or charge as may be prescribed by the commission from time to time, and it shall be unlawful for any carrier, by the furnishing of special services, facilities, or privileges, or by any other device whatsoever, to charge, accept, or receive compensation different from the actual rates and charges so filed, or less than the minimum charges prescribed; provided that any carrier or carriers, or any class or group thereof, may apply to the commission for relief from this subsection, and the commission may, after hearing, grant such relief to such extent and for such time, and in such manner as in its judgment is consistent with the public interest and the transportation policy declared in this chapter.

(b) Whenever, after hearing, upon complaint or upon its own initiative, the commission finds that any minimum rate or charge of any contract property carrier by motor vehicle, or any rule, regulation, or practice of any carrier affecting the minimum rate or charge, or the value of the service thereunder, for the transportation of [passengers or] property or in connection therewith, contravenes the transportation policy declared in this chapter, or is in contravention of any provision of this chapter, the commission may prescribe such just and reasonable minimum rate or charge, or such rule, regulations, or practice as in its judgment may be necessary or desirable in the public interest and to promote the policy and will not be in contravention of any provision of this chapter. The minimum rate or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice, so prescribed by the commission, shall give no advantage or preference to any carrier in competition with any common property carrier by motor vehicle subject to this chapter, which the commission may find to be undue or inconsistent with the public interest and the transportation policy declared in this chapter and the commission shall give due consideration to the cost of the services rendered by such carriers, and to the effect of the minimum rate or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice, upon the movement of traffic by the carriers. All complaints shall state fully the facts complained of and the reasons for the complaint and shall be made under oath.

(c) Whenever there is filed with the commission by any contract carrier any schedule stating a charge for a new service or a reduced charge directly, or by means of any rule, regulation, or practice, for the transportation of [passengers or] property, the commission may upon complaint of interested persons or upon its own initiative at once and, if it so orders, without answer or other formal pleading by the interested party, but upon reasonable notice, enter upon a hearing concerning the lawfulness of the charge, or rule, regulation, or practice, and pending the hearing and the decision thereon, the commission, by filing with the schedules and delivering to the carrier affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons for the suspension, may from time to time suspend the operation of the schedule and defer the use of the charge, or rule, regulation, or practice, but not for a longer period than five months beyond the time when it would otherwise go into effect; and after hearing, whether completed before or after the charge, or rule, regulation, or practice goes into effect, the commission may make such order with reference thereto as would be proper in a proceeding instituted after it had become effective. If the proceeding has not been concluded and an order made within the period of suspension, the proposed change in any charge or rule, regulation, or practice shall go into effect at the end of the period; provided that this subsection shall not apply to any initial schedule or schedules filed by any carrier in bona fide operation when this section takes effect. The rule as to burden of proof specified in section 271-20(e) shall apply to this subsection."

SECTION 15. Section 271-24, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) All actions by common property carriers by motor vehicle for the recovery of their charges, or any part thereof, shall be begun within three years from the time the cause of action accrues, and not after."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) If on or before the expiration of the three-year period of limitation in subsection (b) a common property carrier by motor vehicle begins action under subsection (a) for recovery of charges in respect of the same transportation service, or, without beginning action, collects charges in respect of that service, the period shall be extended to include ninety days from the time the action is begun or the charges are collected by the carrier."

SECTION 16. Section 271-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The public utilities commission may require annual, periodical, or special reports from all motor carriers, prescribe the manner and form in which the reports shall be made, and require from the carriers specific and full, true, and correct answers to all questions upon which the commission may deem information to be necessary. The annual reports shall give an account of the affairs of the carrier in such form and detail as may be prescribed by the commission. The commission may also require any motor carrier to file with it a true copy of any contract, agreement, or arrangement between the carrier and any other carrier or person in relation to any traffic affected by this chapter. The commission shall not, however, make public any contract, agreement, or arrangement between a contract carrier by motor vehicle and a shipper, or any of the terms or conditions thereof, except as a part of the record in a formal proceeding where it considers the action consistent with the public interest; provided that if it appears from an examination of any such contract that it fails to conform to the published schedule of the contract property carrier by motor vehicle as required by section 271-22(a), the commission may, in its discretion, make public such of the provisions of the contract as the commission considers necessary to disclose such failure and the extent thereof."

SECTION 17. Section 271-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Any person, whether carrier, shipper, or consignee, or any officer, employee, agent, or representative thereof, who knowingly offers, grants, or gives, or solicits, accepts, or receives any rebate, concession, or discrimination in violation of any provisions of this chapter, or who by means of any false statement or representation or by the use of any false or fictitious bill, bill of lading, receipt, voucher, roll, account, claim, certificate, affidavit, deposition, lease, or bill of sale, or by any other means or device, knowingly and wilfully assists, suffers, or permits any person or persons, natural or artificial, to obtain transportation of [passengers or] property subject to this chapter for less than the applicable rate, fare, or charge, or who knowingly and wilfully by any such means or otherwise fraudulently seeks to evade or defeat regulation as in this chapter provided for motor carriers, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor."

SECTION 18. Section 271-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271-28 Collection of rates and charges. No common property carrier by motor vehicle shall deliver or relinquish possession at destination of any freight transported by it until all tariff rates and charges thereon have been paid, except under such rules and regulations as the public utilities commission may from time to time prescribe to govern the settlement of all the rates and charges, including rules and regulations for weekly or monthly settlement, and to prevent unjust discrimination or undue preference or prejudice; provided that this section shall not be construed to prohibit any carrier from extending credit in connection with rates and charges on freight transported for the United States, for any department, bureau, or agency thereof, or for any state or political subdivision thereof."

SECTION 19. Section 271-36, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) Every common property carrier by motor vehicle and every contract property carrier by motor vehicle shall pay to the commission, in April of each year, a fee equal to one-fourth of one per cent of the gross revenues from the carrier's business during the preceding calendar year, or the sum of $20, whichever is greater. Gross revenues include all revenues received from services connected with or incidental to the transportation of [persons or the transportation of] property, as defined under section 271-4.

(b) Every common property carrier by motor vehicle and every contract property carrier by motor vehicle paying a fee under subsection (a) may impose a surcharge to recover the amount paid above one-eighth of one per cent of gross income. The surcharge imposed shall not be subject to the notice, hearing, and approval requirements of this chapter; provided that the surcharge may be imposed by the utility only after thirty days' notice to the public utilities commission. Unless ordered by the public utilities commission, the surcharge shall be imposed only until the conclusion of the carrier's next rate case; provided that the surcharge shall be subject to refund with interest at the public utility's authorized rate of return on rate base if the utility collects more money from the surcharge than actually paid due to the increase in the fee to one-fourth of one per cent."

SECTION 20. Section 271G-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§271G-2[]] Declaration of policy. The legislature of this State recognizes and declares that the transportation of [persons and] of property, for commercial purposes, by water within the State or between points within the State, constitutes a business affected with the public interest. It is intended by this chapter to provide for fair and impartial regulation of such transportation, so administered as to recognize and preserve the inherent advantages of such transportation, in the interest of preserving for the public the full benefit and use of the waterways consistent with the public safety and the needs of commerce: to promote safe, adequate, economical, and efficient service among carriers, to encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable rates and charges for transportation and related accessorial service, without unjust discrimination, undue preference or advantage, or unfair or destructive competitive practices, all to the end of developing, coordinating, and preserving a sound transportation system by water. This chapter shall be administered and enforced with a view to carrying out the above declaration of policy."

SECTION 21. Section 271G-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§271G-5 Definitions. As used in this chapter:

[(1) "Chapter" means this Water Carrier Law.

(2) "Commission" means the public utilities commission.

(3) "Person" or "persons" means any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

(4) "Certificate" means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued under this chapter to common carriers by water.

(5) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the safety, comfort, or convenience of persons transported and the receipt, carriage, and delivery of these persons and their baggage.

(6) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, and delivery, carriage, preservation, and all incidental services affecting these activities.

(7) "Water carrier" or "common carrier by water" means any person who holds oneself out to the general public as engaging in the transportation by water of passengers or property for compensation within the State or between points within the State.

(8) "Vessel" means any watercraft or other artificial contrivance of whatever description which is used, or capable of being used, or intended to be used, as a means of transportation by water.

(9) "Rates" includes rates, fares, tolls, rentals, and charges of whatever kind and nature unless the context indicates otherwise.

(10) "Related companies" means companies or persons that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, control, or are controlled by, or are under common control with, the water carrier. The term "control", in reference to a relationship between any person or persons and another person or persons, includes actual as well as legal control, and indirect as well as direct control.

(11) "Enforcement officer" means any person employed and authorized by the commission to investigate any matter on behalf of the commission.]

"Certificate" means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued under this chapter to common property carriers by water.

"Chapter" means this water carrier law.

"Commission" means the public utilities commission.

"Enforcement officer" means any person employed and authorized by the commission to investigate any matter on behalf of the commission.

"Person" or "persons" means any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

"Rates" includes rates, fares, tolls, rentals, and charges of whatever kind and nature unless the context indicates otherwise.

"Related companies" means companies or persons that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, control, or are controlled by, or are under common control with, the water carrier. The term "control", in reference to a relationship between any person or persons and another person or persons, includes actual as well as legal control, and indirect as well as direct control.

"Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, and delivery, carriage, preservation, and all incidental services affecting these activities.

"Water carrier" means any person who holds oneself out to the general public as engaging in the transportation by water of property for compensation within the State or between points within the State.

"Vessel" means any watercraft or other artificial contrivance of whatever description which is used, or capable of being used, or intended to be used, as a means of transportation by water."

SECTION 22. Section 271G-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§271G-6[]] Exemptions, generally. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, its contents shall not apply to:

(1) Persons transporting their own property where the transportation is in furtherance of a primary business purpose or enterprise of that person except where the transportation is undertaken by a water carrier to evade the regulatory purposes of this chapter;

(2) Nonprofit agricultural cooperative associations to the extent that they engage in the transportation of their own property or the property of their members;

(3) Persons engaged in the transportation over water of [passengers or] property for compensation, other than transportation referred to in [section 271G-5(7)] the definition of "water carrier" under continuing contracts with one person or a limited number of persons either [(A)] for the furnishing of transportation services through the assignment of vessels for a continuing period of time to the exclusive use of each person served, or [(B)] for the furnishing of transportation services designed to meet the distinct need of each individual customer;

(4) Persons transporting their own property or employees where the transportation is in furtherance of a business or enterprise of fishing or taking of fish for profit or gain as a means of livelihood;

(5) Persons engaged in business of transporting persons for sightseeing and other recreational activities."

SECTION 23. Section 271G-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§271G-10[]] Applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in sections 271G-6 and 271G-12, no water carrier shall engage in operations between points within the State, unless such carrier holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public utilities commission authorizing such operation, provided that no new application shall be required for any [common] water carrier [by water] who is the holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public utilities commission.

(b) Applications for certificates shall be made in writing to the commission, be verified under oath, and shall be in such form and contain such information, and be accompanied by proof of service upon interested parties as the commission shall, by regulation, require.

(c) A certificate shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operations covered by the application if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the service proposed and to conform to this chapter and the requirements, rules, and regulations of the commission thereunder, and that the proposed service, to the extent to be authorized by the certificate, is or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity; otherwise the application shall be denied.

[(d) Any water carrier transporting passengers under any such certificate may occasionally deviate from the route over which it is authorized to operate under the certificate under such rules and regulations as the commission may prescribe.]"

SECTION 24. Section 271G-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§271G-16[]] Rates, fares and charges of common carriers by water. [(a) It shall be the duty of every water carrier of passengers to provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities for the transportation of passengers and to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable rates, fares, and charges, and just and reasonable regulations and practices relating thereto, and to the issuance, form, and substance of tickets, the carrying of personal, sample, and excess baggage, the facilities for transportation, and all other matters relating to or connected with the transportation of passengers.

(b)] (a) It shall be the duty of every water carrier [of property] to provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities for the transportation of property and to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable rates, charges, and classifications, and just and reasonable regulations and practices relating thereto, and to the manner and method of presenting, marking, packing, and delivering property for transportation, the facilities for transportation, and all other matters relating to or connected with the transportation of property.

[(c)] (b) All charges made for any service rendered by any water carrier in the transportation of [passengers or] property or in connection therewith shall be just and reasonable, and every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service or any part thereof, is prohibited and declared to be unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any water carrier to make, give, or cause any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, locality, region, district, island, or description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever; or to subject any particular person, locality, region, district, island, or description of traffic to any unjust discrimination or undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever; provided that this subsection shall not be construed to apply to discrimination, prejudice, or disadvantage to the traffic of any other carrier of whatever description.

[(d)] (c) Any person or body politic may make complaint in writing to the commission that any such rate, fare, charge, rule, regulation, or practice, in effect or proposed to be put into effect, is or will be in violation of this section. Whenever, after hearing, upon complaint or in an investigation on its own initiative, the commission shall be of the opinion that any individual rate, fare, or charge, demand, charged, or collected by any [common] water carrier [or carriers by water] for transportation, or any rule, regulation, or practice whatsoever of the carrier or carriers affecting such rate, fare, or charge or the value of the service thereunder, is or will be unjust or unreasonable, or unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential or unduly prejudicial, it shall determine and prescribe the lawful rate, fare, or charge or the maximum or minimum or maximum and minimum rate, fare, or charge thereafter to be observed, or the lawful rule, regulation, or practice thereafter to be made effective.

[(e)] (d) In the exercise of its power to prescribe just and reasonable rates, fares, and charges for the transportation of [passengers or] property by water carriers, and to prescribe classifications, regulations, and practices relating thereto, the commission shall give due consideration, among other factors, to the effect of rates upon the movement of traffic by the carrier or carriers for which the rates are prescribed; to the need, in the public interest, of adequate and efficient transportation service by the carriers at the lowest cost consistent with the furnishing of the service; and to the need of revenues sufficient to enable the carriers, under honest, economical, and efficient management, to provide the service.

[(f)] (e) Nothing in this section shall be held to extinguish any remedy or right of action not inconsistent herewith."

SECTION 25. Section 271G-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a), (c), and (d) to read as follows:

"(a) Every water carrier shall file with the public utilities commission, and print, and keep open to public inspection, tariffs showing all the rates, fares, and charges for transportation, and all services in connection therewith, of [passengers or] property. The rates, fares, and charges shall be stated in terms of lawful money of the United States. The tariffs required by this section shall be published, filed, and posted in such form and manner, and shall contain such information as the commission by regulations shall prescribe; and the commission may reject any tariff filed with it which is not in consonance with this section and with the regulations. Any tariff so rejected by the commission shall be void and its use shall be unlawful.

(c) No water carrier shall engage in the transportation of [passengers or] property unless the rates, fares, and charges upon which the same are transported by the carrier have been filed and published in accordance with this chapter.

(d) Whenever there is filed with the commission any schedule stating a new rate, fare, or charge, for the transportation of [passengers or] property by a water carrier or any rule, regulation, or practice affecting such rate, fare, or charge, or the value of the service thereunder, the carrier may on its own initiative, or shall by order of the commission served prior to the effective date of the schedule, concurrently file a pro forma statement of account which shall be prepared under the same form and in the same manner as prescribed by the commission's uniform system of accounts.

The commission may upon complaint of any interested person or upon its own initiative at once and, if it so orders, without answer or other formal pleading by the interested carrier or carriers, but upon reasonable notice, enter upon a hearing concerning the lawfulness of the rate, fare, or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice, and pending the hearing and the decision thereon the commission, by delivering to the carrier or carriers affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons therefor, may suspend the operation of the schedule and defer the use of the rate, fare, or charge, or the rule, regulation, or practice. From the date of ordering a hearing to investigate the lawfulness of the rate, fare, or charge, the commission shall have up to six months to complete its investigation. If the commission fails to issue a final order within the six-month period then the changes proposed by the carrier shall go into effect. At any hearing involving a change in a rate, fare, charge, or classification, or in a rule, regulation, or practice, the burden of proof shall be upon the carrier to show that the proposed changed rate, fare, charge, classification, rule, regulation, or practice, is just and reasonable."

SECTION 26. Section 271G-17.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§271G-17.5[]] Issuance of securities; execution of leases. A water [common] carrier may, on securing the prior approval of the public utilities commission, and not otherwise, issue stocks and stock certificates, bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness, payable at periods of more than twelve months after the date thereof, and enter into long-term leases of more than three years and leverage leases, for the following purposes and no other, namely:

(1) For the acquisition of property; or

(2) For the construction, completion, extension, or improvement of or addition to its facilities or service; or

(3) For the discharge or lawful refunding of its obligations; or

(4) For the reimbursement of moneys actually expended from income or from any other moneys in its treasury not secured by or obtained from the issue of its stocks or stock certificates, or bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, for any of the aforesaid purposes, except maintenance of service, replacements, and substitutions not constituting capital expenditure in cases where the water carrier has kept its accounts for such expenditures in such manner as to enable the commission to ascertain the amount of moneys so expended and the purposes for which the expenditures were made, and the sources of the funds in its treasury applied to the expenditures.

As used herein, "property" and "facilities" mean property and facilities used in all operations of a water carrier whether or not included in its regulated operations or rate base. A water carrier may not issue securities nor enter into long-term leases of more than three years and leverage leases, to acquire property or to construct, complete, extend or improve or add to its facilities or service, if the commission determines that the proposed purpose will have a material adverse effect on its operations. No carrier shall repurchase or reissue its own common stock without prior commission approval.

All stock and every stock certificate, and every bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness of a water carrier not payable within twelve months, issued without an order of the commission authorizing the same, then in effect, shall be void. In addition, all long-term leases of more than three years and all leverage leases entered into by a water carrier without an order of the commission authorizing the same then in effect shall be void."

SECTION 27. Section 271G-19, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Any person, whether carrier, shipper, or consignee, or any officer, employee, agent, or representative thereof, who knowingly offers, grants, or gives, or solicits, accepts, or receives any rebate, concession, or discrimination in violation of any provisions of this chapter, or who by means of any false statement or representation or by the use of any false or fictitious bill, bill of lading, receipt, voucher, roll, account, claim, certificate, affidavit, deposition, lease, or bill of sale, or by any other means or device, knowingly and wilfully assists, suffers, or permits any person or persons, natural or artificial, to obtain transportation of [passengers or] property subject to this chapter for less than the applicable rate, fare, or charge, or who knowingly and wilfully by any such means or otherwise fraudulently seeks to evade or defeat regulation as in this chapter provided for water carriers, shall be fined not less than $200 nor more than $500 for the first offense and not less than $250 nor more than $2,000 for any subsequent offense."

SECTION 28. Section 271G-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) If on or before the expiration of the three-year period of limitation in subsection (b) a [common] water carrier [by water] begins action under subsection (a) for recovery of charges in respect of the same transportation service, or, without beginning action, collects charges in respect of that service, the period shall be extended to include ninety days from the time the action is begun or the charges are collected by the carrier."

SECTION 29. Section 291D-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows: "[[]§291D-9[]] Monetary assessments. (a) A person found to have committed a traffic infraction shall be assessed a monetary assessment not to exceed the maximum fine specified in the statute defining the traffic infraction.

(b) Notwithstanding section 291C-161 or any other law to the contrary, the district court of each circuit shall prescribe a schedule of monetary assessments for all traffic infractions, and any additional assessments to be imposed pursuant to subsection (c). The particular assessment to be entered on the notice of traffic infraction pursuant to section 291D-5 shall correspond to the schedule prescribed by the district court. Except after proceedings conducted pursuant to section 291D-8 or a trial conducted pursuant to section 291D-13, monetary assessments assessed pursuant to this chapter shall not vary from the schedule prescribed by the district court having jurisdiction over the traffic infraction.

(c) In addition to any monetary assessment imposed for a traffic infraction, the court may impose additional assessments for:

(1) Failure to pay a monetary assessment by the scheduled date of payment; or

(2) The cost of service of a penal summons issued pursuant to this chapter.

(d) The court may grant to a person claiming inability to pay, an extension of the period in which the monetary assessment shall be paid or may impose community service in lieu thereof. If the assessment is not paid or the community service is not performed on or before the date established and the court has not extended the time, the court shall take action as provided in section 291D-10.

(e) Fifty per cent of the monetary assessments and fine proceeds received from adjudicated and unadjudicated traffic infractions and fifty per cent of bail forfeitures shall be remitted to the directors of finance of the respective counties in which the infractions and forfeitures occurred."

SECTION 30. Section 291C-171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§291C-171 Disposition of fines and forfeitures. (a) All fines and forfeitures collected upon conviction or upon the forfeiture of bail of any person charged with a violation of any section or provision of the state traffic laws and all assessments collected relating to the commission of traffic infractions shall be paid to the director of finance of the State.

(b) In addition to any monetary assessment imposed for a traffic infraction, the court may impose penalties on all outstanding traffic citations and judgments. The penalties shall be established pursuant to rules approved by the supreme court; provided that the amounts of the penalties shall be based upon a graduated scale that increases in proportion to the length of the delinquency. Any interest penalty imposed as provided in this section may be waived by the court for good cause. All penalties collected for such outstanding citations and judgments shall be paid to the director of finance of the State.

(c) The director of finance of the State shall transfer fifty per cent of all fine proceeds from adjudicated and unadjudicated traffic infractions and fifty per cent of all bail forfeitures to the directors of finance of the respective counties in which the infractions and forfeitures occurred."

SECTION 31. Section 706-643, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (2) to read as follows:

"(2) All fines and other final payments received by a clerk or other officer of a court shall be accounted for, with the names of persons making payment, and the amount and date thereof, being recorded. All such funds shall be deposited with the director of finance to the credit of the general fund of the State[.]; provided that the director of finance shall transfer fifty per cent of all fine proceeds from adjudicated and unadjudicated traffic infractions and fifty per cent of all bail forfeitures to the directors of finance of the respective counties in which the infractions and forfeitures occurred. With respect to fines and bail forfeitures which are proceeds of the wildlife revolving fund under section 183D-10.5, the director of finance shall transmit the fines and forfeitures to that fund."

SECTION 32. Section 271-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

["§271-15 Dual operation. Unless, for good cause shown, the public utilities commission finds or has found that both a certificate and a permit may be so held consistently with the public interest and with the declaration of policy declared in this chapter:

(1) No person, or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such person, shall hold a certificate as a common carrier authorizing operation for the transportation of property by motor vehicle within a territory if such person or any such controlling person, controlled person, or person under common control, holds a permit as a contract carrier authorizing operation for the transportation of property by motor vehicle within the same territory; and

(2) No person or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such person, shall hold a permit as a contract carrier authorizing operation for the transportation of property by motor vehicle within a territory, if the person or any controlling person, controlled person, or person under common control, holds a certificate as a common carrier authorizing operation for the transportation of property by motor vehicle within the same territory."]

SECTION 33. This Act does not affect any traffic fines or bail forfeitures collected before its effective date.

SECTION 34. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 35. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________