HB203

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the department of land and natural resources' state historic preservation division experiences significant recruitment difficulties. The division competes directly with cultural resource consultancies and the federal government. To be competitive with the private sector, state historic preservation staff need wage increases between twelve and fifty per cent. Although the current fiscal year budget allows the state historic preservation division to make these wage adjustments, such adjustments are not possible if the positions are converted to civil service as the wages would be set by the department of human resources development.

The purpose of this Act is to allow the state historic preservation division to offer more competitive wages for its staff by authorizing the division to employ professional and technical staff exempt from civil service laws.

SECTION 2. Section 6E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§6E-3 Historic preservation program. There is established within the department a division to administer a comprehensive historic preservation program, which shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) Development of an ongoing program of historical, architectural, and archaeological research and development, including surveys, excavations, scientific recording, interpretation, signage, and publications on the State's historical and cultural resources;

(2) Acquisition of historic or cultural properties, real or personal, in fee or in any lesser interest, by gift, purchase, condemnation, devise, bequest, land exchange, or other means; preservation, restoration, administration, or transference of the property; and the charging of reasonable admissions to that property;

(3) Development of a statewide survey and inventory to identify and document historic properties, aviation artifacts, and burial sites, including all those owned by the State and the counties;

(4) Preparation of information for the Hawaii register of historic places and listing on the national register of historic places;

(5) Preparation, review, and revisions of a state historic preservation plan, including budget requirements and land use recommendations;

(6) Application for and receipt of gifts, grants, technical assistance, and other funding from public and private sources for the purposes of this chapter;

(7) Provision of technical and financial assistance to the counties and public and private agencies involved in historic preservation activities;

(8) Coordination of activities of the counties in accordance with the state plan for historic preservation;

(9) Stimulation of public interest in historic preservation, including the development and implementation of interpretive programs for historic properties listed on or eligible for the Hawaii register of historic places;

(10) Coordination of the evaluation and management of burial sites as provided in section 6E-43;

(11) Acquisition of burial sites in fee or in any lesser interest, by gift, purchase, condemnation, devise, bequest, land exchange, or other means, to be held in trust;

(12) Submittal of an annual report to the governor and legislature detailing the accomplishments of the year, recommendations for changes in the state plan or future programs relating to historic preservation, and an accounting of all income, expenditures, and the fund balance of the Hawaii historic preservation special fund;

(13) Regulation of archaeological activities throughout the State;

(14) Employment of sufficient professional and technical staff for the purposes of this chapter [~~which shall be in accordance with~~] who may be exempt from chapter 76; provided that notwithstanding section 76-16(b)(17)(A), the exemptions for these positions shall not expire;

(15) The charging of fees to be determined by the department that are proportional to the nature and complexity of the projects or services provided, and adjusted from time to time to ensure that the proceeds, together with all other fines, income, and penalties collected under this chapter, do not surpass the annual operating costs of the comprehensive historic preservation program;

(16) Adoption of rules in accordance with chapter 91, necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter; and

(17) Development and adoption, in consultation with the office of Hawaiian affairs native historic preservation council, of rules governing permits for access by native Hawaiians and Hawaiians to cultural, historic, and pre-contact sites and monuments."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	203
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII