Hawaii Earthquake Hazards Mitigation Legislation
(HI‐1) Hawaii Revised Statute, Chapter 26 and 126 Civil Defense Advisory Council: The Civil Defense Advisory Council, established and organized under Hawaii Revised Statute, Chapter 26 and 126, was founded in 1951. The Governor and the Director of Civil Defense may consult with the seven‐member Advisory Council on matters pertaining to emergency management.
(HI‐2) Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 226: State Planning Act: The legislature finds that there is a need to improve the planning process in this State, to increase the effectiveness of government and private actions, to improve coordination among different agencies and levels of government, to provide for wise use of Hawaii’s resources and to guide the future development of the State. The purpose of this chapter is to set forth the Hawaii state plan that shall serve as a guide for the future long‐range development of the State; identify the goals, objectives, policies, and priorities for the State; provide a basis for determining priorities and allocating limited resources, such as public funds, services, human resources, land, energy, water, and other resources; improve coordination of federal, state, and county plans, policies, programs, projects, and regulatory activities; and to establish a system for plan formulation and program coordination to provide for an integration of all major state, and county activities.
(HI‐3) Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 205, State Land Use Law: establishes an overall framework of land use management whereby all lands in the State of Hawaii. Established the Land Use Commission. The Commission is responsible for preserving and protecting Hawaii’s lands and encouraging those uses to which lands are best suited.
(HI‐4) Hawaii Revised Statutes 128‐19: Provides relief for negligence liability to private sector owners who volunteer the use of their facilities as an emergency shelter. The immunity protection that may be provided applies when an owner or controller of the facility meets the following criteria: (1) Their actions relating to the sheltering of people are voluntary; (2) They receive no compensation for the use of the property as a shelter; (3) They grant a license or privilege, or permit the property to be used to shelter people; (4) The Director of Civil Defense, or delegated agency or person, has designated the whole or any part of the property to be used as a shelter; (5) The property is used to shelter persons; and (6)The use occurs during an actual impending, mock, or practice disaster or attack.
(HI‐5) Hawaii Revised Statutes 107‐22 State Building Code Council: Act 82, SLH 2007 established the State Building Code Council (the Council) which is administratively attached to the Department of Accounting and General Services. The purpose of the Council is to establish a state building code which would eliminate the fragmented building requirements which currently exist between counties. The state building code would include the latest fire code as adopted by the State Fire Council, the latest edition of the International Building Code, the latest edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code, and Hawaii design standards to implement Act 5, Special Session Laws, 2005 as applicable to emergency shelters and essential government facilities.
Information taken from the Washington State Seismic Mitigation Policy Gap Analysis: A Cross-State Comparison, by Scott B. Miles, Ph. D. and Brian D. Gouran, L.G.