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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0480.000 2004-2006 Harry Kim I,incohi S.~C. Ashida Mm'o+ ~,;g; Corporation Counsel Gerald Takase Assistant Corporation •••t ~pj..N~~ . r - Counsel COUNTY OF HAWAII OFFICE OF THE CO~t~ORATION COUNSEL 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325 Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4262 (608) 961-8251 • Fax (806) 961-8622 September 7, 2005 Honorable Stacy Higa, Chair Attn: Honorable Virginia lsbell Chair, Committee on Finance Hawaii County Council 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Unfunded Mandates Dear Mr. Higa and Ms. Isbell: Ms. Isbell requested that the Office of the Corporation Counsel work with the departments to identify a list of unfunded state and federal mandates that arise in the course of their work. 'this office sent a request on May 19, 2005, to all departments in the County of Hawaii, requesting that they identify unfunded or under-funded state and federal mandates. Eight (8) departments responded: Environmental Management, Fire, Housing and Community Development, Liquor Control, Parks and Recreation, Police, Prosecutors, and Research and Development. Of the eight (8) who responded, two (2), Liquor Control and Police, indicated that they were not aware of any unfunded or under-funded state mandates (the Office of the Corporation Counsel also does not have any unfunded or under funded mandates). The six (6) other responses are attached for your reference. With regard to any State law, the Constitution of the State of Hawaii provides: [f any new program or increase in the level of service under an existing program shall be mandated to any of the political subdivisions by the legislature, it shall provide that the State share in the cost. HI CONST Art. 8, §5. Despite the above provision, in reality there appear to be some mandates that are unfunded or inadequately funded. In addition to the attached responses, as to state law, the Department of Water Supply is required by HRS § 174C-31 to develop and maintain a water use and development plan. Comm. No.~_ Hawaii County is on Equa/ Opportunity Provider and Emp/oyer Raf. TO; lt~i. trcte _OCT 6 2005 Honorable Virginia Isbell September 7, 2005 Page 2 Although the State funded the initial plan, the County is responsible for maintaining the plan. HRS § 174C-31(5) states that "state water capital improvement funds appropriated to the counties shall be deemed to satisfy Article VIII, section 5 of the State Constitution." Yet, DWS has not received any state water capital improvement funds in recent years. At the current time, DWS is expending their own funds to update the water use and development plan. With respect to federal laws, there is an act called the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. § 1501, et.seq.), which is aimed at assisting Congress in its consideration of proposed legislation establishing or revising Federal programs containing Federal mandates affecting states, local, and tribal governments. The act requires Federal agencies to prepare and consider estimates of the budgetary impact of regulations containing Federal mandates on state, local and tribal governments. Pursuant to the Draft 2005 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations, over the past eight (8) years, six (6) rules have imposed significant costs on state, local and tribal govertunents. All of these rules were issued by the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"). These rules primarily affected the Department of Water Supply, as they related to the EPA's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Additionally, as you will note from the enclosed responses, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has an impact on multiple departments. I have asked that the Department Heads continue to maintain a list of their unfunded or under-funded mandates so further information will be available to you in the future. ]f you have any questions or concems about the contents of this letter please feel free to contact me. Additionally, specific concerns relating to the individual departments maybe addressed to the Department Head. Thank you for your patience. My apologies for the delay in responding to the inquiry. Sincerely, ~ _ Katherine A. Garcon Deputy Corporation Counsel KAG:mc Enclosures s:Awork 2005\scp~Awrk OS-97ft0 Itr to Isbell re unPondcd mandates 9-7-05 KAGmc r liaxrp Kim - Darryl J. Oliveira Mayor Fin Chiej ''%.;•;;y,;+~ [ r~ Desmond K. Were rnd i~~ ~ ~ r~ ~ ~ / OrpWy f'irc C6iej ~1 v 1 i' ~ r ~ountp of ~ab~ai`i FIRE DEPARTMEN'T` 25 Aupuni Street .Suite 103 . Hilo, Hawaii %720 July 13, 2005 (808) 961-8297 . Far (808) 961-8296' Ms. Katherine A. Garcon Deputy Corporation Counsel Office of the Corporation Counsel 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325 Hilo, HI 96720-4262 Dear Ms. Garson, RE: IDENTIFICATION OF UNFUNDED MANDATES CORPORATION COUNSEL WORK NO. 05-9780 I apologize for our untimely response to your request. Listed below are our identified "unfunded mandates" imposed on the County: • Fireworks Pernitting/Licensing Process: (Reference: HRS Chapter 132D). Counties are mandated to issue permits and licenses for fireworks, in which a fee is imposed. All cotlected fees are deposited into the County's General Fund. These added responsibilities of our Fire Prevention Bureau do not come with funding for personnel to issue and inspect permits and licenses outside of their normal work hours, nor is funding provided for the printing of such applications. The Chapter, however, does appropriate funding for an auditor position from the licensing fees. • Self-Contained Breathing Agaaratus (SCBAI: (Reference: Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 12; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Subtitle 8; Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Part 2; General Industry Standards, Chapter 64.1, Personal Protective Equipment). We are mandated under State and Federal regulations to provide respirators for employees in Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) atmospheres. OSHA requires that all employees who are required to use a respirator meet the minimum requirements for medical evaluation to determine the employee's ability to use a respirator. Further, the employee must also be fit tested prior to use of the respirator and must be provided with equipment that is NIOSH approved. Presently, County funding is utilized to purchase all respirators, conduct related training, and administer the pulmonary medical fit testing process for all fire fighters. I hope this information will be useful to you in your research for Councilmember Isbell. Please call me H I can clarify anything for you. incerely, FiYL OLIVEIRA ire Chief ~~ttco~i DO:Ik t ~t~ Hmunr'i Gmnfy is nn f qunl Opporbuuty Provider nml E wplo yrr. i JAY T. KIMURA ~r,os 34 RAINBOW DRNE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY ';r~~~~~ HILO, HAWAI'198720 G PH: 981-0488 FAX: 981-8908 CHARLENEY.IBOSHI ,c - i-; 9a4.a4os FIRST DEPUTY eaa-asos PROSECUTING ATTORNEY ~ 6+~ [ WE5T HAWAII UNIT ~~OI .~'iId ~~~1~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 94Q11ALEKI'I ST, SUITE 150 E~4lhkEKUA , HAWgI'198750 OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FAX: asz-9sea July 8, 2005 TO: KATHERINE A. GARSON Deputy Corporation Counsel FROM: J IMURA P uting Attorney SUBJECT: Identification ofUnder-funded mandates In response to your request dated May 19, 2005 we are providing you information on two important programs in our Office which are mandated by Hawaii Revised Statute (HRS §845 and HRS §28-111), but only partially funded by the State. These programs aze the Career Criminal Program (CCP) and Victim Witness Assistance Program (VW). The CCP and VW programs had initially been fully funded by the State covering salary and operational expenditures. Since 1944, however, State funding has continually declined resulting in a multitude of program and budget adjustments which include unfunding two CCP positions and one V W position and transferring three V W positions to County and federal funding. FY 2005 Cost of FY 2005 State ro ram ositions Allocation FY 2005 Shortfall CCP $ 797,252 $ 434,483 $ 362,769 VW $ 190,723 $ 148 808 $ 41,915 Total $ 404,685 The County is now paying for CCP and V W position fringe benefits. For CCP the additional shortfal] is addressed byback-filling attorney positions. A]1 operating expenses for CCP and V W staff are covered by the County. For V W a portion of operating expenses are covered by the Victims of Crime Act federal grant. If more information is needed, please contact Nancy Kelly at 934-3315. Hawal'1 County la an EquY Opportunity Provitlar antl Emplorir ~l l~~ ~ ~+«x Harry Kim Edwin S. Taira Mayor Housing Administrator . hq•N'+ °,.,5 ~7 " 4Coiattp of ~atnaif OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 50 Wailuku Drive • Hilo, HawaPi 96720-2456 V(IT (808) 961-8379 • FAX (808) 967-8685 June 24, 2005 Memorandum To: Katherine A. Garson Deputy Corporation Counsel From: Edwin S. Taira ~ ~ Housing Administrator Subject: Identification of Unfunded Mandates This is in response to your Memorandum dated May 19, 2005. The Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) submits the following three unfunded mandates for your list: 1) ADA - Americans with Disabilities Acts 2) Fair Housing 3) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 1839at1W EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY "NAWAI'I WUNTV IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDER AND EMPLOYER' ~ /c~~y v~~ os . (I7~d qtr or M~ Harry Kim Patricia G. Engelhard Mayor ~,6,;;. f-f ~ ~ ~ Direc~ar ;fey ; Pamela N. Mizuno I I'~ ~ 1 C r °f~"~ Deputy Director ~~S d ~ ~ ~uuntp of ~abnai~i DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION r 101 Psuahi Street, Suite 6 • Hilo, Hawa~ i 96720 (808) 961-8311 • Fax (808) 961,-8411 Memorandum To: Katherine A. Garson, Deputy Corporation Counsel From: Pam Mizuno, Deputy Director~~ J Date: June 7, 2005 Re: Identification of Unfunded Mandates Corporation Counsel Work No. 05-9780 fn regards to your memo dated March 19, 2005, on the above subject, the two unfunded mandates that we have identified are: 1) American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance 2) Large Capacity Cesspool (LCC) Conversion If you have any questions, please call me at ext. 8542. Thank you County of Hewal'1 h en Equal Oppatun8y ProWder snd rtir,Ployar. ~'1~ ~ ~I ( Garson, Kathy From: Ley, Diane Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 7:01 PM To: Garson, Kathy Cc: Testa, Jane Subject: Request for list of Unfunded Mandates Per your request of May 19, 2005 to identify all unfunded mandates, please find the following on behalf of the Department of Research and Development. Replacement of Large Capacity Cesspools Title, Act or Description Under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1995 (SDWA) the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated Underground Injection Control regulation on December 7, 1999, prohibiting the construction of new large-capacity cesspools, effective April 5, 2000. Large capacity cesspools existing prior to that date must be upgraded or closed by April 5, 2005. Cesspool owners are required to find a waste disposal alternative, such as connection to a municipal sewer or installation of an onsite wastewater treatment unit (i.e. septic system) according to all applicable local and state regulations. • Source of Mandate: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • One time or on-going impact: There is a one time impact. • Estimated cost Estimated cost for the County of Hawaii is $15.75 million. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Diane Diane Ley Deputy Director Department of Research and Development County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street, Room 109 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 808.961.8003 Phone 808.935.1205 Fax 1 l a~iY Or N~i -j'~ ~ 1i~,~. Barbara Bell Harry Kim ~ ~ DirecYOr Mayor ~ ~ ~~J , ~ ~..1 ~ Q ~ ~ ~ i~:: :.±~i~ Deputy Director 7 aF•Mp c~. nun#~ of ~rzf>r~zii DE~'1ARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 25 Aupuni Street, Room 210 ~ Hilo, Hawaii 96720A252 (BOS) 961-8063 ~ Fax (808) 961-8086 htto://co.hawaii.hi.us/directorv/dir envmng h[m MEMORANDUM DATE June 28, 2005 TO Katherine A. Gazson Deputy Corporation Cou/n~s~e~l FROM Barbara Bell, Director`~~%'~ SUBJECT: Identification of Unfunded Mandates In response to your May 19, 2005 transmittal, the following aze "new program or increase in the level of service" items related to State and Federal mandates as requested. We follow many rules and regulations in order for our facilities to operate. These types of items have not been included. If they should be added, please let me know. STATE HAR § 11-55: Requires NPDES Permit Authorizing Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activities HAR § 1 I-61 Section 11-61-16: Requires renewal fees of $50.00 every 2 years. UPW Contract re uires that Coun a all license fees. HAR §11-62 Section 11-62-23.1(I):Requirement that facility plan initiated when actual wastewater flow reaches 75% of design and initiation of facility plan when flows reach 90% of lant desi ca aci Previousl a licable onl to acilities with NPDES Permits. HAR §11-62 Section 11-62-26(b): Weekly composite sampling for treatment works with design flows eater than 100,000 GPD. HAR § 11-62 Section 11-26-(c)(2); Requires automatic control of chlorine dosage for R-2 and continuous measurin and recordin of chlorine residual. HAR §11-62 Section 11-62-31.1(I): Requires wastewater into individual wastewater system from buildings other than dwellings meet pretreatment standards and local pollutant limits set by the coon or com liance with C&C of Honolulu limits if the coon does not have local limits. HAR § 11-62 Section 11-62-41: Requires permit for any person generating, treating, preparing, storm ,haulm ,etc. of wastewater stud e. HAR § 11-62 Section 11-62-50: Requires General Permits or Individual Permits for operators of wastewaters stems. HAR §11-62 Section I 1-62-51: Establishes fees for re istrations and ermits. ~ J ~ Hawaii County is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ~iof i HAR § 11-200 Section 11-200-5(c): Requires Environmental Assessment for alt projects that use state or coon ds and Usb of state or coon lands. Requirement to submit construction site plans to Disability and Communication Access Board DCAB for com liance with the American Disabili Act ADA . ~a I ~ n HRS 342G: Requires the County to update it's Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan every five eazs. FEDERAL 40CRF P '144 Sub art G: Ban on Lar a Ca aci Cess ools Procurement requirement for Federal Grants: Pursue Minority Business EnterprisesJWomen's Business Ente rises MBE(WBE . cc: Dep Dir SWD TSS WWD