Report Title:

Small Boat Harbors; Permits and Fees

 

Description:

Terminates any commercial vessel mooring or commercial permits upon the sale of the business; sets minimum revenue standards at $6,000 in gross revenue per year.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2031

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to Permits and fees for state small boat harbors.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that under current law the owner of a vessel used for commercial purposes who holds a mooring permit or commercial permit at a state small boat harbor may sell the business without terminating the right of the business under new ownership to continue to operate under the permits issued to the selling business entity. There is no restriction on the amount of money that an owner may set for the sale of the business, which in this case would include the continued use of the permit to moor the commercial vessel at the state small boat harbor.

The legislature further finds that this allows an owner of a commercial vessel to "sell" the mooring permit at a high price, and it allows the new owner to bypass the often lengthy waiting list for a mooring permit and commercial permit.

In addition, some owners of commercial vessels who hold mooring or commercial permits may be holding these permits as a convenience, and are not actively engaged in a commercial operation.

The purposes of this Act are to require that any mooring permit or commercial permit issued to the owner of a vessel moored in a state small boat harbor shall be terminated upon the sale of the business, and to set the minimum revenue standard at $6,000 in gross revenues per year.

SECTION 2. Section 200-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) The department shall not renew or issue a permit to a person who is not the owner of the vessel which is moored or which the person desires to moor in a state small boat harbor. Any transfer of ownership by an individual who is an owner of a vessel used for commercial purposes, including commercial fishing as a principal means of livelihood, and possesses a valid mooring permit or commercial permit, or both, in accordance with the rules adopted by the chairperson pursuant to chapter 91, [may transfer ownership of the vessel from personal ownership to corporate or other business ownership without terminating] shall terminate the right to moor or operate the vessel under the permit or permits. The existing permit or permits shall be [reissued in the name of the transferee corporation or other business entity.] made available for reissue by the department.

For the purposes of this section, "person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, trust, association, joint venture, organization, institution, or any other legal entity, and "owner" includes the legal owner of a vessel where there is no security interest held by anyone on the vessel, a buyer under a purchase money security interest, a debtor under any security interest, a demise charterer of a vessel, or a lessee or charterer of a vessel under a lease or charter which provides the lessee or charterer with exclusive right to possession of the vessel to the exclusion of the lessor or the person from whom the vessel is chartered. No permittee shall be allowed to moor a leased vessel in a berth unless the terms of the lease are set at fair market value. A "legal owner" includes a person who holds unencumbered title to a vessel or is a secured party under a security interest in the vessel. An owner who is issued a permit to moor a vessel in a state small boat harbor shall notify the department in writing of a transfer of interest or possession in the vessel within seven days of transfer.

[Any person owning an interest in a corporation or other business entity possessing a valid commercial permit issued by the department, in accordance with rules adopted by the chairperson pursuant to chapter 91, may transfer any or all stock or other interest to another person without terminating the right of the corporation or business entity to retain or renew its commercial permit or any other permit issued to it by the department; provided that:

(1) The corporation or business entity has been engaged in the same commercial vessel activity, as defined in section 200-9, for a minimum of one year; and

(2) The seller shall pay the department a business transfer fee based on the passenger-carrying capacity of the vessels owned or operated by the corporation or business entity as provided by rules adopted by the chairperson pursuant to chapter 91.]

Any person possessing a commercial permit shall be required to meet minimum revenue standards [,] of $6,000 in annual gross revenue, as a condition of retaining or renewing the commercial permit."

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:

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