Hui Ho'Opulapula Nā Wai O Puna v. Dep't of Land & Nat. Res.

• Docket Number: CAAP-23-0000070
• Decision Date: 06 June 2025
• Citation: Hui Ho'Opulapula Nā Wai O Puna v. Dep't of Land & Nat. Res., CAAP-23-0000070 (Haw. App. Jun 06, 2025)
• Parties: HUI HO'OPULAPULA NĀ WAI O PUNA, Plaintiff-Appellant/ Cross-Appellee, v. DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE OF HAWAI'I and BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE OF HAWAI'I, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants
• Court: Hawaii Court of Appeals

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HUI HO'OPULAPULA NĀ WAI O PUNA, Plaintiff-Appellant/ Cross-Appellee, v. DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE OF HAWAI'I and BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE OF HAWAI'I, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants

No. CAAP-23-0000070

Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii

June 6, 2025

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI'I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT(CASENO 1CCV-22-0000525)

On the briefs:

Isaac H. Moriwake, Leinā'ala L. Ley, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Colin J. Lau, Colin J. Lau, Miranda C. Steed, Deputy Attorneys General, Department of the Attorney General, State of Hawai'i, for Defendants-Appellees.

(By Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Hiraoka and Wadsworth, JJ.)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER

Hui Ho'opulapula NāWai O Puna appeals, and the Board of Land and Natural Resources(BLNR) and Department of Land and Natural Resources(DLNR)(together, State) cross-appeal, from the Amended Final Judgment entered by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.^[1]The circuit court ruled it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the case.The parties challenge different aspects of the January 9, 2023Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order Granting Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment.We hold the circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction, vacate the Amended Final Judgment, and remand for further proceedings.

Background

The Hui sued the State on May 4, 2022.It sought declarations that (1) BLNR violated Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 171-55 and its Haw. Const. art XI, §§ 1,7 public trust duties by continuing a one-year revocable permit (RP 7340) issued to Kaua#i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) for calendar year 2022, and (2) the continued RP 7340 was "legally invalid and void."^[2]It also sought "any necessary and appropriate injunctive relief."

The Hui and the State filed cross-motions for summary judgment.The Hui's motion argued that BLNR's continuation of RP 7340 was invalid because BLNR failed to make findings of fact and conclusions of law; failed to require KIUC to show an actual need for stream water; continued the permit for the sake of KIUC's interest in obtaining a long-term water lease; and abdicated its legal duties by not making an independent inquiry or analysis of protection and mitigation measures.

The State's motion argued that the Hui failed to exhaust its administrative remedies by formally requesting a contested case hearing on KIUC's application to continue RP 7340; the Hui's claims were barred under the primary jurisdiction doctrine; and the Hui was afforded due process.

The cross-motions were heard on November 30, 2022.The circuit court took them under advisement.The court entered findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order denying the Hui's motion for summary judgment and granting the State's motion for summary judgment on January 9, 2023.The court found:

10.On December 10, 2021, [BLNR] considered whether to continue RP 7340 at its publicly noticed meeting.

11.During the meeting, [BLNR] took testimony from KIUC, members of the Hui, and other members of the public concerning continuation of RP 7340. 12.[BLNR] voted to renew RP 7340 without first entering any findings of fact and conclusions of law supporting permit renewal, and without issuing any findings that continuing the permit was in the best interests of the State for the 2022 calendar year, and whether continuing the permit complies with the public trust doctrine[.]

13.[BLNR] also denied the Hui's oral request for a contested case hearing.

14.[The Hui] did not avail itself of the statutory process for judicial review of a decision in a contested case provided for under Hawaii Administrative Rules § 13-1-29 and [HRS §] 91-14.

15.Instead, [the Hui] filed an original complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the Environmental Court of the First Circuit, in which [it] seeks invalidation of permit RP 7340 issued by the Board on December 10, 2021 for the year 2022.

The court concluded:

3.In order to seek judicial review of [BLNR]'s continuation of RP 7340, it was a requirement that [the Hui] institute proceedings for review in the circuit court or, if applicable, the environmental court, within thirty days after the preliminary ruling or within thirty days after service of the certified copy of the final decision and order of the agency.H.R.S. § 91-14(b).

4.Where a statutory avenue for appeal of an agency decision is available, an original action for declaratory judgment does not lie.Ko'olau Agr. Co. v. Commission on Water Res. Mgmt., 83 Haw. 484[], 492-93(1996).

5.[The Hui]'s failure to proceed under the statutory process for review of an agency decision under H.R.S. Chapter 91 divests the court of authority to issue an order for declaratory and injunctive relief.

A judgment for BLNR and against the Hui was entered on January 25, 2023.This appeal and cross-appeal followed.The Amended Final Judgment for the State and against the Hui was entered on November 29, 2023, on a temporary remand.

Standards of Review

A circuit court's decisions on motions for summary judgment, statutory interpretation, and subject matter jurisdiction are reviewed de novo under the right/wrong standard.Tax Found. of Haw. v. State, 144 Hawai'i 175, 185-86, 439 P.3d 127, 137-38(2019).

Discussion

The circuit court concluded it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the Hui's declaratory judgment action it did not reach the merits of the Hui's claims.Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP)Rule 12(h)(3) requires dismissal when subject matter jurisdiction is lacking.^[3]The circuit court should have entered an order dismissing the case rather than an order granting summary judgment and a judgment.Mobley v. Kimura, 146 Hawai'i 311, 325 n.23, 463 P.3d 968, 982 n.23(2020)(stating that when circuit court dismissed complaint for failure to meet tort threshold, its order should have indicated a "dismissal" rather than a grant of "partial summary judgment").

(1) The Hui contends the circuit court erred by concluding that its "failure to proceed under the statutory process for review of an agency decision under [HRS]Chapter 91 divests the court of authority to issue an order for declaratory and injunctive relief."^[4] The argument has merit.

The circuit court relied on Ko'olau Agricultural Co. v. Commission on Water Resource Management, 83 Hawai'i 484, 927 P.2d 1367(1996).There, the Commission on Water Resource Management(CWRM) had designated five aquifers as water management areas under the State Water Code, HRS Chapter 174C.Ko'olau Ag sued CWRM for a declaration that CWRM misapplied the statutory designation criteria.CWRM moved to dismiss.The circuit court granted the motion.Ko'olau Ag appealed.It "recharacterize[d] its claims as allegations of improper rulemaking" and argued the circuit court had jurisdiction under HRS § 91-7, which provided for declaratory judgments "as to the validity of an agency rule[.]"Id. at 489, 927 P.2d at 1372.The supreme court dismissed the argument, noticing that Ko'olau Ag actually sought "invalidation of the [water management area] designation."Id.

The supreme court then analyzed HRS § 174C-46.That statute made CWRM's water management area designations "final unless judicially appealed."Id. at 487, 927 P.2d at 1370.The supreme court held that by enacting HRS § 174C-46,

the legislature obviously intended an appeal as the exclusive means of obtaining judicial review of a [water management area] designation decision.It is well established that where a statutory avenue for appeal of an agency decision is available, an original action for declaratory judgment does not lie.

Id. at 492-93, 927 P.2d at 1375-76(emphasis added).

Here, BLNR's decision to continue KIUC's revocable permit was made under HRS § 171-55 in a public meeting.SeeCarmichael v. Bd. of Land & Nat. Res., 150 Hawai'i 547, 563, 506 P.3d 211, 227(2022)(stating that "HRS§ 171-55 potentially authorized the BLNR to continue the revocable permits").HRS § 171-55(2011) provided:

Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the board of land and natural resources may issue permits for the temporary occupancy of state lands or an interest therein on a month-to-month basis by direct negotiation without public auction, under conditions and rent which will serve the best interests of the State, subject, however, to those restrictions as may from time to time be expressly imposed by the board.A permit on a month-to-month basis may continue for a period not to exceed one year from the date of its issuance; provided that the board may allow the permit to continue on a month-to-month basis for additional one year periods.

Unlike HRS § 174C-46(at issue in Ko'olau Ag), HRS § 171-55 does not create a statutory avenue for appealing BLNR's decision to continue a permit.The Hui could not have appealed BLNR's decision under HRS § 91-14 because it was made during a public meeting, not after a contested case.^[5] Such decisions are subject to declaratory judgments under HRS § 632-1, provided the other statutory elements are met; the HRS § 632-1(b) proviso that "[w]here however, a statute provides a special form of remedy for a specific type of case, that statutory remedy shall be followed" doesn't apply here.

For example, in Carmichael, BLNR approved continuations of permits under HRS § 171-55 in a public meeting.Carmichael sued for a declaration that preparation of an environmental assessment under the Hawai'i Environmental Policy Act, HRS Chapter 343(HEPA) was required.The supreme court declared: "Given the significant environmental impact of the permitted action, the...