(BIVN) – Hawaiʻi County Mayor Harry Kim today signed a Sixth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation, lifting a set of lava-related prohibitions but keeping others in place for the time being.

Previous prohibitions on entering and remaining on the lava flow field and/or physically altering the lava flow field have been lifted, although “loitering, loafing or idling on the lava flow field remain prohibited unless authorized by the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency.”

The new proclamation allows private lot owners to make “limited restorative physical modifications to the lava flow field surface on their private lot as authorized.” However, “any other physical modifications to the lava flow field including but not limited to, clearing, crushing or removal or infill of the lava flow field with the intent to establish roads, trails or driveways, is prohibited unless authorized.”

Hundreds of people joined county officials for a blessing ceremony before the reopening of Isaac Hale Beach Park today. The public event was held just a few hours after the Supplementary Emergency Proclamation was announced.

The Sixth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation reads:

WHEREAS, Chapter 127A Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, provides for the establishment of County organizations for emergency management and disaster relief with the Mayor having direct responsibility and authority over emergency management within the County.

WHEREAS, Chapter 127A Hawai‘i Revised Statutes and Chapter 7, Articles 1 and 2 of the Hawai‘i County Code, establishes a Civil Defense Agency within the County of Hawai‘i and prescribes its powers, duties, and responsibilities, and Section 13-23 of the Hawai‘i County Charter empowers the Mayor of the County to declare emergencies; and

WHEREAS, on May 3, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i and the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i issued respective Emergency Proclamations declaring states of emergency due to active lava erupting along the East Rift Zone in Lower Puna, County and State of Hawai‘i; and

WHEREAS, on May 9, 2018, the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i issued a Supplementary Proclamation expanding the scope and application of his Proclamation in order to provide further emergency disaster relief by suspending additional sections of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes; and

WHEREAS, on May 22, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Supplementary Emergency Proclamation suspending Hawai‘i County Code, Chapter 19, Section 19-47, related to real property tax assessments to those parcels that suffered uninhabitability or isolation due to this eruptive event in those areas described as Leilani Estates, Lanipuna Gardens, Pohoiki Bay Estates and Kapoho Estates; and

WHEREAS, on May 30, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Second Supplementary Emergency Proclamation suspending several County Code provisions related to the preparation, set-up, construction, or installation of temporary emergency shelters for residents displaced or voluntarily evacuated due to the active lava eruption; and

WHEREAS, on May 30, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued Mayor’s Emergency Rule #1 restricting access to the area containing Kapoho Beach Lots, Vacationland and Kapoho Farm Lots; and

WHEREAS, on May 31, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Mandatory Evacuation Order for identified areas within the Leilani Estates subdivision; and

WHEREAS, on July 2, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Third Supplementary Emergency Proclamation providing additional real property tax adjustments and relief; and

WHEREAS, on August 31, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Fourth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation continuing the state of emergency and issuing a prohibition from people entering or remaining on the lava fields, including a fifty (50) yard safety buffer area; and

WHEREAS, on October 30, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i issued a Fifth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation continuing the state of emergency, removing the fifty (50) yard safety buffer area, prohibiting the physical modifications to the lava flow fields and suspending the collection of fees for certain private wastewater haulers; and

WHEREAS, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Hawai‘i Volcano Observatory (HVO), cannot project WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY an end date to this eruptive event and has noted that previous eruptive events in the area have continued eruptive activity after lengthy periods of lull; and

WHEREAS, the USGS HVO has identified many hazards when traversing over lava flow fields, including subsurface residual molten lava and gases that may not be visible; due to the hazards involved, the USGS HVO and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency have noted that injuries while traversing over lava flow fields are common and deaths have occurred; and

WHEREAS, some evacuees of the eruptive event remain in temporary shelters provided by non-profit entities where the operational costs to maintain these shelters are mounting and becoming a hardship; and

WHEREAS, Section 127A-13(b) of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes provides that in the event of a local state of emergency, the Mayor may relieve hardship, inequities or obstructions of public health, safety or welfare by suspending county laws in whole or in part.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Harry Kim, Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i, do hereby proclaim and declare that a state of emergency due to this eruptive event continues to exist and continues to pose threat of imminent disaster on Hawai‘i Island and that all provisions of my prior Proclamations, except for the prohibition of entering and remaining on the lava flow field issued in the Fourth Supplemental Emergency Proclamation and the prohibition of physically altering the lava flow field issued in the Fifth Supplemental Emergency Proclamation, shall remain in full force and effect, effective, December 6, 2018, and continuing thereon for 45 days or until further act by this office, or unless terminated by a separate proclamation, whichever shall occur first.

I FURTHER DECLARE, that due to the aforementioned hazards that continue to exist, loitering, loafing or idling on the lava flow field remain prohibited unless authorized by the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency.

I FURTHER DECLARE, that private lot owners may make limited restorative physical modifications to the lava flow field surface on their private lot as authorized. Any other physical modifications to the lava flow field including but not limited to, clearing, crushing or removal or infill of the lava flow field with the intent to establish roads, trails or driveways, is prohibited unless authorized.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the County of Hawai‘i to be affixed. Done this 6th day of December, 2018 in Hilo, Hawai‘i.

Harry Kim
Mayor
County of Hawai‘i