Section 13-256-73.5 - Large snorkel tour permit restrictions(a) No more than one-hundred fifty customers per day or the historical daily average of the months July, August, and September of the calendar years 1996 thru 2000, whichever is lower, not to be less than seventy customers per day per permit shall be permitted.(b) The passenger carrying capacity of the vessel(s) having a capacity of over six passengers shall be established by a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection.(c) All associated operational and supporting activities on land must meet all applicable land use laws and zoning ordinances, including, but not limited to the number of passengers allowed and approved for loading from private lands or as approved by the department through a conservation district use permit.(d) Snorkel tours shall be conducted in Zones "D" and "E" within Kaneohe bay waters, pursuant to section 13-256-73.(e) All stops for other than snorkeling shall be within the commercial area of the sand flat area within Kaneohe Bay waters designated as restricted zone I and shall not exceed two hours. Only non-motorized equipment may be used for water sports recreation.(f) Any vessel authorized on the effective date of these rules to load passengers from the Heeia Kea small boat harbor pier under a permit issued pursuant to chapter 13-231 is permitted to load to full certified passenger capacity.(g) Replacement or substitution of any existing vessels or equipment shall require prior written approval by the department and the department shall have discretion to permit vessel substitution with a similar length vessel; provided that the increase shall not be greater than ten per cent of the length of the authorized vessel of record on May 22, 2000. An increase of greater than ten per cent of the length of the authorized vessel of record on May 22, 2000 is prohibited. Additional motorized and non-motorized vessels and equipment not authorized on July 1, 1993 by the department shall not be allowed.(h) Educational and not-for-profit tours shall not be counted against daily customer limits, but the permittee's total number of passengers shall not exceed the maximum number of customers allowed per day. Not-for-profit tours and passengers shall not be mixed with commercial customers on the vessel at the same time.(i) All vessels shall be registered in accordance with section 13-256-4(a), notwithstanding section 13-256-4(b), and display a current Ocean Recreation Management Area decal.(j) Permittees or owners or shareholders of record of business entities holding permits may transfer any interest in the business. Any transfer of interest in the business shall result in assessment of a business transfer fee in accordance with section 13-256-7.(k) When the Kualoa full service permit or a large full service permit turns into a large snorkel tour permit because of a transfer of ownership to a non-family member, no additional motorized or non-motorized vessels or equipment shall be allowed to be added to the existing authorized inventory.(l) When a large snorkel tour permit transfers ownership to a non-family member no more than seventy customers per day shall be permitted.Haw. Code R. § 13-256-73.5
[Eff 11/7/11] (Auth: HRS §§ 200-2, 200-3, 200-4, 200-22, 200-23, 20024, 200-39) (Imp: HRS §§ 200-2, 200-3, 200-4, 200-22, 200-23, 200-24, 200-39)