No. SCWC-22-0000516, Thursday, November 21, 2024, 2 p.m.

SIERRA CLUB, Petitioner/Appellant-Appellee-Cross-Appellee, vs. BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Respondent/Appellee-Appellee/Cross-Appellee, and COUNTY OF MAUI, Respondent/Appellee-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, and ALEXANDER AND BALDWIN, INC. and EAST MAUI IRRIGATION COMPANY, LLC, Respondents/Appellees-Appellants/Cross-Appellees.

SIERRA CLUB, Petitioner/Appellant-Appellee, vs. BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Respondent/Appellee-Appellant, and ALEXANDER AND BALDWIN, INC., EAST MAUI IRRIGATION COMPANY, LLC, COUNTY OF MAUI, Respondents/Appellee-Appellees.

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The above-captioned case has been set for oral argument on the merits at:

Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali‘iōlani Hale, 2^nd Floor
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

The oral argument will also be livestreamed for public viewing via the Judiciary’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/hawaiicourts and ʻŌlelo Community Television olelo.org/tv-schedule/.

Attorney for Petitioner/Appellant-Appellee-Cross Appellee and Petitioner/Appellant-Appellee SIERRA CLUB: 
     David Kimo Frankel

Attorneys for Respondent/Appellee-Appellee/Cross-Appellee and Respondent/Appellee-Appellant BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES: 
     Julie H. China and Melissa D. Goldman, Deputy Attorneys General

Attorneys for Respondent/Appellee-Appellee/Cross-Appellant COUNTY OF MAUI:  
     Victoria J. Takayesu, Corporation Counsel; Mariana Lowy-Gerstmar and Kristin K. Tarnstrom, Deputies Corporation Counsel

Attorneys for Respondents/Appellees-Appellants/Cross-Appellees and Respondent/Appellees-Appellees ALEXANDER AND BALDWIN, INC. and EAST MAUI IRRIGATION CO.:  
     Christopher T. Goodin and Trisha H.S.T. Akagi of Cades Schutte LLP

NOTE: Certificate of Recusal, by Associate Justice Lisa M. Ginoza, filed 05/16/24.

NOTE: Order assigning Circuit Court Judge Clarissa Y. Malinao, in place of Ginoza, J., recused, filed 06/24/24.

NOTE: Order accepting Application for Writ of Certiorari, filed 07/11/24.

COURT: Recktenwald, C.J., McKenna, Eddins, Devens, JJ, and Circuit Judge Malinao, in place of Ginoza, J., recused.

Brief Description:

This case arises as a secondary appeal, filed by the Sierra Club, of the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ (“BLNR” or “board”) November 13, 2020 decision to renew East Maui Irrigation Co. and Alexander & Baldwin’s (collectively, “A&B”) revocable permits (“RP”).  The RPs were for the use of 33,000 acres of state forest land and the diversion of millions of gallons of fresh water from the East Maui watershed region.

At a November 2020 BLNR public meeting, the Sierra Club requested that BLNR hold a contested case hearing on A&B’s application to renew the RPs for 2021.  The board denied Sierra Club’s request and proceeded to renew the RPs.

Sierra Club appealed BLNR’s decision to the circuit court.  The court concluded that Sierra Club had a property interest protected by due process rights, and that BLNR should have held a contested case hearing prior to the RP renewals.  The court ordered the RPs vacated, remanded the case to the BLNR for a contested case hearing, and stayed the vacating of the RPs while ordering a temporary modification of the RPs so that A&B could continue delivering water pending the outcome of the contested case hearing.

BLNR and A&B appealed the circuit court’s ruling to the Intermediate Court of Appeals (“ICA”).  The ICA majority disagreed with the circuit court’s determination and, instead, affirmed BLNR’s denial of Sierra Club’s contested case hearing request and vacated the circuit court’s modification of A&B’s RPs for 2021.

On certiorari, Sierra Club asserts the ICA erred on several points, including: (1) whether the ICA erred in holding the BLNR properly denied the Sierra Club a contested case hearing; (2) whether the ICA erred in concluding the Sierra Club’s property interest in this case did not arise from HRS § 205A; and (3) whether the environmental court had jurisdiction over Sierra Club’s appeal and the power to modify the RPs pending the remanded contested case hearing.