Section 15-36-19 - Fees; cost reimbursement agreement(a) This subchapter sets forth rules relating to fees for the energy resources coordinator's services in overseeing the permit plan process, including but not limited to, independent consultant studies, regular and expedited application processing, determining compliance, and potential site studies.(b) The fees shall pay for all costs and expenses incurred by the coordinator, the coordinator's staff and contractors, and the department of business, economic development, and tourism in assisting the applicant, and any other state or county agency in providing input and advice related to the permit review and decision of the agency. These costs and expenses shall include, but shall not be limited to, legal expenses, expenses incurred in processing and evaluating the application, issuing a final order, commissioning an independent study by a contractor, and indirect and direct staff costs. (1) Relevant state and county agencies, and if necessary, any contractor contracted by the coordinator to assist the applicant, may seek reimbursement for reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with providing their input or advice or issuing the required permits by providing to the coordinator in writing a detailed description of the items sought for reimbursement and the method for calculating such reasonable costs and expenses.(2) Requests for reimbursement shall occur on a periodic basis, as determined by the coordinator, and shall be accompanied by a detailed description of items sought for reimbursement and the method for calculating such reimbursement, including the requests for reimbursement received from any relevant state or county agencies.(3) The coordinator shall transmit to the relevant state and county agencies, or independent contractor, those reasonable reimbursed costs and expenses that are received from the applicant and owed to the state or county agencies, or independent contractor.(c) In no event shall the coordinator incur costs and expenses in excess of one hundred ten per cent of the fee in the cost reimbursement agreement unless the coordinator provides prior notification to the applicant and a detailed projected budget the coordinator believes is necessary to complete the permit plan process.(d) If costs and expenses are less than the fee paid, the coordinator shall refund the excess to the applicant. The cost reimbursement agreement shall provide for payment of twenty-five per cent of the estimated costs and expenses when the applicant submits the permit plan application. If costs and expenses exceed the fee in the cost reimbursement agreement, the applicant shall pay any excess amounts shown in an itemized statement prepared by the coordinator.(e) The cost reimbursement agreement shall be designed to recover actual costs of evaluating, developing, and processing the permit plan. The fees shall be based upon costs and expenses expected to be incurred during the process. The fees shall reflect the size and complexity of the project and other appropriate variables having an effect on processing costs.[Eff. JUL 01 2010] (Auth: HRS § 201N-12) (Imp: HRS § 201N-4)