Unhappy with the performance of the Green Energy Market Securitization program (GEMS), which has largely failed to meet its mandate to help make solar photovoltaic systems affordable to underserved communities, the Public Utilities Commission issued an order on October 26 … Continued
Things are looking up for the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fleet, and not just because a new stock assessment for bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific suggests that it is neither overfished nor subject to overfishing. This past summer, … Continued
In the months after President Obama expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, catches by commercial longliners didn’t seem to suffer at all. The deep-set longline fleet caught about the same amount of bigeye tuna as it had in the first … Continued
November 2017 Editor’s note regarding “Green Infrastructure Authority Seeks Special Ruling for Kalihi Shelter Village”: On October 10, the Public Utilities Commission clarified that its order approving the GEMS program in September 2014 “does not preclude the HGIA from committing … Continued
The Hawai“i Supreme Court recently delivered a ruling that affirms the right of the counties to enforce regulation of coastal development against claims that regulation amounts to an unconstitutional taking. The case, Douglas Leone v. County of Maui, stems from … Continued
Progress on the ‘Aina Le‘a Front: In September, the planning firm of Belt Collins delivered to the Hawai‘i County Planning Department a draft supplemental environmental impact statement preparation notice for the roughly 1,000 acres of Urban land owned by ‘Aina … Continued
In September, when the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled that commercial aquarium fish collection permits issued by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources require an environmental review, many thought an injunction closing the fishery would soon follow. The high … Continued
Kaua‘i Council Moves to Remove Some Exemptions From Shoreline Ordinance On October 18, the Kaua‘i County Council accepted the introduction of a draft bill aimed at reversing amendments made in 2014 to its shoreline setback ordinance that have turned out … Continued
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) is moving to lift measures, in place for more than a decade, that require the Hawai‘i shallow-set longline fleet, which targets swordfish, to stop fishing if it hits its annual limit of loggerhead … Continued
Stewards of the famed seaweed resources off ‘Ewa Beach suffered a major blow earlier this year. On September 29, 1st Circuit Judge Keith Hiraoka issued his official order denying a years-long effort by the group Kua‘aina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA) to … Continued