Operators of Hawai`i’s wind farms are poised to spend more than $4 million on efforts to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, and may eventually spend up to $6 million. “We’re starting a massive research push,” … Continued
Having been pushed back a month from its previously scheduled time, the re-opened contested case hearing on amendments to the interim instream flow standards (IIFS) of some two dozen East Maui streams begins on February 6 at Maui Community College and … Continued
January began with the TIO (the TMT International Observatory, LLC) wrapping up its case in support of the Conservation District Use Permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope. Witnesses included two native Hawaiians with doctoral degrees in astronomy or astrophysics: Paul … Continued
As the case involving the challenge to the application to build the Thirty Meter Telescope enters its fifth month of testimony and evidence, some government procedure wonks have raised the question: Are contested cases still appropriate for disputes coming before … Continued
Robin W. Baird. The Lives of Hawai`i’s Dolphins and Whales: Natural History and Conservation. University of Hawai`i Press, 2016. 342 pages (including bibliography and index). Less than two decades ago, knowledge of and research into Hawai`i’s cetaceans was pretty much … Continued
February 2017
Hoping to spur a resolution of a years- long dispute over stream water in West Kaua‘i, the state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) approved a five-year lease to the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) for its Pu‘u Opae hydropower project. The … Continued
The contested case hearing on a Conservation District Use Application for the Thirty-Meter Telescope continued its slow pace last month, with 11 days of hearings. On December 13, the University of Hawai`i, which is the applicant for the Conservation District … Continued
Land Board Grants One-Year Holdover Allowing A&B to Divert East Maui Streams “I think it’s important to keep in mind it’s been ‘just one more year’ for 30 years,” Office of Hawaiian Affairs public policy advocate Wayne Tanaka told the Board … Continued
For the past few years, the state Legislature has sunk tens of millions of dollars into state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz’s and the state Agribusiness Development Corporation’s vision of turning the Whitmore area in North-Central O`ahu into a thriving agricultural … Continued