Court Rebukes PUC Over Approval Of Rate Hike Tied to Liquefied Natural Gas
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has issued a ruling that makes clear what it thinks of the Public Utilities Commission’s effort to push the companies it regulates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that is: Not much. In a decision issued … Continued
New & Noteworthy: FKW POPs, Hu Honua on Pause
FKW POPs: Since 2012, the Main Hawaiian Islands population of false killer whales has been on the federal endangered species list. For even longer, the whales have been known to suffer serious injury and even death from interactions with fishing gear. Lack … Continued
Court Upholds Lana‘i Resort’s Use Of High-Level Aquifer for Irrigation
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the state Land Use Commission in a dispute over water on Lana‘i that goes back three decades, allowing the use of brackish water from the island’s high-level aquifer to be used … Continued
Council Looks to Ease Fishing Restrictions As Industry Grapples with Pandemic Impacts
Book-ended by opening and closing Christian prayers from chair Archie Soliai, the federal Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s June meeting included the near-unanimous approval of a letter to President Donald Trump, commending him for lifting the commercial fishing ban in the Northeast … Continued
BOARD TALK: Subsistence Fishing Area at Ha‘ena Proves Effective in Protecting Resources
Monitoring confirms it: The Ha‘ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) works. In October 2014, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved rules establishing the area over the objections and a contested case hearing request by commercial fishermen Michael Sur and Makani Christensen. Christensen … Continued
Commission Grants Contested Case On Wailuku Water Waste Allegations
On June 16, the Commission on Water Resource Management granted Wailuku Water Company’s (WWC) request for a contested case hearing on allegations that it dumped water diverted by its Waihe‘e ditch into a dry stream bed over 16 days between September 2019 … Continued
Joint Funding Of USGS Water Budget Model
Also at its June meeting, the commission approved a joint funding agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for a $100,000 study to determine what kinds of data should be collected to determine impacts of native and non-native plant species on … Continued
EDITORIAL: Reflections on Turning Thirty
Thirty years. Three decades. Three hundred and sixty issues. If you lined up all that we’ve written on a bookshelf, you’d need a long one. I’ve lost count of the number of pages, but it comes to well over 10,000. … Continued