A Loss for American Samoa: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court decision, effectively giving longline fishing vessels the right to fish as close as 12 miles from the territory’s coast. The decision is a blow to … Continued
Last month, Environment Hawai‘i reported on a $423,000 settlement the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved to resolve several damage claims brought by its lessee, Pacific Marine Partners, LLC. The company had won a 10-year lease at public auction in the … Continued
Over the past several years, members of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources have questioned Ross Smith of the Department of Transportation’s Airports Division about some of his requests for board approval of direct leases. Why, they wondered, … Continued
On August 13, the state Land Use Commission unanimously approved a petition from Hawaiʻi County for a declaratory order confirming that short-term vacation rentals (STVR) are not acceptable uses of farm dwellings in the Agricultural District. The commission also denied … Continued
On August 14, the state Commission on Water Resource Management approved a Pearl Harbor Water Shortage Plan, which dictates how the commission will determine when there is a water shortage and the actions various types of permitted users of the … Continued
By all accounts, the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), prepared by contractors for the University of Hawai‘i and adopted on April 9 by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, isn’t what it should be. Even its authors … Continued
The Department of Land and Natural Resources has been under pressure in recent years to transition, where appropriate, long-held revocable permits to a long-term disposition, be it a lease or an easement. But in the case of a nine-acre lot … Continued
This month, the state Land Use Commission will resume its discussion of whether or not farm dwellings in the Agricultural District can be used as short-term vacation rentals, or STVRs. In February, Hawai‘i County submitted a petition to the LUC … Continued
Cell Tower Challenge: AT&T is suing Hawai‘i County in federal court over the denial of a permit to erect a cell phone tower in Puna. The complaint was filed July 2 in federal district court in Honolulu against the county … Continued
On May 20, the state Agribusiness Development Corporation’s board of directors approved a new water user agreement that will require anyone drawing from the agency’s Bott Well Pump Station to pay $0.89 per thousand gallons. The well, which has a … Continued