Aquarium Collection Update: On September 6, the Hawai`i Supreme Court justices issued a unanimous ruling that the Department of Land and Natural Resources had to complete an environmental study of the effects of aquarium fish collection before issuing permits sanctioning … Continued
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
The issue of public access along the Pepe`ekeo shoreline, about 10 miles north of the Big Island town of Hilo, has been contested for two decades or more. No sooner does it seem to be settled than it flares up … 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
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
Editor’s note: 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 GEMS funds” to the Kahauiki Village project. The PUC went on to … Continued
Five years after the Department of Land and Natural Resources was sued over its practice of indiscriminately awarding permits for aquarium fish collection, four years after the lower court ruling was challenged in the Intermediate Court of Appeals, and more … Continued
Scathing. That may be the single best word to describe the Hawai‘i Supreme Court’s characterization of arguments put forward by the Department of Land and Natural Resources in defense of the department’s position that the commercial collection of aquarium fish … Continued
If at first you don’t succeed… With the Hawai`i Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) having failed to win the Legislature’s approval of a bill to relieve it of Public Utility Commission oversight, it is now trying to get the PUC to … Continued
In attempting to advance its case for freedom from the yoke of the Public Utilities Commission, the Hawai`i Green Infrastructure Authority throws shade on “clean energy advocates,” who, it would seem, don’t understand the real motivation of “low and … Continued