When the state’s Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) loan program was established in 2013, all parties involved believed that customers who took out loans for installation of photovoltaic and other energy saving technologies would have the option of paying off … Continued
Are minor actions permitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)— or any other state agency, for that matter — exempt from environmental review under the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA)? A beach cleanup, a night of camping … Continued
The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) seems willing to do almost anything to get its proposed pumped storage hydropower project along West Kaua‘i’s Koke‘e ditch system built. While not an original party to the water waste complaint and petition to … Continued
The state of Hawai‘i has won a major preliminary battle in its years-long effort to condemn a parcel of vacant land at Ma`alaea Harbor that it has leased, at sky-high rates, since 1994. At a hearing April 27, 2nd Circuit … Continued
Koke`e Cabin Squatter Case Highlights DLNR’s Property Management Defects What happens when the state Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t have sufficient staff to properly manage its properties and permits? In 2015, agents on loan from the department’s Land Division … Continued
May 2017
If all goes as planned, Lehua island, a 284-acre state-designated seabird sanctuary that’s less than a mile north of Ni`ihau, will be rat-free in the very near future. But that’s a big “if.” Among other things, the state Division of … Continued
In June 2011, Island Conservation eradicated rats on Palmyra atoll, which is located about 1,000 miles south of Hawai`i and is co-owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. The company aerially broadcast the anticoagulant rodenticide … Continued
It’s too soon to say what the Lehua rat eradication/restoration project will ultimately look like, but public comment on its draft environmental assessment as of press time was minimal (only four comments) and mixed (two neutral, one supportive, one asking … Continued
Kahului Airport Powered by Biogas? The state Department of Transportation is seeking approval to enter into a 20-year contract to purchase biogas from Maui Resource Recovery Facility, LLC (MRRF), that will be used to provide electrical power to the Kahului … Continued