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
When Gov. David Ige signed House Bill 957 into law, the Hawai‘i Green Infrastructure Authority was mandated to give an interest-free $46.4 million loan to the state Department of Education. The money is to pay for energy-efficiency improvements to public … Continued
Hu Honua Permit: The Public Utilities Commission has given the green light to a power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric and Hu Honua, the 30-megawatt power plant under construction some 10 miles north of Hilo that proposes to use trees … Continued