May 7, 2012

Why SB 755 is Terrible Policy

Hawaii Reporter - April 26, 2012 BY REP. GIL RIVIERE, R-NORTH SHORE Senate Bill 755 SD2 HD2 is terrible policy for the State of Hawaii. This omnibus bill includes several bad ideas that personify an unprecedented assault on Hawaii's environmental protection laws by the 2012 Hawaii State Legislature.

SB755 exempts airports and other state lands from SMA permits and shoreline setbacks, exempts harbors from any permit and site plan review, and allows the Governor to exempt state projects from Hawaii's environmental review process. Many variations of these measures passed out of the House, only to die in the Senate.

Proponents of this bill claim that billions of dollars in construction projects are held up because of cumbersome environmental laws, but specifics on where projects are held up, i.e., planning, design or construction phases, have not been forthcoming. Proponents of this bill have referred to Kahului Airport as an example, but they offer no specifics on what is the hold up. I did some research. View full article

January 9, 2012

Group finally meeting to seek Laniakea traffic solution

NORTH SHORE, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After several delays and years of inaction the state has assembled an advisory group and will begin seeking solutions to persistent traffic jams on Kamehameha Highway at Laniakea on Oahu's North Shore. The beach at Laniakea is a safe haven for green sea turtles. Hoards of people hoping to see the turtles park on the mauka (mountain) side of Kamehameha Highway and stop traffic as they cross to the makai (ocean) side of the road. That slows traffic, and so do people hitting the brakes to check out the surf. The result is a bumper to bumper backlog that is worse than ever. View full article