This past Thursday was a most interesting, inspiring and very important day.

Because of the Environmental Councils role in being a community and government liaison on environmental matters, I had earlier written them a letter requesting a declaratory ruling or opinion on the matter of the Hawaii Superferry EIS exemption.

The public meeting held on Thursday was in response to that request.

At that meeting the State of Hawaii’s Environment Council voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion that essentially stated that the Department of Transportation, Harbors Division, made a mistake when they exempted the Hawaii Superferry from our States environmental impact statement (EIS) laws.

Taken within the context of this organizations roles and responsibilities with regards to oversight of our state’s environmental regulation – this decision and statement is significant.

Who is “The Environmental Council” and what is their role and responsibility you might wonder?

As described on their website: http://hawaii.gov/health/oeqc/envcouncil.html

“The Environmental Council is a fifteen member citizen board appointed by the Governor and affiliated with the Office of Environmental Quality Control. It is the Office's link to the community at large. The Council is responsible for making the EIS rules, reviewing agency lists of actions exempt from the environmental review process, monitoring agency progress in meeting environmental goals, and preparing an annual report with recommendations for improvement to the Governor and Legislature.”

I think this point deserves repeating:

The Environmental Council’s members are appointed by the Governor and their official responsibilities state:

“The Council is responsible for making the EIS rules, reviewing agency lists of actions exempt from the environmental review process, monitoring agency progress in meeting environmental goals…”

And this very same organization has just reaffirmed officially and in writing what many people in our State have been saying repeatedly over and over during the past two years or more – that the State of Hawaii DOT did not follow the rules when granting the Hawaii Superferry an EIS exemption.

SB1276SD1 which hopefully will soon be scheduled in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means – essentially directs the DOT to reverse its prior decision and follow the law.

In the end that is what this debate boils down to – following the law that is already in place.

The members of the Environmental Council deserve our utmost respect and appreciation.

At the hearing (which I attended) the Hawaii Superferry attorneys leaned on the members hard - telling them they had no authority in the matter, that they should not interfere in the issue and that at the minimum they should delay their decision making.

The Councils own state appointed attorney offered similar suggestions – cautioning the members that they had no authority and urged them to delay the decision.

The Council members to their credit said NO – it was without a doubt, clear and obvious to each of them that the action taken by the DOT in granting the EIS exemption was blatantly and dramatically out of sync with the intent of the law.

The discussion and the ultimate decision was clearly unscripted and audience members could hear and feel the emotion and passion in the voices of members who spoke.

“If we do not have the authority to state our opinion on a matter as clear and as significant as this, why are we even here?” asked one member in response to the state attorneys position.

Kudos’ to all members of the council for having the courage to do what is right. 7 members of the 11-member commission are up for reappointment this year and it will be interesting to see what price they might pay for their courageous and thoughtful action.

You may email your thoughts on the matter to the Environmental Council members at OEQC@doh.hawaii.gov

If interested in reading another blogs take on the issue visit http://www.poinography.com/ or read the Honolulu Advertiser article at http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Feb/23/ln/FP702230373.html or the Garden Island at http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/02/24/opinion/edit03.txt