Control of the Site in Hawaii for TMT Tuesday, May 10, 2022
From time to time, we check in on the TMT (Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawaii) issue, since UC is part of the consortium that is supposed to build it.* What seems to be going on in Hawaii is a conflict between the legislature and the governor there with the U of Hawaii somewhere in the middle. Below is a news release from the governor of Hawaii, David Ige: DLNR NEWS RELEASE: DLNR STATEMENT ON MAUNA KEA BILL – HB2024 CD1 May 5, 2022
(HONOLULU) – The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) believes HB2024 CD1 is well-intentioned but leaves significant gaps that could result in worse management of Mauna Kea’s natural and cultural resources. Notably: This bill creates special laws for Mauna Kea separate from the State’s extensive legal framework for land management and natural and cultural resource management, beyond the oversight and control of the DLNR and the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR). This is a dangerous legal precedent, contrary to our state constitution. HB2024 CD1 has no provision for Conservation District regulation to continue. Any construction or commercial use could potentially be authorized by the new Authority anywhere on the 11,307 acres of the mauna’s greater summit, under this bill. This bill requires the Authority to be financially self-sustaining. The lands on Mauna Kea are not revenue-generating lands. Requiring the Authority to be financially self-sustaining would lead to pressures to open conservation lands to commercial tourism. A moratorium on new leases until 2028 will make it very difficult to maintain existing observatories, which need to seek to have new leases by 2033. HB2024 CD1 requires new management plans. Extensive management plans are 122
UCLA Faculty Association Blog: 2nd Quarter 2022
