Astronomy in Hawaii under threat?

[HawaiiEV]

I think the issue is that the Hawaiian kingdom existed in the modern era and was a recognized sovereign country. I dunno how that works but maybe you can ask Ukraine?

[Obie]

Deleted my post because it's going to distract from the current issues .

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

maybe you can ask Ukraine?

Or the former chiefdom of East Maui? West Maui? Oahu? Kauai? And thousands of other countries and provinces, and territories.

?

[TomK]

Well, I emailed Ukraine but didn't get an answer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also don't think astronomers invaded Hawaii. Anyway:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/uh-to-...mise-bill/

There seems to be a compromise bill that I haven't seen yet. It still has to pass the House and Senate and go before the Governor.

[Durian Fiend]

Well, I emailed Ukraine but didn't get an answer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also don't think astronomers invaded Hawaii. Anyway:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/04/uh-to-...mise-bill/

There seems to be a compromise bill that I haven't seen yet. It still has to pass the House and Senate and go before the Governor.

5 years seems like a long transition period.  A lot of time to do nothing, I suppose.

[TomK]

The original bill proposed three years for the transition which many saw as too short given the complicated situation. Five years seems a more realistic period, but then it makes the process of renewing the master lease much more uncertain and complicated. The current lease ends in 2033 and the observatories need to know well in advance of that date if the lease is renewed or not, since decommissioning planning needs to happen many years before 2033. On the other hand, if the lease renewal decision is made while the new Mauna Kea is being transferred it might limit what the new management system can do. For instance, if new subleases are agreed upon before 2028, the new management group wouldn't be able to change things after the fact.

It's all rather complicated and messy.

[SBH]

The House and Senate passed the Mauna Kea Authority Bill 2024.

https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2022/...rity-bill/

“On final reading, the State Senate passed the bill as amended with 22 ayes (with reservations: Senators Baker, San Buenaventura, Taniguchi) and 3 noes (Senators Acasio, Inouye, Rhoads). The State House passed the same bill with Representatives Gates, Holt, Kapela, LoPresti, McKelvey, Tokioka, and Ward voting aye with reservations, and Representatives Hashem and Kobayashi voting no.

The bill will now go to Governor David Ige to be signed into law.”

[TomK]

As I mentioned above, this bill makes things so complicated it's going to be a difficult few years if it finally gets passed after the veto process. From the same article SBH posted:

"“If enacted, one implication is the UH will pause all work on the preparation of our(Environmental Impact Statement) for a new master lease, as conference draft one imposes a moratorium on all new leases”, said Greg Chun, the Executive Director of Mauna Kea Stewardship. “We will also pause all discussions on the (Mauna Kea Observatories) on new subleases,” Chun added."

[TomK]

Just a couple of responses to the bill being passed, the first by UH president Lassner:

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2022/05/05/p...l-hb-2024/

"What saddens me most is not the creation of a new Authority but that a completely false narrative that UH is mismanaging Maunakea drove this legislation. I have personally acknowledged and apologized publicly on multiple occasions for UH mismanagement of Maunakea in the previous century. Since then, UH has been on a trajectory of continuous improvement for over 20 years including: the 2000 Master Plan; the creation of the Maunakea Ranger program to protect public safety; establishment of the Office of Maunakea Management under UH Hilo; creation of the community-based Maunakea Management Board and Kahu Kū Mauna Native Hawaiian Advisory Council; adoption of Administrative Rules in the face of extraordinary challenges; the support and resourcing of the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center; regular monitoring of over 260 historic, archaeological and cultural sites identified by extensive UH surveys; and removal of invasive species. Compelling indicators of our success include removal of the endemic wēkiu bug from candidacy as an endangered species thanks to UH research and discovery of a previously unknown population of petrels on Maunakea through UH-sponsored field studies."

And the DLNR:

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/57127686...hb2024-cd1

(Below are quotes from the above site)

• 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 already in place. 
   
  
  
• HB2024 CD1 requires the number of observatories to be limited. The number of observatories is already limited, with some in the process of being decommissioned. 
   
  
  
• HB2024 CD1 requires prioritizing the reuse of footprints of decommissioned observatories as sites for facilities or improvements over the use of undeveloped lands for such purposes. The BLNR has required footprints be returned to their natural state and does not anticipate further development by UH of undeveloped lands. 
  

[TomK]

From Senator Lorraine Inouye's  public Facebook page:

"I stood up for Hawaii astronomy today. The following is the text of the floor speech I gave on HB 2024 CD1.
======================================
Mr. President,
 
I rise to speak in opposition to House Bill 2024, Conference Draft #1. There are many things that are still wrong with this bill. However, in the interest of time, I will only mention a few.
The objective of this bill is to create the new Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority with the responsibility to govern and manage the entire mountain, including astronomy at its summit.
 
The creation of a new authority to assume jurisdiction over Mauna Kea is redundant. The current management and stewardship of Mauna Kea is already set in place through the University of Hawaii and the Center for Mauna Kea Stewardship.
 
People I talked to at the University of Hawaii tell me that
there are problems with the five-year transitional timeline which forces U.H. to turn over management of Mauna Kea to the new authority. With it comes complications such as having the University “legally required to comply with all obligations” of the current lease and not being able to do anything else while serving as a “lame duck landlord”.
 
U.H. is concerned with upcoming lease re-negotiations in 2034, after the current lease runs out.
They are rightfully worried about the future of astronomy and the fate of its sub-lease partners which consists of all the observatories presently on the summit, including the future of the proposed and approved Thirty Meter Telescope. What is to become of them?
 
Doug Simmons, the current Director of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii tells me, “HB 2024 CD1 would impact the TMT project's vested rights in terms of its land authorization and permit. The current Thirty Meter Telescope sublease issued by UH guarantees site control for TMT through 2033 and commits UH to use its best efforts to secure a new general lease so that a new sublease can be issued. Pursuant to the bill, UH would no longer be involved and the authority would issue a new lease to TMT no sooner than July 1, 2028, if it decides to do so. That would require the authority to organize itself, create rules and processes, negotiate lease terms, and resolve any legal challenges. Similarly, the current CDUP for the project, issued to UH, would have to be replaced by a new permit or permits from the authority following the establishment of rules and processes and the resolution of any contested cases and judicial appeals.”
 
As one writer in a recent Hawaii Tribune Herald letter stated, “I am writing to express my horror and amazement that the Trojan Horse bill known as House Bill 2024 is under serious consideration for passage.”
 
Mr. President, this bill is a Trojan Horse indeed.
 
After UH loses their original lease in 2033, upon which TMT and the other observatories are sublessees, astronomy will be back at square one, starting all over again. The costly setback for astronomy, Hawaii’s economy and jobs related to the industry will probably be too much to bear.
 
Sad to say the loss of the hard work of the late Board of Regent Barry Taniguchi, and the late Dr. Don Hall, one of the first directors of astronomy whom I have worked with as a councilmember on my island in the eighties.
 
There is no assurance that the new Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority will guarantee that TMT, the University of Hawaii, and the other observatories will get new long-term leases. There will be too much politics involved in the new approval process.
At that point (or maybe even earlier) TMT will likely give up and move away from Hawaii.
This bill will be the demise of a promising new, world class telescope that will compliment the world class observatories we already have.
 
The casualty list will be long:
 
The demise of our $221 million a year astronomy industry. Astronomy itself brings in at least $110 million annually to our state, $68 million in labor income and $10 million in state tax revenues, according to a report today in the Honolulu Star Advertiser by one of Hawaii’s most brilliant tech journalists.
 
The decimation of astronomy will contribute to the loss of many jobs not only in astronomy, but also in education, high tech, industry, and many support services, some of them small businesses and the economic benefits to my island and the state.
 
The demise of astronomy will also mean lost opportunities for future and the “spillover effects” astronomy brings to our fragile economy – knowledge, expertise, and technology benefits.
 
The ramifications of this bad bill will resonate throughout the worldwide astronomy, business, and scientific communities, even though the bill does declare “support of astronomy to be a policy of the State.” How much of a commitment to astronomy do we truly have?
 
The new authority will have to give equal or maybe even greater weight to the ecology and environment of the mountain, its natural resources, restricted access, human activities, traditional cultural practices, and more.
 
DLNR brought up several concerns including unclear oversight legal framework, unclear financial sustainability, and redundant managerial planning that are part of the bill’s flaws. The restrictions on astronomy and the associated leases are a problem as well as limitations on commercial use. And I totally agree as the chair of the Water and Land committee.
 
In the end, the DLNR believes that Mauna Kea lands should remain protected under the present conservation district rules under the oversight of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
Mr. President, these are just some of the major concerns I have about HB 2024 CD1. Surely there are many more issues surrounding this bill including the fact that we have to appropriate more than $14 million for the creation of the new authority, micromanage observatory viewing time, among numerous legal concerns brought up by the Attorney General’s office, the potential political process in the nomination to board appointees, and much more.
 
I must ask you, is Hawaii as committed to astronomy as this bill would like you to believe?
 
We must not let our highly respected, world-class astronomy industry wither and die due to short-sighted legislation such as this.
 
Astronomy’s contribution has remained steady in Hawaii over the past decade. It is a reliable economic generator for Hawaii especially when compared to weather and pest-prone agriculture and pandemic-afflicted, price sensitive, tourism.
 
The stars and mostly good weather are always here, and astronomy can be here to support us in Hawaii for generations to come.
 
Colleagues, it’s time for us to make a statement and stand up for ASTRONOMY and not allow HB 2024 CD1 to pass.
 
Thank you, Mr. President."

Full Senate Floor Session on May 3rd 2022. Inouye's speech starts at around the 01:44:40 mark and it followed a speech by Senator Kim in support of the bill.