 URGENT! COMMENTS DUE ON EIS "Re-CODIFICATION" LAW taking place behind closed doors?
Subject Matter: DEPARTMENT of LAND and NATURAL RESOURCES (DLNR)
and
OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CONTROL (OEQC)
on FLORA and FAUNA on the island of OAHU
Dear Senator Will Espero- will you please answer my three questions? From Tom Berg, your Ewa Beach constituent.
And Scott Glenn with DOH- one question is for you- when are comments due on your EIS DRAFT?
Senator Espero- mahalo for trying to help---- if you don't know the answer(s)- please share with OEQC (and Senator Gabbard) who testified and commented upon your bill - and both Gabbard and OEQC were in agreement- ---SB570 ----that your bill, it was worthless and not worth a hearing. SB570 = shame on them. Your bill is the most important bill in existence right now besides the vote on rail, hands down.
You Senator Espero crafted and introduced SB570 last session- that took guts- of which such bill is still alive this coming session to pass- maybe it will pass - your bill- if Senator Gabbard would come around and finally give a hoot about protecting the Pueo!
Your SB570 Espero addressed the following flaws in EIS law ----flaws THAT THE OEQC TESTIFIED AGAINST- for OEQC wants to keep the status quo and not adopt your recommendations. Gabbard backed up the OEQC and rather went against you Espero.
Senator Espero, as my Senator, I applaud you for taking on the developers- the corrupted system, and the swamp in DLNR/OEQC with the introduction of SB570 to make it mandatory these EIS people doing the inventory spend at least five days on the property to look for endangered animals and plants- ----instead of just a few hours ---- they in the EIS protocol guidelines accept now-- by OEQC- that per OEQC, it is ok to look for just an hour or two on hundreds of acres to see if any endangered plants or animals are existing on that site being investigated- and they are allowed to do it while slurping on a milkshake eating a burger and never getting out of their cars!!!!! That is the current protocol accepted as the norm and deemed ok- by OEQC/DLNR.
Now, to the facts:
1. Current law does not require the property owner that hires a consultant to exercise and conduct and record and file the report for the EIS Inventory to have any higher educational degree in anything- for example, DR Horton of Ho'opili could hire a drive-through window McDonald's worker to drive through 1,550 acres and report they saw zero endangered anything- no threatened or endangered plants sighted. And the report is considered valid by OEQC AND DLNR!!!!
To look for Pueo on a specific property undergoing the EIS process, a biologist who specializes in spiders and insects could be the one hired to look for bats, pueo, ducks, coots, etc., THIS TOO, IS WRONG. A person with a degree in biology is allowed to be the expert on bats, birds, and insects- but whose expertise may be on species of grasses. YOUR BILL SB570- HAD IT WHERE IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR PUEO, you need to have a specialist- an ornithologist ON SITE DOING THE EIS INVENTORY- that it be a specialist be the one looking for special endangered birds- not a McDonald's Drive-Through Worker as Senator Gabbard thinks the job should be done by.
QUESTION ONE: Does the new language proposed by the OEQC Council address your SB570 in that the EIS Inventory shall have a specialist conduct the inventory observations- like for bats and pueo, an ornithologist is summoned and hired and required to observe the property and conduct an inventory for the presence of such birds. A biologist whose degree is on insects- they are hired too, in addition to look for the endangered bees etc. Or a plant specialist, one who can search for endangered flora on the property?
As is stands- the NEW RULES /AMENDMENTS PROPOSED DO NOT ADDRESS THIS. CURENT LAW ALLOWS A PROPERTY OWNER TO HIRE AN EIS CONSULTANT WHO HAS ZERO DEGREE, ZERO EXPERTISE, AND ZERO CREDENTIALS TO PERFORM THE EXERCISE. Again, current law allows the EIS inventory process to be performed by anybody with any type of degree or no degree whatsoever.
2. Current law does not mandate, require, nor reference any protocols for how long an observer should be in the field conducting the EIS Inventory. For the 500-acre UHWO property- only a few hours on two days was expended in total to look for all endangered and threatened plants and animals. The EIS Report for UHWO fails to report- when the exercise was conducted, and by whom, and how many persons.
QUESTION TWO: Does the new language proposed by the OEQC Council address your language proposed in SB570 that would mandate that any property over 100 acres in size, have the EIS exercise be conducted over a minimum of five days in duration? Current law makes no mandate, or requisite to instruct the EIS Inventory exercise personnel be on the property for any given amount of time- meaning- a EIS can pass review and be accepted by having one person drive through the property in their car for just an hour and never get out of their car- and according to the OEQC and DLNR, this type of EIS Inventory observation protocol exercise- to just drive around in a car and never get out of the car is adequate, and considered a thorough EIS Inventory.
3. Current law in EIS does not mandate nor make any reference to nocturnal creatures- meaning, in the EIS exercise, no researcher, no person conducting the observation or exercise to inventory for the presence of the Hoary Bat is on site after the sun goes down, or on site before the sun come sup- this is when the bat is seen. Thus, as it stands, the OEQC and DLNR approve of methods to clear all land of all flora and fauna- give green light to to the LUC to relassify land from ag to urban based upon observations conducted during daytime.business hours- and never, nver having data upon what lives on such property at night. For every EIS recorded on the Ewa Plain, not one report/inventory exercise had conducted a field review to search for the endangered Hoary Bat after sunset- it is after sunset that one can see the bat emerge.
QUESTION THREE: Does the new language proposed by the OEQC Council address your SB570 language in that the EIS protocol should now mandate, that the observation and or inventory for endangered species also be conducted after subset and before the sun rises? This is when we see the Pueo too- besides the bat- and why it is that in every EIS codified and recorded on the Ewa Plain, such FEIS claimed zero Pueo inhabited the areas- for no INVENTORY - NO EIS OBSERVATION- NO EIS PROTOCOL HAD INSTRUCTED THE EIS BE PERFORMED AT NIGHT AS WELL IN ADDITION TO DAYTIME HOURS.
So does the new amendments offered include these three mandates as offered in SB570?
CONCLUSION: It says here in the Council's DRAFT, that once an ornithologist - a certified ornithologist has sighted a pueo on property that was registered /had EIS/FEIS already done- that afterwards, if a NEW CONDITION is spotted on the property- like a PUEO- THE CURRENT LAW SAYS THE DLNR MUST ORDER THE PROPERTY OWNER CONDUCT A SUPPLEMENTAL FEIS- but guess what- GABBARD REFUSES TO HELP THE PUEO IN HIS DISTRICT GET THAT LAW IN PLAY- ENFORCED. And DLNR has refused to adhere and follow this law as well- they are in noncompliance.
AND TO THIS DAY- no SEIS has been ordered for UHWO where many of us in the community see the Pueo everyday there- yet, OEQC and DLNR are in hiding, afraid to take on Gabbard and have the law enforced- which if the law were followed and enforced, UHWO would be ordered to conduct a SEIS!
Subject Matter: DEPARTMENT of LAND and NATURAL RESOURCES (DLNR)
and
OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CONTROL (OEQC)
on FLORA and FAUNA on the island of OAHU
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT LAW IS BEING MANIPULATED, AMENDED, ALTERED, AND DEVISED BY A COUNCIL TO CHANGE ALL RULES, REGULATIONS, PROTOCOLS AND ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES FOR EXERCISING, CONDUCTING, PERFORMING, AND RECORDING, THEN CODIFYING ANY AND ALL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS (EIS) brought into the domain to OEQC and DLNR for review and or approval.
Purpose /History: http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/
Latest Council Agenda: http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/
Proposed Changes: http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/
Update/Status July 27, 2017 Report & Contact: David Y. Ige | DOH NEWS RELEASE: State environmental council updating EIS rules
DOH NEWS RELEASE: STATE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL UPDATING EIS RULESPosted on Jul 27, 2017 in Latest News
Public invited to comment
HONOLULU – The State Environmental Council has released a preliminary draft of revisions to the state environmental impact statement (EIS) administrative rules. The rules were last updated in 1996, although an exemption for acquiring land for affordable housing was added in 2007.
“This is a major milestone for us. The Environmental Council initiated the process of revising the rules in 2012, but the volunteer board lacked the support and resources necessary to complete the effort at that time. Thanks to the diligent work of numerous volunteers, as well as Governor Ige’s administration, this preliminary draft will provide a useful starting point for us as a council to engage agencies and the public. I’m really proud of the effort my colleagues put into making this first draft, and I’m looking forward to getting the public’s feedback and proceeding to the next step,” said Joseph Shacat, Council Chair.
The Environmental Council is responsible for making rules for preparing EISs under chapter 343, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS). The EIS process is described in detail in Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules (HAR) Chapter 11-200. The current rules are available on the Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) website (http://health.hawaii.gov/oeqc
The preliminary draft helps to clarify:
“This is the start of a conversation. We are focused on modernizing these 20-year-old rules and making them clearer so people who participate in the EIS process have a better sense of their roles and responsibilities,” said Scott Glenn, Director of the OEQC and Vice Chair of the Council.
Following the release of this preliminary draft, the Council will continue to refine the language before conducting formal public hearings pursuant to chapter 91, HRS. In the meantime, the public has the opportunity to offer comments to the Council at its publicly noticed meetings. The Council normally holds its meetings on the second Tuesday of every month.
The Environmental Council has several critical functions that affect the environment and development across Hawaiʻi. The Council is a liaison between the Director of the OEQC and the general public. The OEQC’s Director Scott Glenn regularly advises Gov. Ige on environmental matters. The Council also monitors the progress of the state in meeting its environmental goals through the publication of its annual report on the state of Hawaiʻi’s environment. It creates the administrative rules for Hawaiʻi’s EIS process and vets state and county agency lists for actions that can be considered exempt from having to prepare EISs or environmental assessments.
Additional information about the Environmental Council is available at http://health.hawaii.gov/
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
Scott Glenn, Director
Office of Environmental Quality Control
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Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Vol VI No. 664 Part 1A
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