A recent audit by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General for Audits (Western Division) questioned Maui County’s use of $1,094,241 in federal funds for work associated with construction of the Lahaina sewage treatment plant from 1975 to … Continued
Last month, the County of Hawai`i’s director of planning, Virginia Goldstein, sent the owner of an ocean-front house in Kailua-Kona a certified letter notifying him of numerous violations of county building laws in the reconstruction of his house. The list … Continued
The federal Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, a branch of the Department of Commerce, recently concluded an evaluation of the state’s Coastal Zone Management Program. The program, overseen by the Office of State Planning within the governor’s office, … Continued
The following essay is an excerpt from William S. Devick, “Environmental Impact Assessment. DJ Job Progress Report F-15-T-18,” State of Hawai`i, Division of Aquatic Resources (1994). The emphasis on ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered’ species in environmental assessments or surveys continued to … Continued
Eight hundred feet above sea level, deep in the Makaleha mountain range of eastern Kaua`i, three springs release a steady flow of pure, cold water to an unnamed tributary of Makaleha Stream. The springs provide habitat to one of just … Continued
Does Botanical Garden Divert Stream? Its Stories to State, County Differ The Hawai`i Tropical Botanical Garden, on Conservation District land north of Hilo, Hawai`i, is seeking permits on two fronts. From the County of Hawai`i Planning Department, it is asking … Continued