UH study to clarify environmental impact rules

University of Hawaii researchers are conducting a study that may help draw a sharper line to indicate what precisely triggers an environmental study for a proposed development.

Recent court cases have focused on only the narrow question of whether an environmental assessment was required for a specific project. State law is so ambiguous that developers, businesses, landowners and government agencies play it safe and opt for the costly, time-consuming process. As the Hawaii Superferry case revealed, the law has so many gray areas that even state officials can disagree over when environmental reviews are required.

Over the past year, the UH Department of Urban and Regional Planning has interviewed more than 100 people statewide — from developers and landowners to planners and government agencies that review the documents — to come up with a list of issues and recommendations that will be presented to lawmakers before the start of the next legislative session in January.