Lawmakers not about to 'try to trump the court'

The Maui News
Thursday, September 27, 2007

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer

WAILUKU – Saying they want to respect the judicial process, Maui's state lawmakers are holding back on taking any legislative action on the Hawaii Superferry.

"We shouldn't intervene and try to trump the court," Sen. J. Kalani English of Hana said Wednesday.

Comments from English and other Maui legislators came after state legislators met in caucus this week to consider a special session to take legislative action on the ferry, which has had its interisland service suspended by court order since late August – two days after the ferry trips began.

As chairman of the Senate's Transportation and International Affairs Committee, English proposed a compromise bill last session that called for the state Department of Transportation to do an environmental impact statement on ferry-related improvements in the state harbors while the Superferry operated in Hawaiian waters.

The Senate bill died after state Rep. Joe Souki of Wailuku refused to schedule a hearing on the proposal with his House Committee on Transportation.

Souki maintains it was wrong to single out the ferry for an environmental study, given that other vessels traveling between the islands have not had the same requirement.

On Wednesday, Souki said he supports the House leadership's stance that no legislative action be considered for the ferry until after 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza issues a ruling.

Cardoza is presiding over an evidentiary hearing on whether the ferry will be allowed to operate while the state conducts a court-ordered environmental review. The evidentiary hearing, now in its its third week of testimony, was triggered by an Aug. 23 decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court to require a environmental assessment.

Souki said he and other House leaders will be interested in reading Cardoza's ruling.

The House remains supportive of the Superferry, he said. "We'd like to see the ferry continue."

Souki said it would be premature to discuss the details of what action, if any, state lawmakers might take to help the Superferry. Some of the legislators' concerns involve the approximately 300 jobs created by the ferry and support from constituents who have said they want the option to travel by ferry between the islands.

Maui's senators – Roz Baker, English and Shan Tsutsui – all participated in a monthly Senate caucus held Wednesday in Honolulu. Senators discussed the Superferry and whether to hold a special session before Cardoza reaches a decision.

"The consensus was we're going to wait for the court's ruling," Tsutsui said.

The Wailuku senator had publicly called for an environmental impact statement when

the ferry first announced its plans to sail into Kahului Harbor.

Tsutsui said he can't comment on what the Senate would do for the ferry, but he agreed with his colleagues to hold off any consideration of action until after Cardoza rules.

"I would like to respect the process. It's in the court's hands," Tsutsui said.

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in favor of an environmental review for the Superferry was won by three environmental groups, Maui Tomorrow, the Sierra Club and the Kahului Harbor Coalition. Its members say an environmental review is needed to study the ferry's impacts on the introduction of invasive species, the threat of ferry collisions with endangered humpback whales and increased traffic on Maui's roads.

An environmental assessment is expected to take at least eight months, but legal challenges to it could delay matters longer. More delays would come if it's decided that a more thorough environmental impact statement is needed.

Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.

Copyright © 2005 The Maui News.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/news/2007/9/27/02law0927.html

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