Jul. 21—When the state Legislature created a new entity to manage the activities on Hawaii’s tallest mountain, it also created a bit of confusion.
When the state Legislature created a new entity to manage the activities on Hawaii’s tallest mountain, it also created a bit of confusion.
Act 255 called for a transition period in which the previous manager, the University of Hawaii, would share duties with the new one, the Maunakea Stewardship Oversight Authority, over a five-year time frame that started July 1.
But university officials say the setup left “a lack of clarity ” over lines of responsibility, and now there’s a real possibility of the two entities bumping heads over decisions that have to be made.
The UH Board of Regents on Thursday deferred a resolution calling for a memorandum of understanding outlining how the university and the authority will jointly manage the mountain during the transition.
The resolution, among other things, says the agreement should address how the administrative rules for public and commercial activities should be enforced and how to “operationalize the terms ‘jointly manage’ and ‘day-to-day operations’ as those terms are used in Act 255.”
“Clarifying our role and how all of this is supposed to work as we go forward is extremely, extremely important—something we’ve been pushing from the get-go, ” said Greg Chun, UH’s director of Mauna Kea stewardship.
“Quite frankly, we need your help, ” Diana Van De Car, a member of UH’s Maunakea Management Board, told the regents.
Act 255, she said, “gives absolutely no clarity as to how the joint management with the new authority is going to take place in actual practice.”
Van De Car, a retired attorney from Volcano, said employees of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship need clear lines of authority during the transition period, which continues until July 1, 2028.
“Without clarity, quite a few of us are worried about the possible personal liability that we might have, ” she said.
Van De Car asked the regents to step up and offer the kind of guidance employees need and the mountain deserves.
“There’s millions and millions of dollars invested up there. It’s crowded with tourists. We have to know it’s managed appropriately.”
Van De Car said she and others from UH Hilo met with lawmakers and asked them to modify the law to clarify lines of authority during the transition. But they said they couldn’t make those changes. They said it would have to be worked out on a case-by-case basis.
But that’s not happening right now, she said.
“There’s a real big vacuum here, and you need to fill it, ” Van De Car told the regents.
The resolution was referred to the board’s governance committee, and the regents said they would make a decision at August’s board meeting.
The action came after John Komeiji, chair of the Maunakea Stewardship Oversight Authority, asked that the resolution be deferred to allow his board a chance to discuss the proposal.
In written testimony, Komeiji said he had concerns the resolution ignores the mandate of Act 255.
Attempts to reach Komeiji for further clarification on that point were unsuccessful.
The draft resolution also calls for completing some projects and obligations that were already started on the mountain, including :—The decommissioning of two observatories : Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and Hoku Ke ‘a Observatory by August 2024.—The installation of a new UH Hilo educational telescope at Hale Pohaku.—The development and implementation of Mauna Kea educational programs by the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.—The decommissioning of up to three additional observatory sites in compliance with existing or future permits or governmental approvals linked to the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. If decommissioning is still required, the three observatory sites will be identified and reported to the board by January 2026.
The university previously proposed an orderly withdrawal of numerous Mauna Kea permits and agreements. The list includes two general leases and a road easement equal to approximately 11, 378 acres, nine Maunakea Observatory subleases and 18 conservation district use permits with approximately 300 conditions issued to UH by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
Mauna Kea has been the source of great controversy in recent years, much of it centered around the planned development of the TMT, the cutting-edge telescope expected to allow astronomers to reach back 13 billion years to answer fundamental questions about the advent of the universe.
