State House blocks bills against Thirty Meter Telescope

A bill that would impose a construction freeze atop Mauna Kea and potentially thwart development of the Thirty Meter Telescope appears to have been dealt a fatal blow.

The state House of Representatives last week refused to assign any conferees to House Bill 1585 and two other TMT-related bills, House Speaker Scott Saiki said.

“The House’s position is that we need to allow the (TMT) litigation to proceed and be decided,” Saiki said. “This is not the time to create instability for astronomy.”

The state Legislature is now meeting in conference committee — that part of the session when Senate and House members attempt to iron out compromises that allow a single version of a bill to be sent to the governor. Without House members assigned to the Mauna Kea bills, no compromise version is possible.

The bills include HB 1585, which would require a series of audits and other tasks of the University of Hawaii before a construction moratorium at the Mauna Kea summit will be lifted, and HB 1985, which would establish a new authority to take over management of the summit from UH and the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Both measures started out with different identities. The contents were removed and replaced with the substance of measures that originated in the Senate, allowing the proposals championed by state Sen. Kaiali‘i Kahele (D, Hilo) with support from state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Ways and Means Committee chairman, to find new life.

But Saiki said the bills didn’t receive the necessary public review in the House.

“I don’t agree with the way it was done,” he said. “The issues need to be properly vetted and not thrown into the mix at the last minute.”

Kahele, who has been campaigning hard for weeks to win public support for his Mauna Kea measures, did not return a phone call.

It is unclear whether Kahele or others are plotting any further maneuvers to resuscitate the proposals. The Legislature has been known to pass difficult measures at the last minute.

Asked to respond to the possible demise of the Mauna Kea bills, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said, “The university will wait to the end of the session before commenting.”

TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa was also cautious but added, “Any further delay such as a proposed construction moratorium would have created a serious setback for building TMT in Hawaii.”

Thayne Currie, a Mauna Kea astronomer and spokesman for Yes2TMT, welcomed the House’s move.

“The voice of the community is extremely loud and extremely clear: ‘no’ to meddling with TMT. Let the people’s process work. We are grateful that the House is listening. We hope Sens. Kahele and Dela Cruz listen better in the future,” Currie said.

After being stalled by protests and legal issues in Hawaii for years, the TMT International Observatory board of governors is now trying to decide whether to build its $1.4 billion project on Mauna Kea, its preferred site, or in the Canary Islands.

Also not assigned conferees by the House was HB 1767, regarding vehicle access to Waipio Valley and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve.