That rasping you hear is the sound of heads being scratched over the hiring of Michael Burns, the new consultant tapped to evaluate the city’s $6 billion rail project.

His $95,000 salary is being paid out of the city Department of Transportation Services budget, presumably to give Burns some independence from the project-governing Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

But one has to wonder why this function is necessary at the local level when there’s already fairly robust and regular critique coming from the federal overseers.

He’ll provide the “big picture” about the project in quarterly updates and an annual report to state lawmakers.

Actually, we hope this big picture will include a lot of the smaller but important details that sometimes are slow to emerge.

Maunalua Bay details needed

As the state reviews a federal proposal to expand the size and scope of the humpback whale sanctuary that surrounds the main Hawaiian islands, it must ensure that human residents get a clear view of what the new rules and regulations would mean for their daily activities.

Federal officials so far have steered clear of pinpointing exactly which activities would be restricted or banned.

The lack of specificity understandably fuels unease over the proposed change, especially regarding East Oahu’s popular Maunalua Bay.

That’s too bad, because the ultimate aim of the federal plan is a good one: to create an ecosystem-based sanctuary that aids all marine species within its boundaries, not only the whales.