Mauna Kea would be administered jointly by the University of Hawaii and a new authority under the latest version of a controversial bill that aims to transform the management of Hawaii’s tallest mountain.
House Bill 2024 was approved Friday by the state Senate Ways and Means Committee and now will go on to a conference committee with the possibility of further changes.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Ways and Means chairman, said the latest version of the bill addresses the concern that there won’t be enough time for a new authority to navigate the master lease renewal process in time for the observatories to continue their work on the summit beyond 2033.
“The joint oversight structure addresses the perceived threat to the future of astronomy in our state,” Dela Cruz said.
Under provisions of the reworked bill, the new Mauna Kea Stewardship Authority would manage approximately 9,450 acres of conservation land on the mountain, while the university would oversee the summit’s astronomy precinct, the Hale Pohaku complex and Mauna Kea Access Road, totalling about 550 acres.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo would provide administrative functions for both the university and the new authority.
“Our goal in Senate Draft 2 was to develop a management structure from a practical standpoint that would be workable while balancing the diverse interests of conservation, protection and the regulation of current and future uses of Mauna Kea,” Dela Cruz said.
“We realize that each side may not be satisfied with the joint-oversight model we are proposing, but unfortunately there is no perfect solution to this controversy,” he said. “Each side must be willing to work together, and a shared responsibility accomplishes that.”
The bill, as proposed, allows for returning the astronomy land to its natural state after the observatories lose their academic or research value.
The measure would also declare astronomy as the policy of the state, while establishing guiding values that work to perpetuate Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices.
In testimony against the bill, university officials said it does not allow enough time for the new authority to carry out the complicated process of renewing observatory subleases and securing a new land authorization for the summit before the telescopes are forced into a lengthy decommissioning process prior to the expiration of the master lease in 2033.
They said the timeline would effectively lead to the end of world-class astronomy atop Mauna Kea, a significant setback to a $110 million industry in the islands and to the university’s Institute for Astronomy.
The university also argued that the bill underestimates the complexities and costs of managing access to public lands.
The Ways and Means Committee did not take any public testimony Friday, but written comments were overwhelmingly against the measure, most of them echoing fears about the loss of astronomy on Hawaii island.
