Group pushes rules on ferry

Passengers would be subject to scrutiny, environmentalists say

Friday, October 19, 2007
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
By Richard Borreca

Environmentalists say a planned special legislative session to pass a law to permit the Hawaii Superferry to sail is unconstitutional and a violation of the law.

A group of Maui residents who successfully sued to stop the Superferry until an environmental assessment could be done met with Senate President Colleen Hanabusa yesterday urging her to drop plans for the Wednesday session or at least put severe limits on how the 350-foot ship could operate.

Fearing that the ship will run over whales, allow vehicles on board with seeds or animals not found on Maui and Kauai or even bring over people who would indiscriminately camp, the environmentalists want restrictions.

The group included Isaac Hall, plaintiffs' attorney; Judith Michaels, Maui Tomorrow acting president; Leslie Kuloloio, a Hawaiian cultural practitioner; and activists Dick Mayer and Masako Wescott.

"We believe this bill is an unconstitutional retroactive overruling of a judge's decision that could be challenged," Hall said, noting that the group might still sue.

"We are looking into whether or not this particular bill, bailing out the Hawaii Superferry, is special legislation that denies our constitutional vested rights and violates the separation of powers," Hall said.

In response, Hanabusa, who spent yesterday afternoon meeting with House Speaker Calvin Say and Attorney General Mark Bennett on the bill, would only say that she thought Hall is "a very good attorney."

"It will be a nice test of Mark Bennett's talents," said Hanabusa, who is also an attorney.

The environmentalists asked that if the Legislature meets and passes a bill allowing the Superferry to sail despite the court injunction, 29 conditions be put on the ship's operation.

The environmentalists want the boat to go no faster than 13 knots within 10 miles of any state harbor or in waters less than 1,000 fathoms.

Passengers would be forced to say if they were going camping and then only allowed if they had camping permits for government parks. Passengers would not be allowed to bring cultural or natural resources from the ocean, shoreline or inland unless they bought it in a store and had a receipt.

Hanabusa said that the Legislature would have difficulty enforcing those requirements because it does not have enforcement powers.

Republican Senate leader Fred Hemmings called the proposal "ludicrous."

"It is absolutely hypocrisy when other forms of transportation are not held to those standards. If people want to camp, they can camp. This is still America," Hemmings said.

On Wednesday, House leaders released a draft of the bill that would be under consideration for next week's special session. The bill allows the Superferry to operate during the environmental study but requires a task force to monitor the ferry's impact and state inspections of each ferry trip.

Jimmy Trujillo, spokesman for the Kauai protest group Hui-R, said he skimmed the draft of the Legislature's proposal Wednesday night and was not pleased.

"This thing is like Swiss cheese, there's so many holes in it," Trujillo said. "It's really disconcerting."

The bill is not a compromise, Trujillo added, saying there are no provisions to protect the environment.

"(An environmental impact statement) first is the appropriate response from the government," he continued. "I'm hopeful that this seven-day session will yield nothing."

If the bill goes forward, Trujillo expects large crowds to return to Nawiliwili Harbor.

"We're still prepared to block the dock, get in the water" so that "our issues will be heard," he added.