(BIVN) – Four wheel drive vehicles only, a forensic financial audit, a science and technology research subzone, and an entirely new management authority – all for Mauna Kea – are being proposed in different bills introduced this year at the state legislature.

Here is a list of three senate bills:

SB2325 – RELATING TO MAUNA KEA

Requires the auditor to conduct a forensic financial audit of leases, agencies, and other activities related to Mauna Kea. Report to the legislature.

Introducer(s): K. KAHELE, INOUYE, KIDANI, S. Chang, Dela Cruz, Galuteria, Shimabukuro

SB2865 – RELATING TO THE INSTITUTE FOR ASTRONOMY.

Transfers administrative authority, personnel, and facilities for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy currently located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Introducer(s): K. KAHELE, DELA CRUZ, GALUTERIA, KIM, S. Chang, Wakai

SB3090 – RELATING TO GOVERNMENT

Establishes the Mauna Kea Management Authority. Limits the number of telescopes that may be authorized on Mauna Kea. Authorizes the renegotiation of leases, subleases, easements, permits, and licenses pertaining to Mauna Kea. Requires that revenue derived from activities on Mauna Kea be shared with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Excludes Mauna Kea lands from the definition of “public lands.” Provides for free access to Mauna Kea for traditional cultural purposes.

Introducer(s): DELA CRUZ, ENGLISH, ESPERO, GALUTERIA, HARIMOTO, INOUYE, K. KAHELE, KEITH-AGARAN, KIDANI, KIM, NISHIHARA, SHIMABUKURO, WAKAI, S. Chang, K. Rhoads, Riviere, Taniguchi

And three House bills. One is a companion to SB2865.

HB2047 – RELATING TO THE INSTITUTE FOR ASTRONOMY

Transfers administrative authority, personnel, and facilities for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy currently located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Introducer(s): TODD, CREAGAN, LOWEN, MCKELVEY, NAKAMURA, NAKASHIMA, ONISHI, QUINLAN, SAN BUENAVENTURA

HB1767 – RELATED TO MOTOR VEHICLES

Prohibits access to Mauna Kea Science Reserve and Waipio valley, except through the use of a low-gear four-wheel drive vehicle. Requires tours of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve and Waipio valley to obtain a certification for Hawaii’s professional tour guides. Authorizes the counties and UH to appointment individuals to enforce the restrictions.

Introducer(s): NAKASHIMA

HB1565 – RELATING TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

Establishes science and technology research subzones and an approval process for future research facilities that incorporates alternative dispute resolution principles.
Companion:

Introducer(s): BROWER, NISHIMOTO, SAIKI

Hawaii Island State Senator Kai Kahele has taken a keen interest in Mauna Kea as it relates to the University of Hawaii. UH is charged with the management of the mountain under a master lease issued by the State Department of Land and Natural Resources. On December 29 during an informational briefing at the Capitol, Senator Kahele questioned the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i (RCUH) on their dealings connected to the mountain.

At one point, Sen. Kahele questioned RCUH administrators on a reference to a “Mauna Kea Management Authority” found in the briefing materials. It was the first time the Hilo senator had seen such a title.

“That is under University of Hawaii Hilo,” replied Nelson Sakamoto, the Director of Human Resources for the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, or RCUH. Sakamoto indicated it was same thing as the Office of Maunakea Management.

Senators also asked about the Maunakea Ranger program.

“The ranger title is not what you think it is,” Sakamoto said. “They have no enforcement powers at all. They’re basically individuals that patrol the roads. They’re funded by service fees from the observatories.”

When senators began asking about the fee amount, Sakamoto could not provide an answer. “The Institute for astronomy would have to answer that question,” he said. The RCUH officials eventually began explaining the numerous accounts and entities involved in the collection and distribution of the fees. Senators grew more confused.

“As we’re trying to grapple with the whole Mauna Kea situation,” said State Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, “knowing where monies are flowing and what positions are out there and what jobs entities need to be filled – it helps us as we look at the overall situation.”

“I was unaware that money was being, to some extent, spread around like that,” Dela Cruz commented.

Senate Bill 2325 , if passed, will attempt to sort it all out with a forensic financial audit.

At the same hearing in December, Senator Kahele and other lawmakers questioned UH administrators about the astronomy program.

“We have world-class telescopes on the Big Island,” Sen. Kahele said. “We don’t have world-class telescopes on the island of Oahu. And up until a few years ago, we had the only undergraduate astronomy program, so if you wanted to be an astrophysicist or an astronomer, you had to come to UH-Hilo.”

“Have you seen a decline in enrollment in astronomy and astronomy programs, because of the other competitive program at the flagship (UH Mānoa)?” Kahele asked UH-Hilo administrators.

“In the last five years, I think it’s gone from about 60 students to around 40,” replied UH-Hilo’s interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ken Hon. “Astronomy has gotten a mixed message in the community, so that fewer students, maybe, are drawn to it, because of the kind of controversial aspects of the telescopes.”

“I find it astonishing that the astronomy degree is on Oahu,” Senator Brickwood Galuteria spoke up. “How hard is it gonna be to move it? How hard would it be to move that school over to the mountain?”

David Lassner came to the table to answer, but paused, saying he wasn’t sure if he was speaking as the interim chancellor of UH Mānoa or as the University System president (he is both). Eventually, Lassner said, “normally, we don’t just pick up degrees and move them in their entirety. We try to understand how to address the needs across the system without program duplication.”

“Is it because of the faculty with the skill sets are located on Oahu and not to Big Island?” Sen. Galuteria asked.

“But they don’t have Mauna Kea,” Galuteria continued. “Mauna Kea is the best platform for viewing and the best platform for learning.”

Senate Bill 2865, introduced in the time since the December exchange, proposes to transfer “administrative authority, personnel, and facilities for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy currently located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to the University of Hawaii at Hilo.” The House companion bill is HB2047.