HAWICA: EA Required For Importation of GMO Algae

The Hawaii Intermediate Court of appeals has issued an opinion in Ohana Pale Ke Ao v. Board of Agriculture, State of Hawaii, No. 27855 (May 21, 2008).  The court ruled on two issues related to the importation of genetically-modified algae into Hawaii by the tenant of a State-owned facility on the Big Island of Hawaii:

This appeal presents two issues: (1) whether the Board was required to comply with the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act (HEPA), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 343, before approving a permit to import genetically engineered (GE) algae for production in a facility on state lands; and if so, (2) whether two prior environmental impact statements (EISs) prepared for the state lands where production of the GE algae is planned satisfied the Board's HEPA obligations.

Slip op. at 1-2.  I attended the oral arguments and blogged about the issues in the case here.

The ICA held the Board should have required an EA. The court rejected the Board's argument that the permit procedures in Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 150A, which were enacted after chapter 343 and contain a detailed process for the importation of microorganisms worked an implied repeal of the EA requirement.  The court held that the plan to grow the organisms at the state facility is "an action that proposes the use of state land," slip op. at 13, and therefore "HRS § 343-5 plainly and unambiguously required the preparation of an EA before the Board could approve [the] application."  Id.  The court held that although chapters 343 and 150A may "overlap in their application and purpose, they do not conflict and both can be given effect."  Id. at 16.

On the second issue, the ICA held the two earlier EISs did not satisfy the Board's obligations:

The two EISs, which were prepared more than three and two decades ago, respectively, confirm that the NELH and HOST parks were still conceptual or in their infancy stages when the EISs were prepared.  It is clear from the EIS that as the nature and details of individual projects to be conducted at either park became known, further HEPA review was expected. 

Slip op. at 21.  The ICA did not address how this holding squares with section 343-5's requirement that the EA be accomplished at "the earliest practical time."  The Hawaii Supreme Court addressed this requirement in the "Koa Ridge" case.  Sierra Club v. State of Hawaii Office of Planning, 109 Haw. 411, 126 P.3d 1089 (Jan. 27, 2006).