State extends deadline
for Navy’s Kauai proposal

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has given the Navy and Scripps Institution of Oceanography another year to win approval to resume low-frequency sound transmissions from waters off Kauai.

The sound transmissions will be used to measure ocean temperatures for global climate research and to determine the effects of low-frequency sound signals on marine mammals.

The Land Board granted Scripps a three-year permit to use state waters for its research in February 1996 and later extended the permit to October 1999.

In August 1999, Scripps applied for a new five-year permit. The deadline for approval was Sept. 30 of this year.

The Land Board extended the approval deadline to allow its staff to analyze and conduct public hearings on the project's environmental impact statement, which Scripps submitted last month.

The Land Board also granted preliminary approval on proposals to limit commercial activity at Shark's Cove on Oahu's North Shore and to increase fees for recreational and commercial activities at state boating facilities and state beaches.

The proposed rules changes require the governor's approval to conduct statewide hearings, then his approval of the changes.