The same strict environmental law that sank Hawaii's island-hopping ferry service could also be used to derail Honolulu's mass transit train.

Both the Hawaii Superferry and Honolulu's planned 20-mile commuter rail line had to comply with a state law requiring a broad study of how the projects could damage the islands' environment.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who has the power to reject the environmental study, hosted a forum critical of the elevated-rail plan last week to highlight concerns about its $5.4 billion cost and the aesthetics of building a concrete strip across Honolulu's skyline view.

“;People might perceive it to be a problem with the law, but in my view it's a problem of applicants and agencies not doing it right in the first place,”; said Denise Antolini, director of the environmental law program at the University of Hawaii.

While the environmental review law is the common thread connecting the ferry and rail, how it is used in each case is different.

Courts ruled that Lingle's administration should have required an environmental impact statement for the Superferry before giving it the go-ahead, a decision that eventually resulted in the ferry company filing for bankruptcy last May.

The rail project has gone through the environmental process, but its opponents argue that the review neglected consideration of its high cost and the possibility of street-level service.

Lingle objects to the suggestion that the projects are similar. “;This is a silly comparison with no basis in reality,”; Lingle said at the American Institute of Architects' forum last Monday.

Rail backers disagree.

The project could fail depending on Lingle's decision, which is what happened to the Superferry, said Honolulu Managing Director Kirk Caldwell.

“;She's playing a game of walking along the edge of a cliff, and the whole project could fall over it and die,”; Caldwell said. “;It's the political decisions of the governor that would be to blame.”;

The rail system's environmental study is in the final stages of review by the Federal Transit Administration. It could reach Lingle in about two months, Caldwell said.

The architects group believes a delay would not kill the project or jeopardize about $1.5 billion in expected federal funding. “;We certainly need this level of environmental protection,”; said Honolulu architect Peter Vincent.

The City Council voted in 2006 to build a fixed-guideway system following an analysis that examined elevated, street-level and subway options, said city Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka. That vote did not specify that the rail line had to be elevated.