From: Kealoha, Katherine P. To: Miyamoto, Faith; Saito, Trudi CC: katherine.kealoha@doh.hawaii.gov ; kathykealoha@yahoo.com Sent: 9/22/2009 5:48:05 PM Subject: 09-21-09_Honolulu Rail Summary.doc

As requested by PB: OEQC is providing this CONFIDENTIAL status report to specific City officials. This communication is being made pursuant to FIRS §341 and §343. THIS STATUS REPORT IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION.

OEQC Work-Product

Katherine Kealoha September 21, 2009

OEQC Director Updated Status Report

Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (Honolulu Rail)

The purpose of the project is to address the current and future transportation needs of the corridor between East Kapolei and the University of Hawai` i at Manoa.

Proposing Agency: Department of Transportation Services (DTS), City and County of Honolulu, 650 South King

Street, 3 rd Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813. Contact: Wayne Y. Yoshioka, 768-8303

Accepting Authority: Governor, State of Hawai`i, c/o Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) , 235 South Beretania, Suite 702, Honolulu, HI 96813. Contact: Katherine Puana Kealoha, (808) 586-4185

December 8, 2005 The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement Preparation Notice (EA/EISPN) was published in the OEQC periodic bulletin (The Environmental Notice or" l'EN") upon submittal by DTS to OEQC — This started the 30-day public comment period which ended on January 9, 2006.

November 23, 2008 The project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was published in The Environmental Notice. This started the 45-day public comment period which ended on January 7, 2009. However, because this is a joint federal (National Environmental Policy Act) and local (Chapter 343, HRS) project, the Federal Transit Administration extended the comment deadline to February 6, 2009, with the concurrence of the Department of Transportation Services of the City & County of Honolulu.

Prior to publication of the DEIS in l'EN, the Honolulu City Council selected the preferred alternative, based on a report titled the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project Alternatives Analysis Report (DTS 2006b). There were four alternatives studied; (a) No build Alternative, (b) Fixed Guideway Transit Alternative via Salt Lake Boulevard (Salt Lake Alternative) , (c) Fixed Guideway Transit Alternative via the Airport (Airport Alternative) , and (d) Fixed Guideway Transit Alternative via the Airport & Salt Lake (Airport & Salt Lake Alternative).

The Project is proposed to be constructed in four phases: (a) East Kapolei to Pearl Highlands, (b) Pearl Highlands to Aloha Stadium, (c) Aloha Stadium to Middle Street, and (d) Middle Street to Ala Moana Center.

Hawaii Administrative Rules, §11-200-23, Acceptability The next step in the process is for the City & County of Honolulu, Department of Transportation Services (Proposing

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Agency) to submit the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to the Governor, c/o Office of Environmental Quality Control (Accepting Authority) , for approval by OEQC of the distribution list for the FEIS, and OEQC' s processing acceptance or denial, including publication in The Environmental Notice.

Once the FEIS is published, there is no public comment period (because it's final). The challenge period for the FEIS is 60 days after acceptance and publication of the FEIS.

§343-7 Limitation of actions (c) Any judicial proceeding, the subject of which is the acceptance of an environmental impact statement required under section 343-5, shall be initiated within sixty days after the public has been informed pursuant to section 343-3 of the acceptance of such statement. The council shall be adjudged an aggrieved party for the purpose of bringing judicial action under this subsection. Affected agencies and persons who provided written comment to such statement during the designated review period shall be adjudged aggrieved parties for the purpose of bringing judicial action under this subsection; provided that the contestable issues shall be limited to issues identified and discussed in the written comment.

*The City will provide us the status of the following required permits by the end of week: *Additional permits may be disclosed at that time.

Required Permits* • Archaeological Resource Protection Permit • Clean Water Act, Section 404 • Farmland Conversion Impact Rating • Floodplain Management and Protection Approval • Jurisdictional Determination, Clean Water Act, Section 401 • Section 10, Rivers and Harbors Act • Sole Source Aquifer • Archaeological Inventory Survey Plan • Certificate of Inclusion, HDLNR (Division of Forestry and Wildlife) • Coastal Zone Management, Federal Consistency Determination • Drainage Injection Well • Section 106, National Historic Preservation Act, Memorandum of Agreement • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (Dewatering) • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (General) • Noise Variance • Road Closure • Stream Channel Alteration • Historical Property Mitigation Measurements • Executive Summary

1- Under FIRS 343 and NEPA, there are NO public hearings required. Yet historically, with various controversial projects, all parties agree to hold public hearings for the benefit of the community at large. These public hearings, which are more appropriately described as informational sessions/briefings, do not extend the length of the comment period, nor do they delay the process at all.

2- We recommend that OEQC organize and moderate these hearings, as we are an objective third-party with no interest in the outcome.

3- Strategically, if everyone agrees to this approach, OEQC would be the appropriate requesting party that initiates the concept of public hearings for the project.

4- Upon agreement, the request will be made by OEQC, and the City/State/Federal stakeholders will not object to the proposal.

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5- The public hearings will be held within a two week time period, and OEQC (as stated above) will be in charge of the location, organization and moderation of the hearings. Information will be provided to the public about the project, and OEQC will accept any comments or critiques (for hearing purposes only) which will be made available for review in our office.

Should you have any questions or concerns about our Confidential Rail status report, please contact me (Katherine Kealoha) at (808) 586-4185.

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