OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU

530 SOUTH KING STREET, ROOM 300 • HONOLULU, HAWAII 96813
PHONE: (808) 768-4141 • FAX: (808) 768-4242 • INTERNET: www.honolulu.pov

KIRK CALOWEL ROY K. AMEMIYA, JR.

MAYOR L MANAGING DIRECTOR
GEORGETTE T. DEEMER
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR

October 31, 2019

The Honorable David V. Ige

Governor, State of Hawaii
Executive Chambers, State Capitol
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Dear Governor Ige:

This responds to your letter dated September 20, 2019, transmitting your final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Ala Wai Flood Mitigation Project and designating
me as your authorized representative for reviewing and processing the EIS for the subject
project for acceptability.
The City has carefully reviewed the 2015 draft EIS, 2017 final EIS, and 2018 Errata
sheets, transmitted with your letter, for compliance with Chapter 343 of the Hawai’i Revised
Statutes and Title 11, Chapter 200 of the Hawai’i Administrative Rules (HAR). We applied
Chapter 11-200 rather than Chapter 11-200.1 based upon HAR §11-200.1-32(b)(2).
Based upon the results of that review, I am unable to process the EIS further for
acceptance. The City has concerns regarding the adequacy of the NEPA final EIS in meeting
the requirements of HRS Chapter 343 and HAR Chapter 11-200.
• Response letters to comments on the draft EIS do not appear to include point-by-
point responses to the validity, significance, and relevance of comments and
discussion as to how each comment was evaluated and considered, as required
by HAR 11-200-22(c);
• The final EIS does not appear to indicate clearly the changes made since the
draft EIS, also as required by HAR 11-200-22(c). Language in the final EIS
calling attention to different or greater impacts than what was disclosed in the
2015 draft EIS appears to be lacking or difficult to discern.
• Additional properties appear to have been identified as potential real estate
requirements after the 2015 Draft EIS. However, it does not appear these
additional properties were clearly disclosed as changes between the draft and
final EIS.
• The Proposed Action is not clearly defined. The 2018 Errata should be
incorporated into the text of the final EIS, and other errors and inconsistencies in
the document should be corrected so that descriptions of the Proposed Action
are clear and consistent throughout.
The Honorable David Y. lge
October 31, 2019
Page 2

We regret that, contrary to the understanding of both the State and the U.S. Army Corps,
our conclusion is that the final EIS is not fully compliant with Chapter 343. Pursuant to the
Memorandum of Agreement between the State and the City dated September 19, 2019, and
confirmed in your letter, my role is to accept the final EIS. Therefore, I am returning the final EIS
documents to you for revisions and any further procedures that may be required to satisfy the
requirements of Chapter 343. As you know, acceptance of the EIS is critical to the Project’s
progress, so we ask that the State make the necessary modifications, follow any required
processes, and resubmit the final EIS documents for acceptance as soon as possible. We
appreciate the State’s continued cooperation on this matter.
Should you have any questions, please contact Robert J. Kroning, P.E., Director of
Design and Construction at 768-8480.

Sincerely,

__________/) %_- —.— %_I.J. ~

Kirk Caldwell
Mayor

cc: State Department of Health Office of Environmental Quality Control

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State of Hawaii Department of Land Natural Resources- Eng. Division

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United States Army Corp of Engineers

Department of Design and Construction