Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands

Astronomy Facilities

Astronomy Facilities

OCCL is monitoring the progress of two new astronomical facilities that have recently received permits from the Board of Land and Natural Resources: the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST; formerly known as the Advance Technology Solar Telescope, ATST) at the Haleakalā High Observatories Site on Maui, and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in the Mauna Kea Science Reserve on Hawaiʻi.

Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (January 2009)
TMT Final Environmental Impact Statement (April 26, 2010) (Volume 2, Volume 3)
TMT Conservation District Use Application (CDUA HA-3568, October 2010)
OCCL staff report on HA-3568 (February 25, 2011); Exhibits for HA-3568
BLNR Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision and Order in the first contested case hearing regarding CDUA HA-3568 for the Thirty Meter Telescope (April 2013)

Phase 1 Notice of initiation / Pre-construction mitigation / DLNR Notice to proceed (March 2015)

BLNR Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision and Order in the second contested case hearing regarding CDUA HA-3568 for the Thirty Meter Telescope (September 2017)

Documents regarding the appeals to the State Supreme Court of the Board’s 2017 Order can be found at the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary website eCourt Kōkua by searching for case SCOT-17-0000777.

Annual Reports on the status of the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan: 2015 , 2016, 2017 (new)

Court Decisions regarding the Thirty Meter Telescope (2014-2015)

Circuit Court of the Third Circuit, Civil No. 13-1-0349,Mauna Kea Anaina Hou et al. vs. Board of Land and Natural Resources et al., Decision and Order affirming Board of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision and Order Granting Conservation District Use Permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve Dated April 12, 2013 (May 5, 2014)

Supreme Court of the State Of Hawaii, SCAP-14-0000873, Mauna Kea Anaina Hou et al. vs. Board of Land and Natural Resources et al., Opinion of the Court by Rectenwald, C .J. (December 2, 2015)

Supreme Court of the State Of Hawaii, SCAP-14-0000873, Mauna Kea Anaina Hou et al. vs. Board of Land and Natural Resources et al., Concurring Opinion by Pollack, J., in which Wilson, J., joins in and in which McKenna, J. joins as to Part IV (December 2, 2015)

Decommissioning Telescopes

Decommissioning Plan for the Mauna Kea Observatories (January 2010)
Notice of Intent to Decommission the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (December 2015)
Notice of Intent to Decommission the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Koku Kea Telescope (September 2015)