The Kaʻū Calendar News Briefs, Hawaiʻi Island: Ka‘ū News Briefs, Wednesday, July 20, 2022

TMT is subject of a community meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at Nāʻālehu Community Center.
Photo from National Science Foundation

A MEETING ON THE THIRTY METER TELESCOPE is set for Nāʻālehu Community Center on Wednesday, Aug. 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It is a scoping meeting to be held by the National Science Foundation which is conducting an environmental review and preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate anticipated environmental impacts associated with a potential NSF investment in the construction and operation of an Extremely Large Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. A statement from NSF notes:
"The only proposed Northern Hemisphere ELT is the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which has a preferred site on the summit of Maunakea, Hawai‘i Island, Hawai'i, and an alternative site on Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, in the Canary Islands. Because the only proposed US-ELT that is located in the Northern Hemisphere is the TMT, and because many people who have a connection to Maunakea, Hawai‘i Island, have strong viewpoints about whether TMT should be built there, NSF has decided to go beyond the legal requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (Section 106) in its environmental review and provide more opportunities for meaningful public engagement at critical junctures during NSF’s processes."

NSF has announced that the NEPA scoping process has begun with soliciting public comments to identify issues to be analyzed in the EIS. NSF is also initiating consultation under Section 106 to evaluate potential effects of the Proposed Action on any historic properties within the area and will conduct future Consulting Parties meetings, to be announced at a later date.
NSF will host four public scoping meetings from Aug. 9 through Aug. 12. Contact NSF at least one week in advance of each meeting to request special accommodations such as sign language interpretation.
Dates and addresses for all four meetings are:

Flags in Pāhala waived in support of preserving
Mauna Kea by rejecting TMT. Photo by Julia Neal

Hilo: Aug. 9, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Grand Naniloa Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Crown Room 93 Banyan Dr., Hilo, HI 96720
Nāʻālehu: Aug. 10, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nāʻālehu Community Center 95-5635 Hawaii Belt Rd., Nāʻālehu, HI 96772
Kona: Aug. 11, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa, Kaleiopapa Convention Center 78-128 ʻEhukai St., Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Kamuela (Waimea): Aug. 12, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Kahilu Town Hall, 67-1182 Lindsey Rd., Kamuela, HI 96743.
Comments may be submitted verbally and in writing during the scoping meetings. Comments can also be provided in the Hawaiian language, which will subsequently be translated to the English language to facilitate NSF’s consideration of those comments.
Written comments on this Proposed Action may also be provided by the following methods: Website: https://beta.nsf.gov/tmt; Regular Mail: Elizabeth Pentecost, RE: ELT National Science Foundation, Room W9152 2415 Eisenhower Ave. Alexandria, VA 22314.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Draft EIS, comments must be received by Sept. 17, 2022. NSF

Farmer and supporter of TMT Richard Ha.
Photo from Big Island Video News

announced that it will provide additional opportunities for public participation upon publication of the Draft EIS. Information regarding the Proposed Action participation upon publication of the Draft EIS. Information regarding the Proposed Action will be posted throughout the EIS process at https://beta.nsf.gov/tmt. For further information regarding the EIS process or the Section 106 consultation process, contact Pentecost at (703) 292-4907 or EIS.106.TMT@nsf.gov.
The public is also invited to comment on NSF’s Draft Community Engagement Plan (Draft CEP), which is available at https://beta.nsf.gov/tmt and at local libraries. In Kaʻū, it is available at Pāhala Public and School Library 96-3150 Pīkake St. Pāhala. The Draft CEP includes a summary of key concepts that NSF heard during its Informal Outreach Effort as well as NSF’s intentions for effective and meaningful engagement with the community during the environmental review process. Comments can be submitted via the methods specified above.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htm

AN ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE SURVEY HAS BEEN COMPLETED and Hawaiʻi State Rural Health
Association and its President Lisa Rantz invite interested parties to webinar on Tuesday, July 26 at 9:30 a.m.. It is sponsored by Community First and Hawaiʻi State Rural Health Association. Register in advance:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wzpcIM4STRy8EkzGrqqL-Q

CONGRESSMAN KAI KAHELE HAS ANNOUNCED FUNDING FOR RURAL HAWAI'I. Among the
appropriations announced on Wednesday are:

Rural Development: $1 million for the Floriculture and Nursery Initiative including report language encouraging ARS to work on research that includes Hawaiʻi specific needs such as breeding programs to increase tolerance from insect pests, diseases and other climate change impacts;
$500,000 for the Coffee Plant Health Initiative to address coffee leaf rust;
$500,000 to support implementation of the Macadamia Tree Health Initiative;
$5,000,000 for the Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Grants program
$3 million for the Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program for Geographically Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers;
$10 million for the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program; and
$35.5 million for agriculture quarantine inspections.

Kai Kahele at a recent talk in Kaʻū with coffee, tea and food farmers and other
residents. Photo by Julia Neal

Energy and Water Development: $1.16 million for the operations and maintenance of Barbers Point Deep Draft Harbor and projects;
Hawaiʻi beneficial language directing the U.S. Department of Energy to report back to Congress on the feasibility of incorporating engineering within Sea Water Air Conditioning and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion that would enhance open-ocean aquaculture and serve to stimulate biological productivity in nutrient-poor offshore waters as a means of accelerating capture and sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide as well as stimulating offshore fisheries.

Financial Services and General Government:

$5 million for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Native American Outreach, which creates entrepreneurial opportunities and empowerment in Native communities, including Native Hawaiian-owned businesses;
$22.5 million for the Native American Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Assistance Program, a program that helps Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities access capital, financial services, technical assistance and business training;

$110 million for the SBA Microloan program that targets women, veterans and minority entrepreneurs with limited assets;
Extends the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to provide for an additional one-year extension of Hawaiʻi's long-standing fourth "temporary" judgeship.

Interior and Environment:
Language requiring the Bureau of Land Management to continue executing the survey requirements of the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act, Public Law 104–42 as soon as public health conditions allow. The Bureau shall consult with Homestead Beneficiary Associations, as defined under 43 C.F.R. § 47.1, when conducting these surveys.

Language directing the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations (ONHR) to develop a consultation policy with the Native Hawaiʻi community, similar to the one described in the Standard Operating Procedure for Consultation, for use by all federal agencies in order to promote the responsible execution of policy across the federal government. Additionally, the NHR is directed to provide an update to the Committee on the actions taken to develop the consultation policy and to seek to encourage regular and meaningful consultation by federal agencies with the Native Hawaiian community.
$34 million for the Volcano Hazards Program, a program that monitors volcano activities including at the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park;
$6.75 million for the State of the Birds Program, which assesses the status and health of bird species such as the 'akikiki, 'iʻiwi and kiwikiu birds;
$4.6 million for the Japanese-American Confinement Sites Grants to preserve the historic confinement sites where Japanese-Americans were incarcerated during World War II$2.1 billion towards military family housing nationwide, including $373 million to address issues such as mold, vermin and lead and increased oversight of military privatized housing;
$274.4 million for Child Development Centers to support increased capacity and better facilities for the 1.2 million children of active duty service members worldwide.