Public may weigh in as Kaua‘i utility seeks 50-year permit

Members of the public have 60 days to comment on a Habitat Conservation Plan developed by the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, which is seeking a 50-year incidental take authorization from state and federal agencies.

The authorization is needed because some KIUC infrastructure is known to result in incidental take, or accidental but not unexpected harm, to some threatened or endangered wildlife species. One example of incidental take could be a protected waterbird colliding with an aerial power line or streetlight.

The 50-year permit, if approved, would follow several 5-year incidental take permits granted to KIUC by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.

“In May 2011, the USFWS approved KIUC’s Short-Term Seabird Habitat Conservation Plan for a period of five years to help develop the knowledge base for a longer permit duration,” KIUC’s newly-developed Habitat Conservation Plan reads. “In 2016, KIUC agreed with USFWS and DOFAW [Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife] to continue implementing the Short-Term HCP conservation measures and reporting until a longer-term HCP could be fully developed.”

The HCP can be viewed and instructions for submitting comments can be found here.