Gov. Linda Lingle has signed a bill allowing Hawaii Superferry to resume service while the state conducts an environmental review of the project, and has placed more than 40 operating conditions on Superferry that will be monitored by a rapid risk assessment team and an oversight task force.

The conditions are intended as precautions during the one to two years it could take the state to complete an environmental impact statement, and could be modified by the governor and the state Legislature. Many of the conditions written into the law are similar to promises Superferry executives had voluntarily made to protect the environment, while others were added in consultation with environmentalists, farmers and cultural experts.

Lingle signed the bill into law late Friday and finalized the conditions in an executive order Sunday. The state Attorney General's Office and Superferry filed motions in Maui Circuit Court yesterday to lift an injunction that has blocked Superferry from Kahului Harbor until an environmental review is completed. A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Isaac Hall, an attorney for Maui Tomorrow, the Sierra Club and Kahului Harbor Coalition, the environmental groups that have challenged Superferry, said he will ask that the injunction not be lifted.

"We were very disappointed," Hall said of Lingle's operating conditions. "I think they're not sufficient to mitigate the irreparable harm that the judge identified."

REASONABLE AND FAIR

Superferry released a statement yesterday that described the conditions as reasonable and fair.

"We appreciate Gov. Lingle's and the Legislature's timely action of signing into law a bill that allows Hawaii Superferry to operate while the state conducts an EIS. Hawaii Superferry believes that the operating conditions outlined by the governor are reasonable and fair under the current circumstances," John Garibaldi, the Superferry's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "As we stated last week, we look forward to resuming service once all operational, regulatory and legal steps are completed."

Lingle had predicted that neither Superferry nor the project's critics would be satisfied with her conditions.

"It's important to keep in mind that these are really interim conditions until the Legislature comes back into session, at which time they have the opportunity to make any changes to the bill that they want. Also, I have the opportunity to change these conditions through the executive order at any time as well," Lingle said yesterday at the state Capitol.

SPEED WAS TRICKY ISSUE

Among the most difficult decisions, Lingle said, was how much to restrict the ferry's speed to protect endangered humpback whales and other marine life. Environmentalists had wanted the ferry to slow to 13 knots in shallow waters, while Superferry executives were only willing to slow to 25 knots in shallow waters and within the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Lingle opted to urge Superferry to avoid the whale sanctuary and shallow waters of 100 fathoms or less when possible from January through April, the peak of the winter whale season. The ferry would have to slow from an estimated travel speed of about 35 knots down to 25 knots in the sanctuary and in shallow waters outside of harbors.

"They feel it's important to be able to travel at a speed where the passengers are comfortable and not in any danger, and that's why the issue of the route and the speed ended up as it did," Lingle explained.

Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter, said he appreciated Lingle's effort but believes the conditions do not go far enough.

"We respect that the governor has attempted to go beyond what the bill says to protect the environment and natural resources," he said. "But the big one — the speed issue — wasn't in there."

Lingle also addressed a flaw in the bill involving a request for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observers on voyages through the whale sanctuary to help spot whales.

ALTERNATE OBSERVERS

The bill required Superferry to apply for an incidental-take permit under the federal Endangered Species Act, which would include a habitat conservation plan for whales and other marine life in exchange for liability protection in the event of whale strikes. Lawmakers also wanted Superferry to request NOAA observers, but a NOAA Fisheries official has said that the only scenario where observers would be available is through the permit, which could take a year or longer to process.

Superferry mailed its application for an incidental-take permit on Sunday and also requested the NOAA observers.

Lingle modified the condition so Superferry can request NOAA-certified observers who live in Hawai'i to serve as lookouts, including those involved with the Alu Like marine stewardship program. Alu Like in the past has received a federal grant from NOAA to train Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as fishery observers.

ADDRESSING BIRDS, IWI

Superferry also must agree to have crew members trained by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to look for downed seabirds. On departures between mid-September and mid-December, the crew must check the vessel and retrieve and care for any downed seabirds.

Lingle also imposed several conditions to protect natural and cultural resources, and respond to some concerns on the Neighbor Islands that people would arrive on the ferry and deplete fishing grounds.

The governor ordered Superferry to ban all fishing nets and the transport of 'opihi, lobster and other crustaceans. Superferry also must ban the transport of iwi, or human bones, and consider doing briefings for passengers on Hawaiian cultural issues.

Lingle also asked Superferry to consider a lower transport rate for agricultural products to help farmers move goods between islands, one of the benefits of Superferry lawmakers had identified in the bill.

The new law gives Lingle the discretion to modify conditions and the Legislature the right to change or add conditions based on the monitoring of Superferry voyages. Lingle said yesterday, for example, that she forgot to include restrictions on bee equipment to deter the spread of destructive varroa mites from O'ahu to the Big Island, the center of the state's bee industry.

A rapid risk assessment team was a condition recommended by environmental groups. The team will likely be chosen by Belt Collins, the firm the state hired to do the environmental impact statement on the Superferry project, and will report to the state Department of Transportation. An oversight task force made up of state, Superferry, environmental and cultural representatives also will track voyages and provide monthly reports to the Legislature starting at the end of December.

HEIGHTENED AWARENESS

Lingle said yesterday that one of the positives in the debate over Superferry is the increased awareness about the threat of invasive species. The governor said she would likely ask the Legislature for more money next session for inspections and enforcement officers, and she predicted lawmakers would discuss tougher restrictions on barges, cruise ships and other vessels that move between islands.

"There is going to be a heightened attention on the impact of various vessels, both on the ocean as well as the impact on the shores, or the ports that they go into," Lingle said. "And I think that's a positive thing."

Lingle thanked state House and Senate leaders for working cooperatively with her during the Superferry debate given the "tremendously intense feelings on both sides." She also thanked Superferry executives for the patience they have shown in the two months since the state Supreme Court ruled that an environmental review of the project is necessary.

The governor recognized Superferry executives for the "faith they've had in the state of Hawai'i, for not pulling up stakes and just calling it a day. They didn't know what the outcome might be and they've stuck with it, and I appreciate it very much."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.