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In his first post-election press conference, Governor-elect Neil Abercrombie said that when it comes to the Environmental Impact Statement for Honolulu’s rail project, his sole responsibility is to determine if the review was conducted correctly.

On Thursday, Civil Beat reported Abercrombie saying, “If the EIS is done correctly, it’s the obligation of the executive to sign it. Whether I think it’s a good idea to move it forward or not is not the issue.”

Abercrombie went on to say, “Unless there’s something about the EIS process I’m not aware of, whether or not I like the financial analysis is not part of it. Any documents that I’m required to deal with as governor that fulfill the law will be moved forward. Whether or not that results in rail transit or any other kind of transit moving forward, I don’t know.”

Is it true that the future governor of Hawaii‘s only responsibility regarding the EIS is to make sure the review was done according to the law?

His soon-to-be-predecessor didn’t think so.

In September, Gov. Linda Lingle ordered an independent analysis to find out if rail was sufficiently financed.

In a , Lingle said: “While I understand the desire of rail supporters to want to see the project start, and recognize that some candidates may have a vested political interest in giving the public a false impression that I am somehow delaying approval of the final EIS, I have a legal responsibility to ensure that the environmental impact statement complies with Hawaii’s environmental law. Moreover, I have a fiduciary responsibility to do an objective, common sense financial analysis of what this project – the most expensive public works project in our state’s history – will cost Hawaii taxpayers over the long-term.”

Civil Beat first approached Abercrombie spokesperson Laurie Au, who elaborated on the governor-elect’s position.

“I think it’s two parts to the EIS,” Au said. “One, that’s it’s been performed correctly. Also, with EIS’s in general, if there are circumstances where they do find there are disturbances or an environment impact issue, to ensure that those environmental impacts are mitigated properly… If they are, Neil feels it is his legal responsibility to sign the EIS.”

Meaning, that if the EIS was done correctly, as Abercrombie indicated, he would sign off on the project, thus fulfilling his role as governor.

Spokespeople for the mayor’s office and the city’s confirmed Abercrombie’s position.

“Governor-elect Abercrombie is correct,” said Jeanne Mariani-Belding, chief public information officer of Honolulu’s Rapid Transit Division. “A financial review has nothing to do with the acceptance of the final EIS. The governor’s role in this regard is to ensure that Hawaii’s environmental law is being followed.”

Louise Kim McCoy, press secretary for the Office of the Mayor, echoed Mariani-Belding’s statement. When Civil Beat asked her if it was the position of Mayor Peter Carlisle that Abercrombie’s sole role on the EIS was to sign off on the review process, she replied: “Yes, that is a correct legal analysis.”

One of the most vocal and informed opponents of the project, Cliff Slater, of , concurred.

“The governor is required to sign off under the H-343 statute.” However, Slater told Civil Beat that by his estimation, the rail project is under-financed to the tune of a billion dollars.

“From my standpoint, Neil is being little irresponsible in not examining the potential impact to the state,” Slater said. “It may very well be that this is his last real chance to be a little cautious before he signs off. It gets to the point where it’s too late to stop it.”

Although Abercrombie is correct about his responsibility, there is nothing that says he couldn’t review additional information.

Technically, even though Abercrombie would fulfill his duty as governor by signing off – or rejecting – the EIS based on whether the law was followed correctly, there is nothing in the pertaining to Environmental Impact Statements that says he couldn’t look at numbers or the merits of the project.

Abercrombie is simply not to, as is his right under the statute.