OPSD Cumulative Effects/Impact Assessment Guidance in SMA Permitting

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planning departments may apply these definitions and criteria to assess potential effects/impacts resulting from any uses, activities, or operations within a SMA in making determinations relative to SMA use permits, minor permits, and SMA permit exemptions. However, for the purpose of SMA permit decision -making, application of the significance criteria should be constrained to the CZM objectives and policies and SMA guidelines. Eligible actions for SMA exemption, or developments that are eligible for the SMA minor permit, based on a valuation of less than $500,000, should be subject to some form of assessment to show that the proposed action has no substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect, taking into account potential cumulative effects on a SMA. County - specific review and assessment protocols are encouraged to support a standardized assessment and reporting process. If significant cumulative effects/impacts on a SMA resulting from a proposed development are reasonably foreseeable, site -specific mitigation measures in the planning phase, design phase, construction phase, and/or operational phase should be proposed and implemented to mitigate potential incremental impacts added by the proposed development in response to the CZM criteria illustrated in Table 1. For example, site -specific mitigation measures in SMA permitting to achieve consistency with the CZM objectives and policies and SMA guidelines may include: — Provision and maintenance of public shoreline access — Preservation/protection of archaeological sites, wetlands, and other sensitive areas — Protection of life and property from coastal hazards as defined in HRS Chapter 205A — Protection of beach and coastal dunes — Boundary setbacks and building height restrictions to preserve coastal views — Drainage improvements to control siltation in coastal waters — Prohibition of artificial lighting from directly illuminating the shoreline and ocean waters — Restriction, including frequency and intensity, on the improvements to an existing structure such as a single-family residence, on a shoreline parcel. Cumulative effects/impacts assessment has been required by the NEPA and NEPA for several decades. In accordance with CEQ's new rule issued in 2020 and OPSD's research on EAs/EISs, however, it is noted that both NEPA and HEPA have faced difficulty in providing guidance as to how to conduct cumulative effect/impact assessments to meet the requirement. The lack of feasible spatial and temporal parameters has made assessing cumulative effects/impacts extremely challenging not only in SMA permitting, but also in evaluating EAs and EISs. In response to OCM's evaluation, the OPSD has conducted research on all Final EAs/EISs (1,103 total) from August 2008 to April 2020 via the online EAs/EISs library at hops://planning.hawaii. og v/erp/. In very few cases, these Final EAs and EISs specifically discussed or applied spatial and temporal parameters to scope the past, present and foreseeable future actions in cumulative effect/impact assessments. Approximately 96% of Final EAs and EISs simply referred to the definition of cumulative