Participants in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case will have another month to submit their final arguments. ADVERTISING Participants in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case will have another month to submit their final arguments. In a minute order filed
Participants in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case will have another month to submit their final arguments.
In a minute order filed Tuesday, hearing officer Riki May Amano set a May 30 deadline for parties to finish their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The order followed the completion of the written transcript for the hearing’s verbal testimony that was delivered over more than four months. That portion of the hearing wrapped up March 2.
After proposed orders are submitted, the parties will have until June 13 to submit their challenges to other proposals.
Afterward, Amano, a retired judge, will make her decision regarding the $1.4 billion project’s conservation district use permit.
The matter will then go to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources for argument, review and final decision.
TMT International Observatory received a permit after a previous contested case was held in 2011.
But that approval was voided after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the state violated due process rights of project opponents by voting for the permit before the first hearing started.
The latest hearing involved 25 parties, though not all participated regularly.
