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STATEMENT FROM HART BOARD OF DIRECTORS   (Thu., August 30, 2012) − Board Chairwoman Carrie Okinaga issued the following statement following today's meeting of the Board of Directors of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART):   The State and the City followed the State Historic Preservation Division's long-standing interpretation of its rules to allow the subsurface AIS work to proceed by sections. The lower court agreed with that interpretation. The Supreme Court disagreed with this interpretation and past practice. They ruled that we should complete the AIS work for all four sections of the project.   The HART Board is committed to fully comply with the Supreme Court ruling. The AIS work has already been completed in construction sections 1 and 2 and the AIS work in sections 3 and 4 will continue.   We were pleased to hear that the Supreme Court ruled that the City and State gave full consideration to cultural and historic values and that the court upheld the rail project's Environmental Impact Statement under State law.   We remain fully committed to moving the project forward as well as being in full compliance with all laws. The delay in construction will add costs, however we do have contingency funds to cover these costs.   The Board is fully committed to moving the project forward as required by our charter in a manner that is responsible to taxpayers and respectful of our cultural resources. The Board has directed the CEO to fully comply with the Supreme Court ruling and take the necessary steps to complete the AIS, including design and engineering.   - 30 -