Follow-Up on Recommendations from Report No. 14-07, FollowUp Audit of the Management of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve

From Hawaii State Auditor, Report 17-06, July, 2017 (excerpts)

Section 23-7.5, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, requires the Auditor to report to the Legislature annually on each audit recommendation more than one year old that has not been implemented by the audited department or agency. This report presents the results of our review of eight recommendations made to the University of Hawai‘i and the Department of Land and Natural Resources in Report No. 14-07, Follow-Up Audit of the Management of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, which was published in August 2014. …

What we found in 2014

In Report No. 14-07, Follow-Up Audit of the Management of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve, we found that UH did not expect to adopt administrative rules until 2017, due in part to delays in the rulemaking process. In the absence of rules, UH was managing and assessing fees on commercial tour activities with permits and informal agreements unauthorized by the UH Board of Regents. We also found that contractual terms and other requirements precluded UH and DLNR from updating general leases, subleases, and permits.

What we found this year

Our follow-up on the implementation of recommendations made in Report No. 14-07, conducted between October 2016 and January 2017, included interviews with selected personnel, examining relevant documents and records, and evaluating whether UH and DLNR’s actions appeared to fulfill our recommendations. We found that UH and DLNR have partially implemented four of the recommendations. Three recommendations remain open, and one is inapplicable at this time.

Our follow-up efforts were limited to reviewing and reporting on the implementation of our audit recommendations. We did not explore new issues or revisit old ones that did not relate to the original recommendations. The following details the audit recommendations made and the current status of each recommendation based on our review of information and documents provided by UH and DLNR.

read … Audit Follow up Report

Report 14-07: Follow-Up Audit of the Management of Mauna Kea and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve