After months of rancor and upheaval over the Hawaii Superferry, there's hope at last that a rational middle course can be charted.

That hope emerged late last week in the state Senate deliberations over a bill aimed at carving out a temporary legal path that would enable the ferry service to run while the court-ordered environmental assessment is prepared.

The Senate draft of the bill is a clear improvement on the original legislation, which included an unacceptably ironclad shield from liability for the state. Officials have worried about Superferry suing the state because the requirements suddenly changed, but the current amendment, in which the ferry operators would waive only those claims related to the environmental review, is more reasonable.

Most importantly, the Senate has added requirements for an "incidental-take permit" that should add operating conditions reducing the threat to the endangered humpback whales that traverse waters around Maui. The bill also now includes a request for an observer from the National Marine Fisheries Service observer to be onboard on trips through the whale sanctuary.

There were other critical revisions, too. The Senate would crack down on the unpermitted transport of soil, sand or rocks, require biological cargo to be declared and vehicles to be inspected and post signs to warn passengers about all of the above.

The governor also has the authority to add further conditions she finds necessary — a needed backstop provision.

The compromise deserves serious consideration from the House; any further revisions should be limited to changes that strike a fair balance between environmental safeguards and enabling a sustainable ferry operation.

It is unfortunate, but not unprecedented, that environmental laws had to be bent to arrive at a solution that best serves state interests, and it is in the state's interest to have this transportational option.

Die-hard opponents of the ferry, and those who can't abide the notion of lawmaking in the face of a court ruling, can follow their conscience and vote against this bill. But the law itself should be written as a means to enable the service, not to punish the ferry executives or state officials now working to salvage something worthwhile.