State Department of Transportation and Hawaii Superferry officials are meeting today to discuss the fallout from yesterday's Hawaii Supreme Court ruling invalidating a law that allowed the interisland ferry to operate while environmental studies are conducted.

The company announced it would cease operations after one final voyage Thursday but has not indicated whether it will leave Hawaii for good.

DOT Harbors Division chief Michael Formby said today that one of the issues to be resolved is whether the company will have to continue making monthly payments of about $191,000 to the state in accordance with its operating agreement with DOT.

Under terms of the agreement, Hawaii Superferry must pay a minimum of $2.3 million or 1 percent of its gross revenues, whichever is greater, in each of the first three years of the 22-year deal.

The payments are going into the Harbors Special Fund, which is responsible for reimbursing the state for the general obligation reimbursable bonds it issued to build $40 million in ferry-related improvements at Honolulu Harbor, Kahului Harbor on Maui, Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island and Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai.

The Harbors Special Fund collects all commercial harbor income, including mooring, dockage, and permit fees, tariffs and lease rent, so if Superferry folds, monies paid by other harbor users will be used to reimburse the state for the ferry projects.

Formby said the DOT has instructed its contractor Belt Collins to cease work

for now on an environmental impact statement directed under Act 2, the law passed in late 2007 that allowed the ferry to resume operations without a completed EIS.

Act 2 was passed to keep the Superferry in service after it had been shut down following an August 2007 Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling that required the state to conduct an environmental review of its ferry-related harbor projects and the impact of ferry service on humpback whales, the spread of invasive species and other concerns.

Act 2 required the DOT to perform an EIS but allowed short cuts from the kind of review set forth under Chapter 343, the state's environmental review law. Yesterday's court ruling likely means the DOT will have to perform a full-blown EIS.

"We are reviewing options, including the incorporation of Act 2 EIS data into a Chapter 343 environmental review," Formby said.

The DOT released a draft EIS in January under Act 2 that said Hawaii Superferry and other large-capacity interisland ferries could have significant negative impacts, but that most of the concerns could be substantially addressed with mitigation measures, many of which are already in place.

The report also said interisland ferry service provide a valuable transportation option for people, vehicles and cargo and enhance the state's disaster relief system.

A final EIS was expected this summer.