One justification for federal regulation of the environment is that state governments do such a bad job protecting natural resources. The State of Hawaii added another case to the pile of evidence supporting that conclusion. The recently established Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument--the single most significant act of federal protection of a fragile ecosystem during the Regime--is the largest area of federally protected habitat in the United States. It covers a 1200 mile by 100 mile wide area around the outer islands and coral atolls of the northwest Hawaiian archipelago. Although the area is jointly administered by state and federal agencies as co-trustees under a "do no harm" policy of non-interference, the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has issued hundreds of permits allowing access to the monument for various human activities including wastewater dumping, fishing, and specimen collection without conducting the required environmental impact reviews. The state is being sued by an an environmental group and a former state attorney who say the DLNR did not prepare either an impact statement, an assessment, or determine a categorical or statutory exemption before granting the permits in violation of the Hawaiian Environmental Protection Act. According to the attorney plaintiff who filed a whistleblower claim against the agency, DLNR has a policy of ignoring the requirements of the Act. The attorney claims he told his supervisor that the entire permitting process would be subject to legal challenge for noncompliance. The new monument was nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List, but the failure to apply state environmental protection laws to the archipelago jeopardizes a World Heritage Site designation.[photo: the Laysan albatross, phoebastria immutabilis mates for life. As many as 5% of chicks annually are dying from lead poisoning by eating paint chips from 95 federally owned abandoned buildings on Midway Island, the species main nesting ground. About $5.6 million is needed to clean up the contamination, but the federal government says it does not have the money.]