Project permits have a shelf life, usually, even for projects as momentous as the Thirty Meter Telescope. Figuring out whether the permit issued in 2017 by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources has timed out is the point of a hearing tentatively set for July 29.

The argument will be over what counts toward the permit’s work requirement to keep it valid. It will be interesting to see what presence the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, an entity relatively new on the landscape, will have at the hearing.