HONOLULU -- State House Democrats on Wednesday night said they are making progress on plans for a special session that will help the Hawaii Superferry resume operations while an environmental assessment is performed.

Lawmakers emerged after a 1 1/2-hour long closed-door meeting optimistic they may be able to go forward with a special session.

Most of the meeting was spent hammering out the details of a bill that has more rules than what the governor had submitted last week, legislators said.

"I think most of the members do support some sort of the House Draft 7 that we're considering and taking it to the Senate sometime tomorrow or Friday," House Speaker Calvin Say said.

House Democrats said it is crucial they have a tentative final draft of the bill ready by the end of the week so Senate members can take it with them as they hold informational briefings on the neighbor islands beginning Sunday.

"There's still agreement we want to do something to allow the ferry to sail. We're addressing the mitigating standards to not harm the environment. It's fine-tuning at this point," Rep. Kirk Caldwell said.

The draft bill calls for the governor to establish stringent requirements on some 20 conditions the Superferry would have to adhere to, including whale avoidance, invasive species, traffic mitigation and moving natural resources between islands.

The bill also creates a 13-member Ferry Oversight Task Force that reports on the state's actions every month.

House Republicans and the state attorney general received a copy of the draft bill in the afternoon.

"He wants to make sure this is the best bill possible should there be a suit followed, which we hope not, that he'd be the one defending it. So, obviously we want his input, his kokua and any advice he may have," Say said.

House Democrats have tentatively agreed on holding a special session that would start on Wednesday and go for five days into the following week. They plan to meet again on Friday.