HB 1916: Constitutional Amendment; United States Military; Live-Fire Training; Public Trust Lands; Prohibition

A BILL FOR AN ACT

proposing an amendment to the constitution of the state of hawaii regarding the protection of public trust lands.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that lands in Makua Valley, Kawailoa-Poamoho, Kahuku, Pohakuloa, and Waimea are currently subject to leases with the United States military that are set to expire between 2027 and 2030.  These lands include former crown and government lands from the Hawaiian Kingdom that must be held in trust by the State for the benefit of Native Hawaiians and the general public.  Under article XI, section 1, and article XII, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution, the State has the highest fiduciary duty to preserve and maintain public trust lands, which includes the responsibility to malama aina (care for the land) by protecting natural and cultural resources for present and future generations.

     The legislature further finds that allowing the military's use of leased public trust lands for live-fire training exercises is inconsistent with the State's constitutional trust duties.  Instead of using blanks, simulators, or other "dry fire" systems, live-fire training exercises use real, functioning weapon systems loaded with actual ammunition, including bullets, shells, rockets, bombs, explosives, and other ordnance.  The training encompasses small arms training, artillery fire, demolition, air-to-ground bombing, and other combat-realistic exercises that have the potential to ignite wildfires, contaminate water and soil, scatter unexploded ordnance, destroy natural and cultural resources, and desecrate the aina.

     The legislature recognizes that live-fire training activities at Pohakuloa, Makua Valley, and across the State have caused repeated wildfires, environmental contamination, habitat destruction, and the desecration of sacred cultural sites and iwi kupuna (ancestral remains).  Although the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in Ching v. Case (2019) that the State breached its constitutional duties by failing to reasonably monitor and inspect public trust lands that the State leased to the United States military, inspections of these lands remain extremely limited.  For example, only a fraction of the 23,000 acres leased by the United States Army at Pohakula have been surveyed.  However, the legislature is aware that unexploded ordnance, shell casings, and degraded lands exist across the training area, with similar damage existing at Makua Valley, Kahuku, and Poamoho.  While it has been proposed that the military return some of these lands to the State upon the expiration of the current leases in 2029, the lands are already highly contaminated, as are other current and former lands leased by the military, including Kahoolawe, Waikane, and Kaula Island.

     The legislature is concerned that, due to the costs of environmental cleanup and the technological barriers to completing remediation efforts, many of these former bomb sites may never again be fully accessible to public land trust beneficiaries for cultural, recreational, or subsistence uses.  The environmental damage also limits the potential for the State, or any future Native Hawaiian governing entities, to make productive use of the lands after the lands are returned by the United States military.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to prevent any further environmental damage to these or other lands by proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii prohibiting live-fire training exercises on public trust lands.

     SECTION 2.  Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"USE OF PUBLIC TRUST LANDS

     Section   .  No live-fire training exercises shall be conducted on public trust lands, including exercises using live ammunition, rockets, bombs, explosives or other ordnance."

     SECTION 3.  The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

     "Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to prohibit live-fire training exercises on public trust lands, including exercises using live ammunition, rockets, bombs, explosives, and other ordnance?"

     SECTION 4.  New constitutional material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

Report Title:

Constitutional Amendment; United States Military; Live-Fire Training; Public Trust Lands; Prohibition

Description:

Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii prohibiting live-fire training exercises on public trust lands.

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