HCR 207: URGING the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of all military-leased lands.

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of all military-leased lands.

     WHEREAS, Public Law 103-150 was enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 23, 1993, which formally acknowledged the role of the United States in the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and apologizing for depriving Native Hawaiians of their unrelinquished sovereignty, rights, and property interests in the Crown and Government Lands, referred to as the public land trust; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, as trustee of the public land trust, has a duty of care to the beneficiaries of the trust, including Native Hawaiians and the citizens of Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, the United States military currently occupies more than two hundred thousand acres of the public land trust, including parcels at Ke Awalau o Puuloa (Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam), Wahiawa (Schofield Barracks), Mokapu (Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi), Pōhakuloa (Pohakuloa Training Area), Nohili (Pacific Missile Range Facility), Kahauiki (Fort Shafter), and Halawa (Camp Smith); and

     WHEREAS, several military land leases in Hawaiʻi will expire in 2029, including lands at Pōhakuloa, Kahuku, Kawailoa, and Mākua;

     WHEREAS, these trust lands have suffered significant environmental and economic degradation due to their use by the United States military, including unexploded ordnances, depleted uranium, contaminated drinking water, shattered caprock, and destroyed structures; and

     WHEREAS, the existing lease agreements do not adequately account for the value of these lands, nor their remediation and lost economic opportunities; and

     WHEREAS, it is in the public interest for these lands to be remediated and returned to beneficial public use without delay; and

     WHEREAS, lease renewal negotiations between the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the United States military have not included a transparent public process; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is urged to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of all military-leased lands that assesses the following:

     (1)  Lost economic opportunities from the unavailability of these lands for beneficial trust purposes pursuant to section 5(f) of Public Law 86-3, including agriculture, education, and housing, and the betterment of conditions of Native Hawaiians;

     (2)  The comprehensive costs for cleanup, including contaminants and unexploded ordnance of trust lands;

     (3)  The costs of restoration and development of these trust lands to productive economic use;

     (4)  Lost income to the State had these trust lands been leased at fair market rents, instead of the $1 leases agreed to between the State and the United States; and

     (5)  Lost tax dollars to the State had these trust lands been utilized for productive purposes under section 5(f) of Public Law 86-3; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is urged to establish a formal public process for the lease renewal negotiations, including public hearings, community consultations, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring that all affected parties have an opportunity to provide input before any new agreements are signed; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to submit a report, detailing the findings of the comprehensive economic analysis and outlining its plans for future lease negotiations, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Report Title: 

DLNR; Military-Leased Lands; Economic Analysis

STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1592

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2025

RE:   H.C.R. No. 207

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 207 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ALL MILITARY-LEASED LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to urge the Department of Land and Natural Resources to establish a formal public process for the lease renewal negotiations, including public hearings, community consultations, and stakeholder engagement; to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of all military-leased lands that assesses the lost economic opportunities from the unavailability of these lands, the comprehensive costs for cleanup of these lands, the costs of restoration and development of these lands to productive economic use, the lost income to the State had these lands been leased at fair market rents, instead of the $1 leases, and the lost tax dollars to the State had these lands been utilized for productive purposes; and to submit a report detailing the findings of the economic analysis as well as its plans for future lease negotiations to the Legislature prior to the 2026 Regular Session.  

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce, Greenpeace Hawaii, Ho'opae Pono Peace Project, Ka Lahui Hawaii, the ACLU of Hawaii, The Queen's Court, Veterans for Peace, The Sierra Club, and twenty-five individuals. Your Committee received comments from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

     Your Committee finds that the military's history of violations and neglect of environmental and cultural aspects of the land it operates on, the Department's lack of oversight of its lessees, and the community's overwhelming support for this measure are compelling. As such, your Committee believes that a substantive economic analysis is necessary to improve transparency and oversight for both the department and the public regarding state land leases.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 207 and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,