HR 27: REQUESTING THE RECONVENING OF THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (REGULAR SESSION OF 2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY.

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE RECONVENING OF THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (REGULAR SESSION OF 2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY.

     WHEREAS, the Puuloa Range Training Facility, located in Ewa Beach on Oahu, is a shooting range that has been used by United States Marine Corps for more than a century; and

     WHEREAS, the Ewa Beach community has grown around it, and the training facility now sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood; and

     WHEREAS, in conducting live-fire exercises, shooters fire into impact berms, including berms that face the ocean and share a coastline with the area's beach parks; and

     WHEREAS, lead contamination from shooting ranges can accumulate in the soil and remain there for hundreds of years; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, sampling done by the Surfrider Foundation of soil taken from the beach side of the training facility identified high levels of lead; and

     WHEREAS, there is a concern that lead from the soil at the Puuloa Range Training Facility will leach into the ocean, creating a serious risk to marine life in the area; and

     WHEREAS, there is further concern that dust from lead-contaminated soil will enter the atmosphere and migrate into residential neighborhoods via air or stormwater; and

     WHEREAS, addressing this issue will require input from experts and community stakeholders; and

     WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024)(HR18), requested that a working group be convened to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and

     WHEREAS, the working group established by HR18 will cease on June 30, 2025; and

     WHEREAS, this body finds that the ongoing threat to the health and safety of the residents of the Ewa Beach community requires continuation of the working group established by HR18; and

     WHEREAS, this body finds that the Department of Health would be an appropriate agency to facilitate the working group's efforts based on the Hazards Evaluation and Emergency Response Office's authority to address contaminated sites through the administration of the Brownfields Redevelopment Program and Department of Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement Program; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the working group established in House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) is requested to be reconvened to continue the efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to ensure that there is sufficient community representation, the Representative of House District 40 and the Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu are requested to serve as co-chairs and co-conveners of the working group; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health, or the Director's designee, is also requested to serve on the working group, in addition to the members originally requested or invited to participate on the working group pursuant to HR18; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be dissolved on June 30, 2027; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Commander of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Director of Health, Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu, Vice Chair of Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23, Executive Director of Kuleana Coral Restoration, Co-Chairs of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Director of the Hawaii Reef & Ocean Coalition, Director of the Free Access Coalition, and Director of the Shimanchu Wai Protectors.

Report Title: 

Puuloa Range Training Facility; Working Group; DOH

HOUSE RESOLUTION

Requesting the department of health to reconvene the WORKING GROUP established pursuant to House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (2024) to continue the efforts to ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY.

     WHEREAS, the Puuloa Range Training Facility, located in Ewa Beach on Oahu, is a shooting range that has been used by United States Marine Corps for more than a century; and

     WHEREAS, the Ewa Beach community has grown around it, and the training facility now sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood; and

     WHEREAS, in conducting live-fire exercises, shooters fire into impact berms, including berms that face the ocean and share a coastline with the area's beach parks; and

     WHEREAS, lead contamination from shooting ranges can accumulate in the soil and remain there for hundreds of years; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, sampling done by the Surfrider Foundation of soil taken from the beach side of the training facility identified high levels of lead; and

     WHEREAS, there is a concern that lead from the soil at the Puuloa Range Training Facility will leach into the ocean, creating a serious risk to marine life in the area; and

     WHEREAS, there is further concern that dust from lead-contaminated soil will enter the atmosphere and migrate into residential neighborhoods via air or stormwater; and

     WHEREAS, addressing this issue will require input from experts and community stakeholders; and

     WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (2024), requested the convening of a working group to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and

     WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (2024), requested that the working group be ceased on June 30, 2025; and

     WHEREAS, this body finds that the Department of Health would be an appropriate agency to facilitate the working group based on the Hazards Evaluation and Emergency Response Office's authority to address contaminated sites through the administration of the Brownfields Redevelopment Program and Department of Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement Program (DSMOA); and

     WHEREAS, this body finds that the threat to the health and safety of the residents of the Ewa Beach community constitutes an emergency that requires continued well-thought-out and coordinated action; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Health is requested to reconvene the working group established in House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (2024) to continue the efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health, or the Director's designee, shall serve as the Chairperson of the working group; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to ensure that there is sufficient community representation, the Representative of House District 40 shall serve as Co-Chair of the working group; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be dissolved on June 30, 2027; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Commander of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Director of Health, Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu, Vice Chair of Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23, and Executive Director of Kuleana Coral Restoration.

Report Title: 

Puuloa Range Training Facility; Working Group; DOH

STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1883

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2025

RE:   H.R. No. 27

      H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

     Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.R. No. 27, H.D. 1, entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE RECONVENING OF THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (REGULAR SESSION OF 2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the reconvening of the working group established pursuant to House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) to continue the efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi; Green Party of Hawaiʻi; Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi; Small Business Alliance; CountryTalkStory; We Are One, Inc.; and numerous individuals.

     Your Committee finds that soil sampling conducted near the Puuloa Range Training Facility, a shooting range used by the United States Marine Corps, identified high levels of lead contamination.  Your Committee further finds that a working group that was convened to address the water and air contamination issues arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility is set to cease operation on June 30, 2025.  This measure ensures that the working group can continue its efforts to address the environmental issues related to the Puuloa Range Training Facility.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 27, H.D. 1, and recommends its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1529

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2025

RE:   H.R. No. 27

      H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.R. No. 27 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO RECONVENE THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Health to reconvene the working group established pursuant to House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) to continue efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i Reef and Ocean Coalition; Free Access Coalition; Shimanchu Wai Protectors; Relocate Puʻuloa Range Coalition; Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action; Sierra Club of Hawai‘i and numerous individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

     Your Committee finds that the working group established by  House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) (HR18) to address concerns of lead contamination from the Puuloa Range Training Facility will cease on June 30, 2025.  Your Committee further finds that the longstanding issues surrounding this facility remains; therefore, the activities of the working group should be continued.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the working group should consist of the members originally requested or invited to serve on the working group pursuant to HR18 and that the Director of Health, or the Director's designee, is requested to serve as an additional member of the working group, rather than as its chair;

     (2)  Requesting the Representative of House District 40 and Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu to serve as co-chairs and co-conveners of the working group;

     (3)  Amending the list of recipients of certified copies of this measure;

     (4)  Amending its title in accordance with its amended purpose; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 27, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection in the form attached hereto as H.R. No. 27, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,