THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            187
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO BAN ANY FURTHER TESTS OF
    THE LOW FREQUENCY ACTIVE SONAR SYSTEM IN HAWAIIAN WATERS.


 1        WHEREAS, in February and March 1998, the United States
 2   Navy conducted Low Frequency Active (LFA) Sonar System tests in
 3   California waters and off the Kona-Kohala coast of the Island
 4   of Hawaii; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy has stated that these tests of
 7   whales' responses to repeated exposure to low frequency sound
 8   are part of an environmental assessment to assist the Navy in
 9   determining rules by which it uses a low frequency system to
10   detect submarines; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, as a result of protestors' actions during the LFA
13   testing, the U.S. Navy was able to complete approximately
14   seventy percent of its planned testing; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, in addition to these demonstrations, in March
17   1998, the Hawaii County Green Party filed suit in federal court
18   seeking a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to
19   stop the testing; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, as part of this suit, the Hawaii County Green
22   Party alleged that nine different abnormal conditions had
23   arisen, which called for suspension of the testing under the
24   mitigation requirements in the permit issued by the National
25   Marine Fisheries Service; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, three of those conditions in particular were of
28   concern to the Hawaii County Green Party and a coalition of
29   environmental organizations and community members, including
30   the reported:
31   
32        (1)  Absence of whales in the testing area;
33   
34        (2)  Injury to a human from exposure to the LFA broadcast;
35             and
36   
37        (3)  Near stranding of a baby humpback whale during the

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            187
                                                        
                                                        


 1             testing;
 2   
 3   and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, scientists who conducted the U.S. Navy tests are
 6   now in the process of evaluating the results, but have not
 7   indicated when the final reports will be available for public
 8   review; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, in the intervening months other scientists have
11   continued to study the effects of the LFA sonar, and have
12   collected additional information that indicates fewer whales as
13   well as a decrease in vocalization of whales in the areas where
14   the tests were conducted; now, therefore,
15   
16        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
17   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
18   Representatives concurring, that the United States Congress is
19   urged to ban any further tests by the United States Navy of the
20   Low Frequency Active Sonar System in Hawaiian waters until
21   further scientific study is adequate to determine the real and
22   long-term effect of sonar testing on whales; and
23   
24        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
25   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Hawaii
26   congressional delegation, the Secretary of the United States
27   Navy, and the Hawaii County Green Party.
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31                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________