STAND. COM. REP. NO. 400
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 521 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MILITARY LAND USE,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to build upon Act 93, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, by creating a long-term task force to proactively plan for the remediation and restoration of lands currently under federal control that are anticipated to be returned to the State, consider potential alternative uses, and identify any lands that should continue under federal control for the next ten years.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i and two individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, and Hawaii Military Affairs Council.
Your Committees find that many properties in the State are under claim of federal ownership or control and are being, or have been, used as military facilities. This use has resulted in contamination to the water and soil on and adjacent to many of these properties, or has created hazards, such as the presence of unexploded ordnance. To address these issues, the Legislature passed Act 93, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, which required the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to submit an inventory report of all lands within the State that are leased to the federal government or under federal government control. Your Committees believe that upcoming expirations or renewals of land leases between the State and the United States government provide opportunities for the return of ceded lands. This measure will allow the State to be proactive in identifying and reacquiring any lands deemed appropriate by creating a long-term task force to proactively plan for the remediation and restoration of lands currently under federal control that are anticipated to be returned to the State, consider potential alternative uses, and identify any lands that should continue under federal control for the next ten years.
Your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development shall provide all
necessary administrative, professional, technical, and clerical support
required by the task force;
(2) Requiring
the task force to submit one report prior to the convening of the Regular Session
of 2025, instead of a preliminary report prior to 2024 and second report prior
to 2025; and
(3) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 521, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 521, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Water and Land,
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________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair |
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________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair |
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