RES 234 Draft 01 2024-2026 - Laserfiche WebLink

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J�tv OF hq cR' COUNTY OF HAWAII -�• STATE OF HAWAII E p'p'Hr RESOLUTION NO. 234 25 A RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE OF HAWAI`I TO ENSURE THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF HAWAI`I ISLAND RESIDENTS BY REQUESTING THE MILITARY TO CEASE ALL BOMBING AND DESECRATION ACTIVITIES AT THE POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, REJECTING LAND SWAPS AND LEASE RENEWALS WITH THE MILITARY UNLESS CERTAIN STIPULATIONS ARE ESTABLISHED, AND CONDUCTING A KA PA`AKAI ANALYSIS ON THE AREA. WHEREAS, military activities at P6hakuloa Training Area (PTA), especially activities that include the use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium, have caused severe environmental contamination that poses ongoing risks to public health and safety; and WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court, in Ching v. Case (2019), found that the State breached its constitutional duty to inspect and monitor the land at PTA to ensure that the military complied with lease terms and cleanup obligations, which have been neglected since the lands were leased to the military in 1964; and WHEREAS, military activities at PTA have also caused or exacerbated wildfires, which have destroyed thousands of acres of ranch, agricultural, and homestead lands; and WHEREAS, the required Ka Pa`akai analysis to protect Native Hawaiian cultural practices and resources has never been conducted on PTA; and WHEREAS, the Ka Pa`akai analysis is a legal framework established by the Hawaii Supreme Court in 2000 in the case Ka Pa `akai O Ka `Aina v. Hawaii Land Use Commission to evaluate projects that may affect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights; and WHEREAS, the Ka Pa`akai analysis requires government agencies to conduct detailed investigations to: (1) identify the scope of valued cultural, historical, or natural resources; (2) assess how the proposed project will affect or impair resources, including Native Hawaiian rights; and (3) evaluate whether the government agency has fulfilled its constitutional obligation to preserve and protect Native Hawaiian rights; and WHEREAS, the desecration of burial and cultural sites, occupation of lands under the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the perpetuation of harm through militarization directly conflict with Hawai`i's values and trust obligations; and WHEREAS, on May 9, 2025, the State Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to reject the U.S. Army's final Environmental Impact Statement to extend its lease for the P5hakuloa Training Area, which expires in 2029; and WHEREAS, war, conflict, and disharmony with the land and its people affects all residents, visitors, and the living planetary system as a whole; and