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(�O� nFFIC'F nr HAWAIIAN AFFAIRC Legislative Testimony HB2578 RELATING TO PUBLIC LANDS Ke Komike Hale o ka Wai, ka 'Aina, a me ke Kuleana Hawaii Pepeluali 12, 2020 10:30 a.m. Lumi 325 The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) offers the following COMMENTS on HB2578, highlighting concerns and offering amendments to 1) address provisions that could allow for extremely long-term, multigenerational leases of public lands, including public land trust and "ceded" lands; 2) ensure a proper accounting of public land revenues potentially subject to percentage set asides for OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL); 3) ensure that any reductions or waivers of rent for the demolition of improvements or provision of infrastructure appropriately account for OHA's and DHHL's potential shares of revenues and are commensurate with the actual value such activities would provide for the state. 1. The long-term, multigenerational leases that could be issued for the Waidkea and future legislatively-designated redevelopment districts may inhibit the State's fiduciary obligations under the public trust and the public land trust, and may lead to the sale of public and "ceded" lands. First, OHA notes that this measure could lead to extremely long-term, multigenerational public land leases that substantially inhibit the state's ability to uphold its fiduciary obligations to Native Hawaiians and the public. Under Article 11, section 1 of the Hawai'i State Constitution and Chapter 171, Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS), the State, through the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), holds in trust approximately 1.3 million acres of public lands, including the natural and cultural resources they contain, for the benefit of present and future generations. Much of these lands are also subject to the public land trust created by Article 12 of the Hawai'i State Constitution and section 5(f) of the Admission Act, which require that a portion of revenues derived from public land trust lands be dedicated to OHA, for the purpose of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians. The trust statuses of these lands impose upon the BLNR specific fiduciary obligations of due diligence and undivided loyalty, in making its trust corpus productive and maximizing its benefits for the trust's Native Hawaiian and public beneficiaries. By authorizing redevelopment district planning committees to issue, renew, or renegotiate public land leases in designated redevelopment districts "notwithstanding any law to the contrary," this measure may invite the creation of century-long leasehold interests that substantially inhibit the BLNR and future generations from ensuring the best and most appropriate uses of public trust and public land trust lands, which may otherwise provide much greater benefits to both Native Hawaiians and the public. Second, in addition to tying the state's and future generations' hands in ensuring the appropriate disposition of public trust and public land trust lands, the long-term leases that would be