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effects on Hawaii's culture, and traditional and customary rights. The legislature also finds <br /> that native Hawaiian culture plays a vital role in preserving and advancing the unique quality <br /> of life and the "aloha spirit"in Hawaii. <br /> Articles IX and XII of the state constitution, other state laws, and the courts of the State <br /> impose on government agencies a duty to promote and protect cultural beliefs,practices, and <br /> resources of native Hawaiians as well as other ethnic groups. Moreover, the past failure to <br /> require native Hawaiian cultural impact assessments has resulted in the loss and destruction <br /> of many important cultural resources and has interfered with the exercise of native Hawaiian <br /> culture. The legislature further finds that due consideration of the effects of human activities <br /> on Native <br /> Hawaiian culture and the exercise thereof is necessary to ensure the continued existence, <br /> development, and exercise of native Hawaiian culture. <br /> The purpose of this Act is to: <br /> (1) Require that environmental impact statements include the disclosure of the effects of a <br /> proposed action on the cultural practices of the community and State;and(2)Amend <br /> the definition of"significant effect"to include adverse effects on cultural practices. <br /> (2) SECTION 2. Section 343-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the <br /> definitions of"environmental impact statement"or "statement"and "significant <br /> effect'; to read as follows: <br /> ""Environmental impact statement"or "statement"means an informational document <br /> prepared in compliance with the rules adopted under section 343-6 and which discloses the <br /> environmental effects of a proposed action, effects of a proposed action on the economic <br /> [and] welfare, social welfare, and cultural practices of the community and State, effects of the <br /> economic activities arising out of the proposed action, measures proposed to minimize <br /> adverse effects, and alternatives to the action and their environmental effects. <br /> Me ka haahaa Clare loprinzi, cultural indigenous practitioner <br />