Kapulena Hamakua EA PBR Final TMK No. 4-7-005 and 006

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KAPULENA AGRICULTURAL PARK FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROPOSING AGENCY In accordance with Section 343 -5(b), Hawai `i Revised Statutes (HRS), whenever an agency proposes the use of County land or funds, that agency shall prepare an Environmental Assessment for the action at the earliest practicable time to determine whether an Environmental Impact Statement shall be required. In order to comply with Chapter 343, HRS, the County Department of Finance (DOF) has contracted PBR HAWAII to prepare and process this environmental assessment. The County DOF is the proposing agency for this project; the mailing address and primary contact person is listed below: Ms. Nancy Crawford, Director County of Hawaii Department of Finance 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2103 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 -4252 1.2 BACKGROUND The County of Hawaii is the landowner of the subject property and is the agency preparing this environmental assessment. The 10 parcels covered by this EA were acquired from Hamakua Sugar in 1994 in a settlement of taxes owed to the County of Hawaii. Prior to the County's acquisition, the property had been in active sugar cane production. In the intervening years, the County of Hawaii has not developed or used the properties beyond performing basic maintenance. The County had considered selling these lands to generate revenue to help meet budget shortfalls. In response to community comments, the County has reconsidered and has worked with various partners to evolve the proposed agricultural park described in more detail in Section 2.0 of this assessment. 1.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY The property, totaling approximately 1,739.807 acres, is located in the Hamakua District on the northeast side of the Island of Hawai `i ( "Kapulena Lands "). The Kapulena Lands lie mauka of Honoka`a- Waipi`o Road (Highway 240) roughly half way between Honoka`a and Waipi`o Valley (Figure 1). The Kapulena Lands consist of ten (10) parcels (tax map keys (TMK) 3`d/4 -7- 005:001, 002, 003; 4 -7- 006:001, 005, 006, 007, 010, 018, 020), and spans across several ahupua`a (see Figure 2). Within those ten (10) parcels there are a number of grants, Land Court Awards and a Mahele Award. There are nine (9) underlying grants and two Land Court Awards on TMK 4 -7- 005:001. There are two (2) grants on 4 -7- 005:002. There is a portion of two grants on 4 -7- 006:006. 4 -7- 006:018 is comprised of a portion of three grants, a portion of one Land Court Award and one Mahele Award. 4 -7- 006:010 is comprised of two grants, the portions of three additional grants and one Land Court Award. Finally, there is an underlying grant on 4 -7- 005:003, 4 -7- 006:005 1 -1