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HB1916
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1916
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
proposing
an amendment to the constitution of the state of hawaii regarding the
protection of public trust lands
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that lands in Makua
Valley, Kawailoa-Poamoho, Kahuku, Pohakuloa, and Waimea are currently subject to
leases with the United States military that are set to expire between 2027 and
2030.
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These lands include former crown
and government lands from the Hawaiian Kingdom that must be held in trust by
the State for the benefit of Native Hawaiians and the general public.
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Under article XI, section 1, and article XII,
section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution, the State has the highest
fiduciary duty to preserve and maintain public trust lands, which includes the
responsibility to malama aina (care for the land) by protecting natural and
cultural resources for present and future generations.
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The
legislature further finds that allowing the military's use of leased public
trust lands for live-fire training exercises is inconsistent with the State's
constitutional trust duties.
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Instead of
using blanks, simulators, or other "dry fire" systems, live-fire
training exercises use real, functioning weapon systems loaded with actual
ammunition, including bullets, shells, rockets, bombs, explosives, and other
ordnance.
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The training encompasses small
arms training, artillery fire, demolition, air-to-ground bombing, and other
combat-realistic exercises that have the potential to ignite wildfires,
contaminate water and soil, scatter unexploded ordnance, destroy natural and
cultural resources, and desecrate the aina.
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The
legislature recognizes that live-fire training activities at Pohakuloa, Makua
Valley, and across the State have caused repeated wildfires, environmental contamination,
habitat destruction, and the desecration of sacred cultural sites and iwi
kupuna (ancestral remains).
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Although the
Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in
Ching v. Case
(2019) that the State
breached its constitutional duties by failing to reasonably monitor and inspect
public trust lands that the State leased to the United States military,
inspections of these lands remain extremely limited.
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For example, only a fraction of the 23,000
acres leased by the United States Army at Pohakula have been surveyed.
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However, the legislature is aware that
unexploded ordnance, shell casings, and degraded lands exist across the
training area, with similar damage existing at Makua Valley, Kahuku, and Poamoho.
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While it has been proposed that the military return
some of these lands to the State upon the expiration of the current leases in
2029, the lands are already highly contaminated, as are other current and
former lands leased by the military, including Kahoolawe, Waikane, and Kaula
Island.
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The
legislature is concerned that, due to the costs of environmental cleanup and
the technological barriers to completing remediation efforts, many of these
former bomb sites may never again be fully accessible to public land trust
beneficiaries for cultural, recreational, or subsistence uses.
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The environmental damage also limits the potential
for the State, or any future Native Hawaiian governing entities, to make
productive use of the lands after the lands are returned by the United States
military.
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Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to prevent any further environmental damage to these
or other lands by
proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the State of Hawaii prohibiting live-fire training exercises on
public trust lands.
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SECTION
2.
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Article XI of the Constitution of the
State of Hawaii is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately
designated and to read as follows:
"
USE
OF PUBLIC TRUST LANDS
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Section
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No live-fire training exercises shall
be conducted on public trust lands, including exercises using live ammunition,
rockets, bombs, explosives or other ordnance.
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SECTION
3.
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The question to be printed on the
ballot shall be as follows:
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"Shall
the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to prohibit live-fire
training exercises on public trust lands, including exercises using live
ammunition, rockets, bombs, explosives, and other ordnance?"
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SECTION
4.
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New constitutional material is
underscored.
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SECTION 5.
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This amendment shall take effect upon
compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of
Hawaii.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Constitutional
Amendment; United States Military; Live-Fire Training; Public Trust Lands;
Prohibition
Description:
Proposes
an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii prohibiting live-fire
training exercises on public trust lands.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.