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SB2534
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
2534
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Proposing
an Amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution to Prohibit Destructive Live-Fire
Military Training on Public Lands
.
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 the lands
at Makua valley, Kawailoa-Poamoho, Kahuku, Pohakuloa, and Waimea are currently
subject to leases with the United States military that are set to expire
between 2028 and 2031, and include former crown and government lands of 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
Constitution of the State of Hawaii, the State has the highest fiduciary duty
to preserve and maintain public trust lands, which includes kuleana to malama
aina and protect natural and cultural resources for present and future
generations.
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The
legislature further finds that destructive live-fire military training is the
use of real, fully functioning weapons systems, whether individual or
crew-served, that fire large caliber munitions using standard, incendiary,
high-explosive, or inert ammunition, whether portable or vehicle-mounted, and
includes the discharge of actual ammunition such as shells, rockets, bombs,
explosives, and other ordnance as opposed to blanks, simulators, or "dry
fire" exercises.
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Destructive
live-fire military training encompasses heavy machine guns, crew-served
weapons, artillery, rocket launchers, shoulder-fired missiles, hand grenades,
grenade launchers, mortars, and demolition charges.
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The
legislature also finds that the military's use of public trust lands for
destructive live-fire military training is inconsistent with the State's
constitutional duties.
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The continued
practice of destructive live-fire military training in the State has the
potential to ignite wildfires, contaminate soil and water, scatter unexploded
ordnance and debris, destroy cultural and natural resources through
high-velocity cratering, shred vegetation, and desecrate the aina, and is
antithetical to the State's responsibility to protect and steward the State's
public trust lands.
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The
legislature recognizes that the Hawaii supreme court held in
Ching v. Case
,
145 Haw. 148 (2019), that the State had breached its constitutional public
trust duties over ceded lands by failing to reasonably monitor and inspect the
United States military's use of leased lands, inspections.
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However, inspection of the Army's lease area
at Pohakuloa remains limited and covers only a fraction of the twenty-three
thousand acres under lease, while unexploded ordnance, shell casings, and
degraded lands persist across the training area.
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Similarly, state-leased lands at Makua valley,
proposed for return to the State in 2029, remain highly contaminated with
unexploded ordnance, and many areas remain inaccessible to people.
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Additionally, Kahuku and Poamoho, proposed
for partial return to the State upon expiration of the current lease in 2029
under the Army's proposed modified retention alternative, remain highly
contaminated, as do current and former military-leased lands used for live-fire
training from Kahoolawe and Makua, to Waikane, Kanewaa, and Kaula Island.
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The
legislature acknowledges that, due to the costs of clean up and technological
barriers to complete remediation, many of the former live-fire training sites
may never again be fully accessible to the public land trust beneficiaries for
cultural, recreational, educational, or subsistence access and use; productive
economic use by the State; or any future Native Hawaiian governing entity that
may seek to pursue the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians to the former
crown and government lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom, even after the lands are
returned by the United States military.
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Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the
State of Hawaii to prohibit destructive live-fire military training 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:
"
DESTRUCTIVE
LIVE-FIRE MILITARY TRAINING
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Section
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No destructive live-fire military training shall be conducted on the
public trust lands identified in section 4 of article XII.
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For the
purposes of this section:
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"Destructive
live-fire military training" means the discharge of large caliber
munitions employing standard, incendiary, high-explosive, or inert rounds,
whether portable, crew-served, or vehicle-mounted.
"
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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 Hawaii State Constitution
be amended to prohibit destructive live-fire military training--defined as the
discharge of large caliber munitions employing standard, incendiary,
high-explosive, inert rounds, whether portable, crew-served, or vehicle-mounted--on
the State's public trust lands?"
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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:
_____________________________
By Request
Report Title:
Office of
Hawaiian Affairs Package; Constitutional Amendment; Public Trust Lands;
Destructive Live-Fire Military Training; Prohibition
Description:
Proposes
a constitutional amendment to prohibit destructive live-fire military training
on State 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.