Report Title:

Relating to the Environmental Impact Statement Law

Description:

Requires an environmental assessment for any actions that propose any county general plan amendment or state land use commission petition to classify lands within 3,000 feet or two miles of any military installation (depending on the size of the population of the county in question). (HB1807 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1807

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT LAW.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. In 2005, the United States Department of Defense will undergo another military installation and base realignment and closure review. In the past, due at least in part to civilian urban encroachment in some states, the military missions of some military installations have been adversely affected and jeopardized, leading to the closure of those installations. It is imperative that environmental and other land use authorities that review civilian developments in close proximity to military installations take into consideration the impact such development may have on a nearby military installation.

With construction underway at Hickam Air Force Base to accommodate eight new C-17 transport planes, the proposed improvements statewide for the highly anticipated arrival of the Stryker Brigade at Schofield Barracks, and the massive military housing projects about to take shape throughout Oahu, it is important that the State do all it can to assist the military in its mission.

The legislature is concerned that for many people in our State’s civilian community, the military becomes "real" only when there is some type of parade or ceremony, when people are inconvenienced during military exercises or the movement of troops or equipment, or when news reports discuss the concerns of merchants facing a loss of customers due to troop deployments.

In reality, however, the military is with us in every way and contributing to our communities every day. Whether through the infusion of construction dollars, purchases and expenditures by military personnel and their family members in the civilian economy, or the hiring of thousands of civilian employees in a variety of capacities, Hawaii’s military has long played and continues to play an essential role in the State’s economy. The military was not created as a conduit to channel federal moneys to states and localities. Like any other government agency, the military has a job to do--ultimately, when necessary, to fight and win wars. Like any government agency that is overseen by civilian authorities, the military is in danger of losing personnel, facilities, or appropriations that are considered superfluous to achieving its missions.

Traditional warfare has been dirty, dangerous, and unkind to living things. Modern warfare is much the same, except with greater mobility and more powerful and sophisticated weapons. One constant over time, however, is the axiom that realistic training is the best way to ensure that our troops will survive. While realistic training once called for close order drills and the coordinated massed firing of muskets, the realities of modern warfare now require a variety of terrains and broad areas in which to maneuver mechanized equipment. Training areas must be suitable not only for small units of troops firing small arms such as rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers. Proper realistic command and control training for higher-level commanders dictates training scenarios involving hundreds, if not thousands, of troops using combined small arms, artillery, helicopters, and other armaments as well as movement in mechanized equipment over wide areas--sometimes at night. Troops who limit their training to drills on parade grounds are not likely to survive in combat.

The legislature recognizes the need of the military not only to train appropriately, but also to build, maintain, expand, and upgrade facilities, living quarters, communications equipment, and the myriad of other components required to sustain major, sophisticated operations. At the same time, there exists an equally significant reality that all of our people, and civilians in particular, live in a free society and that, within the limits of reasonable government regulation, people are free to travel unencumbered and also to use the lands they own as they see fit. It is understandable that they will be concerned if military training exercises involving heavy equipment or firing live ammunition occur in close proximity to their homes.

As in many other aspects of life, an important role of state government in general and the legislature in particular is to take a leadership role in sorting out the competing needs and priorities of the people--all of the people--of this State. Put simply, state government must do everything it can to ensure that the military and civilian sectors are both able to "be themselves" to the fullest extent possible, given the constraints of a small, remote, environmentally-fragile island state. Such a goal is best accomplished by taking steps to ensure that the interaction between the respective sectors is maximized while encroachment is minimized.

This nation will soon be undergoing another round of painful military base realignments and closings. The loss of any of Hawaii’s military facilities harms our economy in a number of ways. Nevertheless, the legislature suffers from no delusions that the enactment of a state law will in itself influence, much less control, any action of the federal government. More significantly, however, the legislature sincerely believes that the military facilities in this State play a critical role in the defense posture of this nation and deserve retention on their merits alone. For its part, the legislature seeks to ensure that Hawaii’s military facilities can continue to operate in an optimum manner, thereby ensuring their survival.

The purpose of this Act is to ensure that an environmental assessment be performed to determine the potential impact of a county general plan amendment or state land use commission petition to reclassify land, on a military installation and its ability to carry out its military mission when the amendment or reclassification is to land within three thousand feet or two miles (depending on the size of the population of the county in question) of any military installation.

SECTION 2. Section 343-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read:

""Military installation" means any base, military airport, camp, post, station, yard, center, home port facility for a ship, or any other military activity center that is under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Defense."

2. By amending the definitions of ""environmental impact statement" or "statement"" and "significant effect" to read:

"Environmental impact statement" or "statement" means an informational document prepared in compliance with the rules adopted under section 343-6 and [which] that discloses the environmental effects of a proposed action, effects of a proposed action on any military installation or on the ability of the military installation to carry out its military mission, effects of a proposed action on the economic welfare, social welfare, and cultural practices of the community and State, effects of the economic activities arising out of the proposed action, measures proposed to minimize adverse effects, and alternatives to the action and their environmental effects.

"Significant effect" means the sum of effects on the quality of the environment, including actions that irrevocably commit a natural resource, curtail the range of beneficial uses of the environment, are contrary to the State's environmental policies or long-term environmental goals as established by law, adversely affect the operations of a military installation or the installation's ability to carry out its military mission, or adversely affect the economic welfare, social welfare, or cultural practices of the community and State."

SECTION 3. Section 343-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Except as otherwise provided, an environmental assessment shall be required for actions [which:] that:

(1) Propose the use of state or county lands or the use of state or county funds, other than funds to be used for feasibility or planning studies for possible future programs or projects [which] that the agency has not approved, adopted, or funded, or funds to be used for the acquisition of unimproved real property; provided that the agency shall consider environmental factors and available alternatives in its feasibility or planning studies;

(2) Propose any use within any land classified as conservation district by the state land use commission under chapter 205;

(3) Propose any use within the shoreline area as defined in section 205A-41;

(4) Propose any use within any historic site as designated in the National Register or Hawaii Register as provided for in the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Public Law 89-665, or chapter 6E;

(5) Propose any use within the Waikiki area of Oahu, the boundaries of which are delineated in the land use ordinance as amended, establishing the "Waikiki Special District";

(6) Propose any amendments to existing county general plans where such amendment would result in designations other than agriculture, conservation, or preservation, except actions proposing any new county general plan or amendments to any existing county general plan initiated by a county;

(7) Propose any reclassification of any land classified as conservation district by the state land use commission under chapter 205; [and]

(8) Propose any amendment to existing county general plans or any petition to reclassify any lands by the state land use commission:

(A) Within three thousand feet, for counties with populations of five hundred thousand or more residents; or

(B) Within two miles, for counties with populations of fewer than five hundred thousand residents,

of any military installation; and

[[(8)]] (9) Propose the construction of new, or the expansion or modification of existing, helicopter facilities within the State [which] that, by way of their activities, may affect any land classified as conservation district by the state land use commission under chapter 205; the shoreline area as defined in section 205A-41; [or,] any historic site as designated in the National Register or Hawaii Register as provided for in the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Public Law 89-665, or chapter 6E; or, until the statewide historic places inventory is completed, any historic site found by a field reconnaissance of the area affected by the helicopter facility and which is under consideration for placement on the National Register or the Hawaii Register of Historic Places."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.