HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 28 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 H.D. 1 STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE RECONVENING OF THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (REGULAR SESSION OF 2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 28
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.C.R. NO.
28
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE RECONVENING OF THE WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 18, H.D. 1 (REGULAR SESSION OF 2024) TO CONTINUE THE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATED TO WATER AND AIR CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION ARISING FROM THE OPERATION OF THE PUULOA RANGE TRAINING FACILITY.
WHEREAS, the Puuloa Range Training Facility, located in Ewa Beach on Oahu, is a shooting range that has been used by United States Marine Corps for more than a century; and WHEREAS, the Ewa Beach community has grown around it, and the training facility now sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood; and WHEREAS, in conducting live-fire exercises, shooters fire into impact berms, including berms that face the ocean and share a coastline with the area's beach parks; and WHEREAS, lead contamination from shooting ranges can accumulate in the soil and remain there for hundreds of years; and WHEREAS, in 2022, sampling done by the Surfrider Foundation of soil taken from the beach side of the training facility identified high levels of lead; and WHEREAS, there is a concern that lead from the soil at the Puuloa Range Training Facility will leach into the ocean, creating a serious risk to marine life in the area; and WHEREAS, there is further concern that dust from lead-contaminated soil will enter the atmosphere and migrate into residential neighborhoods via air or stormwater; and WHEREAS, addressing this issue will require input from experts and community stakeholders; and WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024)(HR18), requested that a working group be convened to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and WHEREAS, the working group established by HR18 will cease on June 30, 2025; and WHEREAS, this body finds that the ongoing threat to the health and safety of the residents of the Ewa Beach community requires continuation of the working group established by HR18; and WHEREAS, this body finds that the Department of Health would be an appropriate agency to facilitate the working group's efforts based on the Hazards Evaluation and Emergency Response Office's authority to address contaminated sites through the administration of the Brownfields Redevelopment Program and Department of Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement Program; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the working group established in House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) is requested to be reconvened to continue the efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to ensure that there is sufficient community representation, the Representative of House District 40 and the Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu are requested to serve as co-chairs and co-conveners of the working group; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health, or the Director's designee, is also requested to serve on the working group, in addition to the members originally requested or invited to participate on the working group pursuant to HR18; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be dissolved on June 30, 2027; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Commander of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Director of Health, Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu, Vice Chair of Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23, Executive Director of Kuleana Coral Restoration, Co-Chairs of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Director of the Hawaii Reef & Ocean Coalition, Director of the Free Access Coalition, and Director of the Shimanchu Wai Protectors.
WHEREAS, the Puuloa Range Training Facility, located in Ewa Beach on Oahu, is a shooting range that has been used by United States Marine Corps for more than a century; and
WHEREAS, the Ewa Beach community has grown around it, and the training facility now sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, in conducting live-fire exercises, shooters fire into impact berms, including berms that face the ocean and share a coastline with the area's beach parks; and
WHEREAS, lead contamination from shooting ranges can accumulate in the soil and remain there for hundreds of years; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, sampling done by the Surfrider Foundation of soil taken from the beach side of the training facility identified high levels of lead; and
WHEREAS, there is a concern that lead from the soil at the Puuloa Range Training Facility will leach into the ocean, creating a serious risk to marine life in the area; and
WHEREAS, there is further concern that dust from lead-contaminated soil will enter the atmosphere and migrate into residential neighborhoods via air or stormwater; and
WHEREAS, addressing this issue will require input from experts and community stakeholders; and
WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024)(HR18), requested that a working group be convened to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and
WHEREAS, the working group established by HR18 will cease on June 30, 2025; and
WHEREAS, this body finds that the ongoing threat to the health and safety of the residents of the Ewa Beach community requires continuation of the working group established by HR18; and
WHEREAS, this body finds that the Department of Health would be an appropriate agency to facilitate the working group's efforts based on the Hazards Evaluation and Emergency Response Office's authority to address contaminated sites through the administration of the Brownfields Redevelopment Program and Department of Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement Program; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the working group established in House Resolution No. 18, H.D. 1 (Regular Session of 2024) is requested to be reconvened to continue the efforts to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to ensure that there is sufficient community representation, the Representative of House District 40 and the Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu are requested to serve as co-chairs and co-conveners of the working group; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health, or the Director's designee, is also requested to serve on the working group, in addition to the members originally requested or invited to participate on the working group pursuant to HR18; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be dissolved on June 30, 2027; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Commander of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Director of Health, Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Councilmember for District 9 of the City and County of Honolulu, Vice Chair of Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23, Executive Director of Kuleana Coral Restoration, Co-Chairs of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Director of the Hawaii Reef & Ocean Coalition, Director of the Free Access Coalition, and Director of the Shimanchu Wai Protectors.
Report Title: Puuloa Range Training Facility; Working Group; DOH
Report Title:
Puuloa Range Training Facility; Working Group; DOH