Bill Text: HI SCR54 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Strongly Urging Various Government Agencies To Take Appropriate Actions To Protect The Wahi Pana Of Waimakaohiiaka And Preserve The Traditional And Customary Practice Of Making Salt Beds And Gathering Paakai (salt) In Hanapepe, Kauai.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-01 - Referred to FIN, referral sheet 52 [SCR54 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-SCR54-Amended.html

THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

54

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

STRONGLY URGING VARIOUS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS TO PROTECT THE WAHI PANA OF WAIMAKAOHIIAKA AND PRESERVE THE TRADITIONAL AND CUSTOMARY PRACTICE OF MAKING SALT BEDS AND GATHERING PAAKAI (SALT) IN HANAPEPE, KAUAI.

 

 


     WHEREAS, Waimakaohiiaka, in the ili of Ukulā, in the ahupuaa of Hanapēpē, in the moku of Kona or also known as the salt ponds of Hanapēpē is a wahi pana, a culturally significant sacred site specifically for the making of paakai (salt), which has been traditionally cultivated and gathered by native Hawaiians since time immemorial; and

 

     WHEREAS, Waimakaohiiaka, is the only area in all of Hawaii that continues to make the salt beds and harvest paakai using these traditional methods, which are passed generation to generation by native Hawaiian ohana who are exercising their constitutionally protected traditional and customary salt-making knowledge and skills; and

 

     WHEREAS, article XII, section 7, of the Hawaii State Constitution provides:  "The State reaffirms and shall protect all rights, customarily and traditionally exercised for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes and possessed by ahupuaa tenants who are descendants of native Hawaiians who inhabited the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778, subject to the right of the State to regulate such rights"; and

 

     WHEREAS, in keeping with centuries-old traditions, the paakai gathered at this location cannot be bought nor is it sold, but is generously shared or traded by the twenty-two families who are the lineal descendants of past salt-makers, resulting in this resource being distributed throughout Kauai, statewide, nationally, and internationally for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Register of Historic Places is an official list of properties that have been recognized for their significance to the history, architecture, archaeology, or culture of Hawaii communities, and the Hanapēpē Salt Pans have been listed in the State Inventory of Historic Places; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Waimakaohiiaka parcel is zoned for conservation, and is identified as an open/special treatment resource and cultural district by the County of Kauai; and

 

     WHEREAS, urbanization, commercial, and recreational activities adjacent to Waimakaohiiaka cause threatening factors such as dust, noise, and contamination from sources ranging from an ill-placed helicopter operation sited at Port Allen Airport, also known as Burns Field, and vehicles accessing the beach, to broken beer bottles and trash left by beach users; and

 

     WHEREAS, on June 25, 2019, the Kauai Planning Commission considered an application submitted by Smoky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. (SMI) for after-the-fact permit applications during which over seventy-five people testified and hundreds more submitted written testimonies to protect this last of its kind salt making tradition in Hanapēpē; and

 

     WHEREAS, subsequently, the Kauai Planning Commission was preparing for a contested case hearing for the after-the-fact permit applications and was granted intervenor status to the Hui Hana Paakai o Hanapēpē, a native Hawaiian organization formed in 1964, comprised of the twenty-two ohana that continue the salt-making and gathering practice; and

 

     WHEREAS, on August 1, 2019, the Hui Hana Paakai o Hanapēpē sent a certified letter to the Department of Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency urgently requesting them to investigate immediately the use of an unpermitted restroom facility utilizing a cesspool at Burns Field by SMI, a lessee; and

 

     WHEREAS, on two occasions in August 2019, the County of Kauai Planning Department sent a certified notice of violations of Kauai's comprehensive zoning ordinance and special management area rules and regulations and orders to pay fines to the Department of Transportation, Airports Division; SMI; D & J Air Adventures; and Maverick Helicopter citing the illegal development within the special area management district, failure to secure required special management area permit determination, and violations of the comprehensive zoning ordinance; and

 

     WHEREAS, in response to inquiries sent by State Representative Dee Morikawa and Kauai Councilman Luke Evslin, the Department of Health Wastewater Branch (WWB) investigated the site on August 21, 2019, and found that:  an illegal cesspool was constructed but not in use, the Maverick Helicopters facility was utilizing two portable toilets, plumbing fixtures (toilet, sink and associated piping) were recently removed from the facility's restroom, no wastewater was observed being discharged to the illegal cesspool, and the WWB will be issuing the facility a field citation for the construction of an illegal cesspool; and

 

     WHEREAS, additional WWB investigations found that:  SMI had previously utilized an unapproved cesspool for an unpermitted restroom, the cesspool was not in use and the fixtures from the restroom were removed before the inspection, two portable toilets were provided at the Maverick Helicopters facility for employees and customers, the WWB will be issuing the Maverick Helicopters a field citation for the construction and use of a cesspool that was not approved by the Director of Health, and Maverick Helicopters will be ordered to:  (1) properly abandon the cesspool; (2) obtain a building permit for the restroom; (3) construct a new individual wastewater system to serve the restroom; and (4) remove the two portable toilets after the individual wastewater system is issued an approval to use from the WWB; and

 

     WHEREAS, on August 30, 2019, the County of Kauai Director of Planning received a copy of a letter from Belles Graham LLP representing SMI in receipt of the Planning Department's letter dated August 5, 2019, informing the client of a Notice of Violation and Order to Pay Fines, as well as a Petition to Appeal Decision of the Planning Director as provided for by chapter 9 of the Planning Commission rules; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hui Hana Paakai o Hanapēpē has developed a web strategy to share updated and relevant information with the community, which can be found on their website; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Governor and County of Kauai are strongly urged to protect the wahi pana of Waimakaohiiaka and the traditional and customary practice of making salt beds and gathering paakai (salt) in Hanapēpē, Kauai for all future generations; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body stands in solidarity with the Hui Hana Paakai o Hanapēpē as protectors of the wahi pana; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is strongly urged to order the relocation of the operations of Smoky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. from Burns Field to the more appropriate Līhue Airport where all other Kauai helicopter tour businesses operate, then close the Port Allen Airport, and provide adequate security to prevent illegal trespassing and camping in the areas under its jurisdiction; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the County of Kauai are urged to control, regulate, and enforce illegal beach access impacting the salt ponds in the areas under its jurisdictions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Environmental Protection Agency is urged to investigate the use of an unpermitted restroom facility utilizing a cesspool at Burns Field, Kauai by SMI and send a response to the Hui Hana Paakai o Hanapēpē; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Governor, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Director of Transportation, Mayors of each county, Chair of County of Kauai Council, Chair of County of Kauai Planning Commission, County of Kauai Planning Department, and President of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

Report Title: 

Agencies; Waimakaohiiaka; Salt Beds

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