ARTICLE XI
CONSERVATION, CONTROL AND DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES
Note
This article was redesignated from "Article X Conservation and Development of Resources" to be "Article XI Conservation, Control and Development of Resources" by Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978. The former Article XI now appears as Article XII.
Law Journals and Reviews
Environmental Protection Based on State Constitutional Law: A Call for Reinterpretation. 12 UH L. Rev. 123.
CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES
Section 1. For the benefit of present and future generations, the State and its political subdivisions shall conserve and protect Hawaii's natural beauty and all natural resources, including land, water, air, minerals and energy sources, and shall promote the development and utilization of these resources in a manner consistent with their conservation and in furtherance of the self-sufficiency of the State.
All public natural resources are held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people. [Add Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978]
Note
A proposal of the 1978 Constitutional Convention deleted the former section 1 of the old Article X, which read: "Section 1. The legislature shall promote the conservation, development and utilization of agricultural resources, and fish, mineral, forest, water, land, game and other natural resources." This deletion appears to be one of the unspecified changes submitted for ratification under Question 34. On whether any of the changes submitted under Question 34 was in fact approved by the electorate, see Kahalekai v. Doi, 60 H. 324 (1979), excerpted in the note preceding the Preamble to the Constitution.
Law Journals and Reviews
Residential Use of Hawai'i's Conservation District. 14 UH L. Rev. 633.
Hawai`i Constitution, Article XI, Section 1: The Conservation, Protection, and Use of Natural Resources. 19 UH L. Rev. 177.
Proceedings of the 2001 Symposium on Managing Hawai`i's Public Trust Doctrine. 24 UH L. Rev. 21.
Wiping Out the Ban on Surfboards at Point Panic. 27 UH L. Rev. 303.
Case Notes
Although the public trust doctrine and the state water code share similar core principles, the code does not supplant the protections of the public trust doctrine. 94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.
The maintenance of waters in their natural state constitutes a distinct "use" under the water resources trust. 94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.
The state water resources trust embodies the following fundamental principles: the State has both the authority and duty to preserve the rights of present and future generations in the waters of the State; and the State bears an affirmative duty to take the public trust into account in the planning and allocation of water resources, and to protect public trust uses whenever feasible. 94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.
This section and article XI, §7 of the Hawaii constitution adopt the public trust doctrine as a fundamental principle of constitutional law in Hawaii. 94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.
Under this section, article XI, §7 of the Hawaii constitution and the sovereign reservation, the public trust doctrine applies to all water resources, unlimited by any surface-ground distinction. 94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.
Pursuant to this section and §7 of the Hawaii constitution, §220(d) of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, and §174C-101(a), a reservation of water constitutes a public trust purpose. 103 H. 401, 83 P.3d 664.
Where commission on water resource management failed to render the requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to whether applicant had satisfied its burden as mandated by the state water code, it violated its public trust duty to protect the department of Hawaiian home lands' reservation rights under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the state water code, the state constitution, and the public trust doctrine in balancing the various competing interests in the state water resources trust. 103 H. 401, 83 P.3d 664.