HB620

SECTION 1. Title 12, subtitle 6 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

PERSONHOOD STATUS FOR SIGNIFICANT INDIGENOUS SITES, GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES, AND NATURAL RESOURCES

§ -1 Findings and declaration of necessity. The legislature finds and declares that:

(1) The State of Hawaii is home to numerous physical sites, geographical features, and natural resources having historical, cultural, or religious significance to native Hawaiians;

(2) Once identified, certain significant indigenous sites, geographical features, and natural resources should be granted special protection by securing legal personhood status for these places and resources;

(3) Hawaii should look to the precedents set by other jurisdictions, such as New Zealand, which granted legal personhood status to the Whanganui River in 2017 based on the river's long history of providing physical and spiritual support to indigenous tribes associated with the river, and India, which granted legal personhood status to the Ganges River in recognition of its holy status and venerated place in Indian mythology;

(4) Granting legal personhood status to certain significant indigenous sites, geographical features, and natural resources means that these places and resources have all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person, and that any harm or injury to these places and resources may be addressed in the court system as if the harm or injury had been inflicted upon a living human being; and

(5) The larger aims of granting legal personhood status under this chapter include ensuring a meaningful form of protection for significant indigenous sites, geographical features, and natural resources that may be judicially enforced; providing these places and resources with a clear identity and voice with which to address environmental or other threats such as pollution and overdevelopment; and preserving the unique historical, cultural, and religious value of these places and resources for current and future generations of the people of Hawaii nei.

§ -2 Securing of legal personhood status; determination; interagency cooperation. (a) The aha moku advisory committee shall be the lead state agency to coordinate efforts to determine which physical sites, geographical features, and natural resources having historical, cultural, or religious significance to native Hawaiians should be granted legal personhood status and the reasons therefor. After these places and natural resources have been identified, the aha moku advisory committee shall develop a process and timeline for initiating and completing the necessary legal proceedings to secure legal personhood status for these places and resources.

(b) The aha moku advisory committee shall obtain the advice and assistance of the following government entities, which shall provide cooperation and collaboration:

(1) The board of land and natural resources and department of land and natural resources;

(2) The office of Hawaiian affairs;

(3) The state historic preservation division, including the respective island burial councils;

(4) The aha moku councils of each island; and

(5) Any other government entity that the aha moku advisory committee deems appropriate for the purposes of this chapter.

(c) The aha moku advisory committee may consult with and invite the participation of private entities, including community organizations, in implementing the requirements of this chapter.

§ -3 Rules. No later than December 31, 2023, the department of land and natural resources shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91, to implement this chapter."

SECTION 2. Section 171-4.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) The aha moku advisory committee may provide advice on the following:

(1) Integrating indigenous resource management practices with western management practices in each moku;

(2) Identifying a comprehensive set of indigenous practices for natural resource management;

(3) Fostering the understanding and practical use of native Hawaiian resource knowledge, methodology, and expertise;

(4) Sustaining the State's marine, land, cultural, agricultural, and natural resources;

(5) Providing community education and fostering cultural awareness on the benefits of the aha moku system;

(6) Fostering protection and conservation of the State's natural resources[;], including protection of sites, geographical features, and natural resources having historical, cultural, or religious significance to native Hawaiians, pursuant to chapter ; and

(7) Developing an administrative structure that oversees the aha moku system."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	620
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII