STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1936

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 28

H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 28, H.D. 1, entitled:

"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,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request 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.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Green Party of Hawaiʻi, Surfrider Foundation Oʻahu Chapter, Malu ʻAina Center for Non-Violent Education & Action, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, ʻEwa Neighborhood Board Military Affairs Committee, CountryTalkStory, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, and twenty‑seven individuals.

Your Committees find that the Puuloa Range Training Facility, located in Ewa Beach on Oahu, is a shooting range that has been used by the United States Marine Corps for more than a century. Your Committees note that when 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. Your Committees further find that testing of soil, sand, fish, and homes, including tests conducted by the United States Marine Corps, have indicated that significant amounts of lead may have migrated and may be continuing to migrate into the highly popular open spaces, nearshore waters, and neighborhoods and schools adjacent to the Puuloa Range Training Facility. Your Committees further note that in 2024, the House of Representatives, through the adoption of H.R. No. 18, H.D. 1, Regular Session of 2024 (HR18), requested the convening of a working group to address issues related to water and air contamination and remediation arising from the operation of the Puuloa Range Training Facility, but that the working group will be dissolved on June 30, 2025. Accordingly, this measure requests a two-year extension of the dissolution date of the working group established by H.R. 18, with additional members, to continue its efforts to address the ongoing threat to the health and safety of the residents of the Ewa Beach community by the Puuloa Range Training Facility.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 28, H.D. 1, and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair