Bill Text: HI HR133 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Urging The United States Military To Detect And Avoid Harm To Animals And Marine Life Near The Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-23 - The committee(s) on VMI recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HR133 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HR133-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	133
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Urging the united states military to detect and avoid harm to animals and marine life NEAR the pacific missile range facility.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, in December 2016, the 86 Fighter Weapons Squadron, a Florida-based Air Force squadron, requested a permit that would allow five years of long-range missile testing with the Long Range Strike Weapon Systems Evaluation Program; and

 

     WHEREAS, the permit requested permission to launch nearly 100 missiles each year, and the weapons testing would occur for five continuous days every summer and is expected to impact an area roughly 44 nautical miles off the shore of Kauai, at a water depth of about 15,240 feet; and

 

     WHEREAS, the explosions from the testing are documented to have debilitating effects on dolphins and whales; and

 

     WHEREAS, underwater, the air-to-surface missions could cause acoustic and pressure-related problems for whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals in the area; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are very specific populations of marine mammals that only live around Kauai, and the military weapons training poses a threat to those populations; and

 

     WHEREAS, the following species of marine mammals could be affected by the explosions: humpback whale, sei whale, minke whale, pygmy sperm whale, dwarf sperm whale, pygmy killer whale, short-finned pilot whale, melon headed whale, bottlenose dolphin, pantropical spotted dolphin, striped dolphin, spinner dolphin, rough-toothed dolphin, Fraser's Dolphin, Risso's Dolphin, and Longman's Beaked Whale; and

     WHEREAS, at least 219 animals were found to be likely to experience a significant change in behavioral patterns, including those involving migration, surfacing, nursing, breeding, and feeding; and

 

     WHEREAS, military estimates indicate that 382 animals could suffer temporary hearing loss, and roughly 36 could permanently lose their hearing; and

 

     WHEREAS, many species of whales may be affected by military testing as they rely on their hearing to find food, avoid predators, find mates, and rear their young; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, that the United States Military is urged to detect and avoid harm to animals and marine life near the Pacific Missile Range Facility; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Air Force is respectfully urged to use the Navy's network of hydrophones (or underwater microphones) to help detect these vulnerable species around its bomb site, and to keep its activities to the northern end of the weapons training area, where the islands' resident whales and dolphins are less likely to go; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Commanding Officer of the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Pacific missile range facility; military; long-range missile testing;