Bill Text: HI SR164 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Urging The Office Of Planning And Sustainable Development To Develop A Plan To Include A Specific Role For The Native Hawaiian Community In The Coastal Zone Management Plan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-06-06 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06/06/22. [SR164 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR164-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	164
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the office of planning and sustainable development to develop a plan to include a specific role for the native hawaiian community in the coastal zone management plan.

 

 

     WHEREAS, over a period of many centuries, native Hawaiians developed a carefully regulated and sustainable ahupua‘a management system that integrated watershed, freshwater, and nearshore marine resources that would meet the needs of the local population with an excess for tribute and trade; and

 

     WHEREAS, native Hawaiian communities are highly connected to the ocean because a large proportion of foods they eat come from the ocean.  Additionally, the ocean is a transportation corridor for people and animals, a graveyard for ancestors, and a spiritually imbued marinescape; and

 

     WHEREAS, traditional ecological knowledge for native Hawaiians is about establishing and maintaining an intimate relationship with the natural world that would not only ensure their physical survival, but the ability of future generations to do the same.  These culturally specific bodies of knowledge are part of a broader understanding of the Pacific marine environment and its interconnected nature and has important implications for ocean management decisions; and

 

     WHEREAS, the initial purpose of the State's coastal zone management program was to "create a common focus for state and county actions dealing with land and water use and activities" was a return to the knowledge that enabled native Hawaiians to adapt and live in harmony with the natural world; and

 

     WHEREAS, in Ka Pa‘akai o Ka ‘Āina v. Land Use Commission, the Hawaii Supreme Court recognized that article XII, section 7, of the Hawaii State Constitution "places an affirmative duty on the State and its agencies to preserve and protect traditional and customary native Hawaiian rights"; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the challenges that may arise from the integration of traditional ecological knowledge into contemporary planning processes and governance structures, the native Hawaiian community wishes to manage their coastal marine resources based upon traditional practices prevalent in coastal areas; and

 

     WHEREAS, past failure to integrate native Hawaiian cultural practices has resulted in the loss and destruction of many important cultural resources and has interfered with the exercise of native Hawaiian culture.  Due consideration of the effects of human activities on native Hawaiian resources is necessary to ensure the continued existence, development, and exercise of native Hawaiian culture; and

 

     WHEREAS, rules and regulations that govern the use and disposition of ceded lands and the natural resources on them are created without consultation or compensation to native Hawaiian beneficiaries, leaving native Hawaiian communities without a voice or representation on the process; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department Of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism's Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is urged to develop a consultation implementation plan to include a consultation with the native Hawaiian community concerning the types of cultural resources, practices, and knowledge concerning ocean policy in its Coastal Zone Management Plan; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development's native Hawaiian consultation implementation plan is requested to include a commitment from the State to support and engage native Hawaiians and give appropriate recognition of their status as the indigenous peoples of the State and an equitable role in ocean planning in the Hawaiian Islands; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023.  The Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is urged to recommend the following policy statements for adoption:

 

     (1)  The primary objective of consultation is to promote the interests of native Hawaiians in ocean resources, conduct meaningful multi-party information sharing so that an understanding of perspectives is achieved, and give those perspectives meaningful consideration to identify, avoid, and mitigate negative impacts to native Hawaiians;

 

     (2)  The Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is responsible for initiating consultation because proposed actions may affect the marine ecosystems of native Hawaiian communities.  Such state actions may affect management decisions; provided that native Hawaiians may also initiate consultation;

 

     (3)  Meaningful discussions involve a two-way exchange of information and perspectives, and the information provided will be considered and incorporated into the design, development, implementation, and revision of state actions.  The consultation process should enhance and in no way undermine other types of engagement between the State and native Hawaiians;

 

     (4)  Trust, respect, and ongoing relationships are keys to success in consultation.  Meaningful dialogue between native Hawaiians and the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development should be ongoing;

 

     (5)  Consultation should be initiated early at the time when actions are first contemplated, well before decisions are made, and must occur often in the decision-making process; and

 

(6)  The Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is responsible for communicating if and how the consultation affected agency decision making.  If consultation did not affect the decision, the agency should provide an explanation; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office for Coastal Management--Pacific Islands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Director of Planning and Sustainable Development.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Coastal Zone Management Plan; Consultation; Native Hawaiians