Bill Text: HI SR56 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Iwi Kupuna; Cultural Monitoring; DLNR

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-16 - (S) Referred to WLH/HWN/EDT. [SR56 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SR56-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	56
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the Department of Land and Natural Resources to convene a Task Force to recommend legislation On cultural monitoring Of construction and development projects within the State of Hawaii.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii places a high priority on protecting and preserving its historic and cultural resources, which include iwi kupuna or Hawaiian burial remains; and

 

     WHEREAS, existing state laws, particularly chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, provide the legal framework for the protection and management of historic and cultural resources; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the fact that cultural monitoring of construction and development projects greatly increases the protection and preservation of historic and cultural resources in danger of disturbance or destruction from the projects, chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, does not require cultural monitoring of construction and development projects; and

 

     WHEREAS, Native Hawaiian organizations, community groups, and ohana claimants have advised developers of cultural impacts and sensitivities associated with projects and developments; and

 

     WHEREAS, as the State Historic Preservation Division has been severely underfunded and understaffed for the past decade, the Legislature recommitted its support for historic preservation in 2011 when it approved seven new positions and the restoration of four positions within the State Historic Preservation Division; and

 

     WHEREAS, prior to the commencement of construction and development of the Stryker Brigade facilities at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, the United States Army, in good faith, consulted with cultural monitors about the construction and development activities; and

 

     WHEREAS, in May 2010, archaeologists and cultural monitors contracted by the United States Army discovered suspected iwi kupuna on a Schofield Barracks construction site, and immediately thereafter implemented an inadvertent discovery plan, including protecting the iwi kupuna and notifying the State Historic Preservation Division and the Oahu Burial Council; and

 

     WHEREAS, the use of cultural monitors in Hawaii is not as common as it is in other states within the United States or in countries in the Pacific region; and

 

     WHEREAS, legislation implementing cultural monitoring for private sector and government developments and projects is urgently needed to ensure that historic and cultural resources are properly identified and appropriately treated; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to convene a task force to recommend legislation on cultural monitoring of construction and development projects within the State of Hawaii; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the membership of the task force is requested to include a representative of each of the following entities:

 

     (1)  United States Department of the Interior, Office of Hawaiian Relations;

 

     (2)  United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service;

 

     (3)  State Senate;

 

     (4)  State House of Representatives;

 

     (5)  Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

 

     (6)  Department of Land and Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division;

 

     (7)  An archaeological consulting firm that performs cultural monitoring work;

 

     (8)  An archaeological consulting firm that does not perform cultural monitoring work;

 

     (9)  Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs;

 

    (10)  Royal Order of Kamehameha; and

 

    (11)  Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force members are requested to serve on a voluntary basis and to assume responsibility for any costs associated with their participation on the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force shall not be subject to chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes, due solely to their participation on the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force submit its proposed legislation to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be dissolved on June 30, 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Hawaiian Relations; United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service; President of the Senate; Speaker of the House of Representatives; Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Royal Order of Kamehameha; and Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Iwi Kupuna; Cultural Monitoring; DLNR