I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7130 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to convey the Ma¯kua Military Reservation 
to the State of Hawai‘i and establish a trust fund for such conveyance, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2022 
Mr. KAHELE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to convey the Ma¯kua 
Military Reservation to the State of Hawai‘i and estab-
lish a trust fund for such conveyance, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This bill may be cited as the ‘‘Leandra Wai Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Leandra Wai was a co-founder of the Na-
tive Hawaiian-led non-profit Ma¯lama Ma¯kua, served 
as its president, and grounded the organization as 
its cultural practitioner until her passing in 2016. 
She embodied the cultural healing power of Ma¯kua 
Valley, and was the heart, soul, and spirit of 
Ma¯lama Ma¯kua as the organization fought in Fed-
eral court to stop live-fire training in the sacred val-
ley. Twice per month, from 2002 until shortly before 
her passing, Wai led cultural access into Ma¯kua Val-
ley, facilitating the cultural reconnection of thou-
sands of community members with Ma¯kua. Her lead-
ership still guides Ma¯lama Ma¯kua. 
(2) Ma¯kua, which means ‘‘parents’’ in Hawai-
ian, is a sacred site, rich in culture and biological re-
sources. 
(3) Ma¯kua Military Reservation (in this section 
referred to as ‘‘MMR’’) contains more than 100 
sites eligible for listing on the National Register of 
Historic 
Places, 
including 
Hawaiian 
temples, 
shrines, petroglyphs, and other sacred, cultural, and 
historic sites. Past military live-fire training has 
damaged Ma¯kua’s cultural sites, bombing them and 
pockmarking them with bullet holes. Moreover, con-
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tinued military occupation of MMR severely limits 
access by Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners. 
(4) In Native Hawaiian stories and legends, or 
‘‘mo‘olelo’’, Ma¯kua is an important place within a 
much more expansive traditional cultural landscape 
and network of interrelated sites. It has heightened 
cultural significance because of its relationship to 
other sites. 
(5) Military training-related fires at MMR 
threaten more than 40 species of animals and plants 
protected under the Endangered Species Act (Public 
Law 93–205; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as well as na-
tive habitat identified as critical to the survival and 
recovery of these imperiled species. Additionally, 
training-related fires have burned thousands of acres 
at MMR. 
(6) Historically, Ma¯kua was considered ‘‘ ‘a¯ina 
momona’’, or fertile land, with evidence of extensive 
agricultural terracing that could have produced sub-
stantial amounts of food and provided access to im-
portant offshore fisheries. 
(7) Traditional and customary practices, such 
as fishing, gathering of plants, and funerary prac-
tices, have continued at Ma¯kua in different forms to 
the present. 
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(8) Toxins from military training and related 
activities at MMR, such as prescribed burns, con-
taminate Ma¯kua’s air, land, and water. Contami-
nants are transported to civilian areas beyond 
MMR’s boundaries—to Ma¯kua Beach and the 
ocean—via the air, Ma¯kua’s streams, overland flow 
during storm events, and groundwater. 
(9) The Armed Forces seized Ma¯kua for train-
ing shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, evict-
ing the families who had lived there for generations, 
bombing their church, and destroying their homes. 
The Armed Forces promised to return the land to 
the local families six months after the end of hos-
tilities but broke that promise. Nearly eight decades 
after World War II ended, the Armed Forces still 
occupy MMR. 
(10) In addition to seizing Hawaiian trust 
lands, the Armed Forces condemned kuleana land 
grants from Native Hawaiian families. 
(11) MMR lies just across Farrington Highway, 
a public roadway, from Ma¯kua Beach, a public 
beach where local children play, and local families 
gather fish and limu to put food on their tables. 
(12) The Armed Forces have not conducted live 
fire training at MMR since June 2004. For more 
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than 23 years, Hawai‘i-based military units have 
consistently and repeatedly been able to achieve 
readiness to deploy for combat missions without con-
ducting any live-fire training at MMR. 
(13) The Wai‘anae district is home to one of 
the largest concentrations of Native Hawaiians any-
where, yet approximately one-third of Wai‘anae’s 
land is occupied by the Armed Forces. The commu-
nity has been burdened with multiple threats to 
health, safety, and the environment, which is re-
flected in poor health and socioeconomic indicators. 
(14) Ma¯kua is an important site for the revital-
ization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and a 
valuable educational resource for Hawaiian culture, 
history, ecology, and environmental restoration. 
SEC. 3. STUDY OF THE COST TO MAKE THE MA¯ KUA MILI-
TARY RESERVATION SUITABLE FOR HUMAN 
HABITATION. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall, in collaboration with the State of Hawai‘i, conduct 
a study to— 
(1) map out land hazards including— 
(A) unexploded ordnance; and 
(B) other contaminants; 
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(2) determine an appropriate schedule, con-
sistent with community standards, for the removal 
of such land hazards; and 
(3) provide a cost estimate for the land remedi-
ation and restoration activities required to make the 
Ma¯kua Military Reservation suitable for agriculture, 
residential use, and human habitation. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year fol-
lowing the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary, in collaboration with the State of Hawai‘i, shall 
submit a report to the appropriate congressional commit-
tees that contains the results of such study. 
SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF THE MA¯ KUA MILITARY RESERVA-
TION TO THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I. 
(a) CONVEYANCE.—The United States, through the 
Secretary of Defense, shall convey and return, without 
consideration, to the State of Hawai‘i, all right, title, and 
interest of the United States in and to that parcel of prop-
erty known as the Ma¯kua Military Reservation located in 
Oahu, Hawai‘i. 
(b) 
DEADLINE.—Notwithstanding 
section 
120(h)(3)(A)(ii)(I) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9620(h)(3)(A)(ii)(I)), the Secretary shall carry out 
the conveyance under subsection (a) of this section not 
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later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(c) DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.—The exact acreage 
and legal description of the parcel of property to be con-
veyed under this Act shall be determined by a survey that 
is satisfactory to the State of Hawai‘i after consultation 
with the Secretary. 
(d) REPORT ON CONVEYANCE.—Not later than 180 
days after the conveyance under this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the compliance with 
the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 5. MA¯ KUA MILITARY RESERVATION CONVEYANCE, RE-
MEDIATION, 
AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL 
RES-
TORATION TRUST FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.—There is es-
tablished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 
that shall be known as the ‘‘Ma¯kua Military Reservation 
Conveyance, Remediation, and Environmental Restoration 
Trust Fund’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’), 
consisting of such sums as may be appropriated or cred-
ited to the Fund as provided in this section. 
(b) TRANSFER TO THE FUND.— 
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(1) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Fund such sums as may be 
necessary— 
(A) to make the Ma¯kua Military Reserva-
tion suitable for agriculture, residential use, 
and human habitation, including any remedial 
actions under the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9620 et seq.); and 
(B) to carry out this Act. 
(2) INVESTMENT YIELD.—There shall be depos-
ited into the Fund any returns yielded from the in-
vestment of the sums appropriated to the Fund 
under paragraph (1) of this subsection. 
(c) EXPENDITURES FROM THE FUND.—Amounts in 
the Fund shall be made available pursuant to the terms 
of the Memorandum of Understanding under subsection 
(d). 
(d) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Army, acting through the Chief of En-
gineers, shall enter into a Memorandum of Under-
standing with the State of Hawai‘i that shall gov-
ern— 
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(A) the study required under section 3(a); 
(B) the conveyance required under section 
4(a); 
(C) the timing, planning, methodology, and 
implementation for the removal of— 
(i) unexploded ordnance; and 
(ii) other contaminants; and 
(D) the use of the sums appropriated to 
the Fund under subsection (b)(1). 
(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out para-
graph (1), with respect to the terms and conditions 
included in the Memorandum of Understanding pur-
suant to paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary of the 
Army shall consult with Native Hawaiian organiza-
tions. 
(3) ACCESS TO SITE.—Nothing in the Memo-
randum of Understanding may restrict access to the 
Ma¯kua Military Reservation pursuant to paragraph 
13 of the settlement agreement and stipulated order 
of the United States District Court for the District 
of Hawai‘i executed on October 4, 2001 (Civil No. 
00–00813 SOM–LEK). 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committees on Armed Services 
of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
(2) The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ 
has the meaning given such term— 
(A) in section 6207 of the Native Hawai-
ian Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7517); or 
(B) in section 300314 of title 54, United 
States Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘other contaminants’’ includes— 
(A) improved conventional munitions; 
(B) munitions waste; 
(C) medical waste; and 
(D) other hazardous materials introduced 
to the Ma¯kua Military Reservation by the Sec-
retary of Defense. 
Æ 
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