Leandra Wai Act
Bill: H.R.7130 | Sponsor: Rep. Kahele, Kaiali'i (D-HI)
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Leandra Wai Act
This bill provides for the conveyance and return by the Department of Defense (DOD), to the state of Hawaii, without consideration, all interest of the United States in the parcel of property known as the Makua Military Reservation located in Oahu, Hawaii.
DOD shall, in collaboration with the state, conduct a study to
There is established a Makua Military Reservation Conveyance, Remediation, and Environmental Restoration Trust Fund to (1) make the reservation suitable for agriculture, residential use, and human habitation, including any remedial actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980; and (2) carry out this bill.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the state that shall govern

To direct the Secretary of Defense to convey the Makua Military 
Reservation to the State of Hawai`i and establish a trust fund for such 
                  conveyance, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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:
            (1) Leandra Wai was a co-founder of the Native Hawaiian-led 
        non-profit Malama Makua, served as its president, and grounded 
        the organization as its cultural practitioner until her passing 
        in 2016. She embodied the cultural healing power of Makua 
        Valley, and was the heart, soul, and spirit of Malama Makua as 
        the organization fought in Federal court to stop live-fire 
        training in the sacred valley. Twice per month, from 2002 until 
        shortly before her passing, Wai led cultural access into Makua 
        Valley, facilitating the cultural reconnection of thousands of 
        community members with Makua. Her leadership still guides 
        Malama Makua.
            (2) Makua, which means ``parents'' in Hawaiian, is a sacred 
        site, rich in culture and biological resources.
            (3) Makua 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 
        Makua's cultural sites, bombing them and pockmarking them with 
        bullet holes. Moreover, continued military occupation of MMR 
        severely limits access by Native Hawaiian cultural 
        practitioners.
            (4) In Native Hawaiian stories and legends, or 
        ``mo`olelo'', Makua 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 native 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, Makua was considered ```aina momona'', or 
        fertile land, with evidence of extensive agricultural terracing 
        that could have produced substantial amounts of food and 
        provided access to important offshore fisheries.
            (7) Traditional and customary practices, such as fishing, 
        gathering of plants, and funerary practices, have continued at 
        Makua in different forms to the present.
            (8) Toxins from military training and related activities at 
        MMR, such as prescribed burns, contaminate Makua's air, land, 
        and water. Contaminants are transported to civilian areas 
        beyond MMR's boundaries--to Makua Beach and the ocean--via the 
        air, Makua's streams, overland flow during storm events, and 
        groundwater.
            (9) The Armed Forces seized Makua for training shortly 
        after the attack on Pearl Harbor, evicting 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 
        hostilities 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 Makua 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 than 23 years, Hawai`i-based 
        military units have consistently and repeatedly been able to 
        achieve readiness to deploy for combat missions without 
        conducting any live-fire training at MMR.
            (13) The Wai`anae district is home to one of the largest 
        concentrations of Native Hawaiians anywhere, yet approximately 
        one-third of Wai`anae's land is occupied by the Armed Forces. 
        The community has been burdened with multiple threats to 
        health, safety, and the environment, which is reflected in poor 
        health and socioeconomic indicators.
            (14) Makua is an important site for the revitalization 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 MAKUA MILITARY 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;
            (2) determine an appropriate schedule, consistent with 
        community standards, for the removal of such land hazards; and
            (3) provide a cost estimate for the land remediation and 
        restoration activities required to make the Makua Military 
        Reservation suitable for agriculture, residential use, and 
        human habitation.
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than one year following the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in collaboration with the 
State of Hawai`i, shall submit a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees that contains the results of such study.

SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF THE MAKUA MILITARY RESERVATION 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 property known as the Makua 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 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 conveyed 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. MAKUA MILITARY RESERVATION CONVEYANCE, REMEDIATION, AND 
              ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION TRUST FUND.

    (a) Establishment of Trust Fund.--There is established in the 
Treasury of the United States a trust fund that shall be known as the 
``Makua 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 credited to the Fund 
as provided in this section.
    (b) Transfer to the Fund.--
            (1) Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
        appropriated to the Fund such sums as may be necessary--
                    (A) to make the Makua Military Reservation suitable 
                for agriculture, residential use, and human habitation, 
                including any remedial actions under the Comprehensive 
                Environmental 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 deposited into the 
        Fund any returns yielded from the investment 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 Secretary of the Army, acting 
        through the Chief of Engineers, shall enter into a Memorandum 
        of Understanding with the State of Hawai`i that shall govern--
                    (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 paragraph (1), with 
        respect to the terms and conditions included in the Memorandum 
        of Understanding pursuant to paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary of 
        the Army shall consult with Native Hawaiian organizations.
            (3) Access to site.--Nothing in the Memorandum of 
        Understanding may restrict access to the Makua 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:
            (1) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 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 Hawaiian 
                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 
                Makua Military Reservation by the Secretary of Defense.
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