Citing significant gaps in environmental analysis as presented by DLNR staff, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) voted not to accept the U.S. Army’s final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the retention of state lands on Oʻahu.
Three Oʻahu sites were under consideration for this FEIS: state-leased portions of the Kahuku Training Area (KTA), the Kawailoa-Poamoho Training Area (Poamoho) and the Mākua Military Reservation (MMR).
The decision follows last month’s BLNR vote to not accept the Army’s FEIS for Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawaiʻi Island.
DLNRʻs Land Division (LD) consulted with multiple other divisions within the department, including the Commission on Water Resources Management (CWRM), the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) and the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) to review the FEIS. LD staff provided the BLNR a recommendation of non-acceptance based on a clear lack of baseline data to enable the DLNR and the BLNR to determine and understand the extent of any impacts to natural, historical and cultural resources. In the board submittal, the LD indicated this was a consensus among all the Divisions.
Areas where staff felt the FEIS fell short included adequately accounting for known and likely archaeological sites, lack of recent data for biological resources and absence of stream aquatic surveys. Each of these concerns was raised in the draft EIS phase, but went unaddressed in the final report.
An FEIS is intended to support informed decision-making and does not, by itself, authorize any land use. A separate review and determination would be required should such a request be brought before the BLNR in the future.
The Army’s current lease for more than 6,000 acres of state-owned land at the three sites on Oʻahu is set to expire in 2029.
