HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

292

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting that the legislative reference bureau conduct a study on the feasibility of using facilities at the united states naval reservation at lualualei for emergency shelter purposes.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the leeward coast of Oahu has suffered many natural and human-caused disasters in the past; and

 

     WHEREAS, the sole public passage from the leeward coast to the rest of Oahu in the event of any disaster requiring the evacuation of the leeward coast is Farrington Highway, which itself has been susceptible to numerous closures in the past; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the event of a disaster requiring the evacuation of the leeward coast during a closure of Farrington Highway, tens of thousands of civilian lives will be placed in harm's way; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Navy Reservation at Lualualei, comprising 9,227 acres sheltered in Lualaulei Valley, utilizes the only passage through the Waianae mountain range at Kolekole Pass, connecting the leeward coast with central Oahu; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Navy maintains a number of buildings and facilities at its Lualualei Reservation including  the Naval Magazine Lualualei that is used for the storage of ordnance needed for all of the United States military branches in Hawaii, housing roughly seventy-eight thousand tons of ammunitions and explosives, and the Naval Radio Transmitting Facility Lualualei that transmits state-of-the-art high and low frequency radio signals for the navigation of Navy vessels throughout the Pacific and is the primary Department of Defense long-range transmitter installation in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature is interested in the feasibility of sharing some of the facilities at the naval reservation for emergency shelter purposes during declared emergencies, now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of using the facilities at Lualualei, owned and operated by the United States Navy, as an emergency shelter for civilians during declared emergencies; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in its study the Bureau is requested to:

 

     (1)  Consider the feasibility of using the naval magazine and naval communications facilities in conjunction with emergency shelter uses during an emergency;

 

     (2)  Inventory the capacity and sufficiency of the facilities at Lualualei that may be used for emergency shelter facilities;

 

     (3)  Determine the logistical challenges to making all or part of the facilities available for civilian emergency shelter use;

 

     (4)  Review and consider the jurisdictional issues that need to be addressed and resolved to allow the use of the Navy's Lualualei facilities for civilian emergency shelter use;

 

     (5)  Determine the extent of and conditions that would be necessitated by any agreement between the State and the United States Navy for the use of Lualualei during any emergency, including but not limited to determining what event or declaration would be required to commence the use of the facilities;

 

     (6)  Consider the costs of using the existing facilities and any improvements that would be needed for the civilian emergency shelter use; and

 

     (7)  Consider any other pertinent issues involved in the use of the Navy's facilities for civilian emergency shelter use; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, including any recommended legislation, not less than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau and the United States Navy Commander, United States Pacific Fleet, and the Commander, United States Pacific Command.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

U.S Navy Reservation Lualualei; Emergency Shelters