Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1993 — E hoʻihoʻi ʻia mai ʻo Kahoʻolawe . . . Kahoʻolawe will be returned [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

E hoʻihoʻi ʻia mai ʻo Kahoʻolawe . . . Kahoʻolawe will be returned

by Jeff Clark The U.S. government has agreed to return the island of Kaho'olawe to Hawai'i and has committed $400 million toward cleaning up the unexploded ordnanee and other environmental

hazards left by years of military training on the island. The Senate approved the legislation Oct. 21; the House of Representatives approved it Nov. 10. Legislation to return Kaho'olawe follows the recomendation of

the report submitted earlier this year by the

Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC). Congress has thus paved the way for the island's return to the State of Hawai'i. All that remained at Ka Wai Ola O OHA press time was for President Clinton to sign the legislation into law.

Title to the island will be transferred to the state within 180 days of the legislation's enactment, the amendment states. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye included the Kaho'olawe measure as an amendment to a $239 billion defense spend-

ing bill. In pitching it to his Senate colleagues,

Inouye said of the amendment, "It addresses the desires of native Hawaiians to return and to worship in their way on an island

sacred in their history. It does justice to a people too long denied." Inouye said it is in the national interest, and an obligation of Congress, "to recognize the cultural and humanitarian value of assuring meaningful, safe uses of the island. ..." Included in the

$400 million appropriation is $45 million that will be forwarded to the state for long-term planning and environmental restoration activities. These restoration

activities include; • soil conservation and water resource development, • erosion abatement (including

reforestation and revegetation), • stabilization, restoration and securing sites of archeological or historical signifieanee, removal or destruction of nonnative plants and animals, and • precise identification of areas

from whieh ordnance will be removed. Within 180 days of the legislation's enactment, the Navy and the state will enter into a

Memorandum of Understanding to develop a plan for access to the island. The agreement will also cover the method and timing of ordnance removal, and methcontinued on page 4

Sen. Daniel lnouye

A. Frenchy DeSoto