Hawaii legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Hawaii SR149: Requesting the Department of the Attorney General to Submit an Annual Report on Litigation Involving Native Hawaiian Traditional and Customary Rights and the State S Public Trust Obligations Under Articles Xi and Xii of the Hawaii State Constitution.
Status: In committee, March 19, 2026
What the bill says
To Amend Interim Instream Flow Standards for Waikamoi, 128 Hawai'i 497 (2012), the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals rejected arguments limiting protections for Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners' water rights and reaffirmed that decisions affecting water resources must comply with the State's public trust obligations and procedural safeguards; (4) In In re 'lao Ground Water Mgmt…
From the introduced text:
to Amend Interim Instream Flow Standards for Waikamoi, 128 Hawai'i 497 (2012), the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals rejected arguments limiting protections for Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners' water rights and reaffirmed that decisions affecting water resources must comply with the State's public trust obligations and procedural safeguards; (4) In In re 'lao Ground Water Mgmt. Area High-Level Source Water User Permit Apps., 128 Hawai'i 228 (2012), the Hawaii Supreme Court found that the state failed to adequately protect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights and consider other instream public uses in Na Wai 'Eha, and failed to adequately address massive water waste and alternative water sources as required by the public trust; (5) In Kilakila '0 Haleakala v. Board of Land and Natural Resources, 131 Hawai'i 193 (2013), the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the State's argument that the Board of Land and Natural Resources could vote to grant a conservation district use permit prior to holding a contested case hearing as requested by Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners; SR SMO 2026-14 Page S.R. NO. (6) In Ching v. Case, 145 Hawai'i 148, 449 P.3d 1146 (2019), the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the State's argument that it could delegate its constitutional public trust duty to protect and preserve "ceded" (seized) public trust lands to the lessee of those lands, particularly after repeated …