# The Leandra Wai Act: Returning Military Land in Hawaii to the State

This bill directs the federal government to give back a large piece of military land in Hawaii called the Mākua Military Reservation to the State of Hawaii. The U.S. military has controlled this land on the island of Oahu since shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, when the Armed Forces seized it for training purposes and evicted the families living there. The bill requires the Department of Defense to hand over the property within 180 days of the law passing, at no cost to the state.

The main problem this bill addresses is that the military land has been heavily damaged and contaminated from decades of live-fire training exercises. The reservation contains over 100 sites of cultural and historical importance to Native Hawaiians, including ancient temples, shrines, and petroglyphs that have been damaged by bombing and bullets. The land is also contaminated with unexploded ordnance (leftover ammunition and bombs), munitions waste, and other hazardous materials that have spread beyond the military base into nearby Mākua Beach and the ocean, affecting the local community. Notably, the military hasn't actually conducted live-fire training there since 2004—over 20 years ago—meaning the land is no longer needed for its original purpose.

To help make the land safe and usable again, the bill establishes a trust fund that Congress can use to pay for cleaning up the contamination, removing unexploded ordnance, and restoring the land so it can be used for farming, housing, and other civilian purposes. The bill also requires the Department of Defense to study exactly what needs to be cleaned up and how much it will cost. The state of Hawaii and Native Hawaiian organizations will have a say in how the cleanup happens and how the money gets spent. This affects local residents who live near the base, Native Hawaiians who want to practice their cultural traditions at the site, and the broader community that has dealt with environmental and health impacts from the military's presence there for nearly 80 years.

Leandra Wai Act

Kahele, Kaiali'i

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 <ul> <li>map out land hazards, including unexploded ordnance and other contaminants;</li> <li>determine an appropriate schedule, consistent with community standards, for the removal of such land hazards; and</li> <li>provide a cost estimate for the land remediation and restoration activities required to make the reservation suitable for agriculture, residential use, and human habitation.</li> </ul> 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 <ul> <li>the study; </li> <li>the conveyance; </li> <li>the timing, planning, methodology, and implementation for the removal of unexploded ordnance; and</li> <li>the use of the sums appropriated to the fund. </li> </ul>