Bill Text: HI HR27 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Land And Natural Resources To Convene A Task Force To Resolve Issues Relating To The Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, And Portuguese Cemetery.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-18 - Referred to WAL, FIN, referral sheet 15 [HR27 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HR27-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	27
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO RESOLVE ISSUES RElating to THE HANAPEPE CHINESE, FILIPINO, and PORTUGUESE CEMETERY.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery, also known as Hanapepe Cemetery, is an important cemetery in the historic community of Hanapepe on the island of Kauai that has been in use for more than fifty years; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery is located on an unencumbered state-owned parcel, identified as Tax Map Key:  (4) 1-8-001:018, under the control of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Land Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources recently found that it was unable to locate any executive order on file that set aside the cemetery to the Department of Accounting and General Services or the County of Kauai for use as a cemetery; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health includes the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery on its list of designated "public cemeteries" on Kauai but it is unclear what qualifies a cemetery for placement on that list; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Parks and Recreation of the County of Kauai does not authorize burials on the property but maintains the property by mowing vegetation and providing water faucets and trash receptacles at the cemetery; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources also found that no government agency has established protocols regulating where new burials are conducted in the cemetery and that decisions of where to dig new graves are made solely by the gravediggers themselves; and

 

     WHEREAS, it appears that the Department of Land and Natural Resources has never been contacted for permission to use the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery site as a cemetery; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Accounting and General Services and County of Kauai have also indicated that they have not authorized burials on the property; and

 

     WHEREAS, accordingly, on July 20, 2020, the Department of Land and Natural Resources recommended that the Department of Health immediately discontinue the issuance of burial permits for Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery until an appropriate governmental agency is properly assigned management and control over the cemetery; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cessation of burial permits has unfortunately caused immediate disruption as a number of people who planned to bury their loved ones at the cemetery were no longer able to do so, including at least one case in which a husband was unable to be buried with his wife; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is important that the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery remain available for use as there are not many cemeteries on Kauai that have available space for new burials, and burials at private cemeteries may be prohibitively expensive; and

 

     WHEREAS, accordingly, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has requested that the County of Kauai assume management and control over the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery by way of a Governor's Executive Order for cemetery purposes, which would in turn allow for continued burials at the cemetery; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to convene a task force to resolve issues relating to the Hanapepe Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese Cemetery, located at Tax Map Key:  (4) 1-8-008:018; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to examine and resolve:

 

     (1)  All outstanding jurisdictional issues regarding the use of the site as a cemetery;

 

     (2)  Any steps needed to allow burials at the cemetery to resume; and

 

     (3)  Any other issues the task force may identify; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include the following individuals or their designees:

 

     (1)  The Governor;

 

     (2)  The Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources;

 

     (3)  The District Land Agent for the Kauai District Branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources's Land Division;

 

     (4)  The Director of Health;

 

     (5)  The Comptroller;

 

     (6)  The Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs;

 

     (7)  The Mayor of the County of Kauai;

 

     (8)  The Chairperson of the standing committee of the Kauai County Council having jurisdiction over that county's Department of Parks and Recreation;

 

     (9)  The Director of Parks and Recreation of the County of Kauai; and

 

    (10)  Any other person whom the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources or task force deems appropriate to serve on the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources is requested to serve as chair of the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no member of the task force be subject to Chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes, solely because of that member's participation as a member of the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to provide administrative support to the task force; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be dissolved on June 30, 2022; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Director of Health, Comptroller, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Mayor of the County of Kauai, Chairperson of the Kauai County Council, and Director of Parks and Recreation of the County of Kauai.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Hanapepe Cemetery; DLNR; DAGS; DCCA; Governor; County of Kauai; Task Force