08/23/2026
https://kiaiiwialakai.substack.com/p/kauai-missile-range-eis-why-blnr?r=7bud42&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
KAUAI MISSILE RANGE EIS: WHY BLNR SHOULD NOT ACCEPT IT
A public action guide for the September 11, 2026 Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting
The Navy and NASA have released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for continued use of State lands at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) and Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory (KPGO). On September 11, the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) is scheduled to meet and will be asked to decide whether the Final EIS is adequate under Hawaii environmental law.
This is not yet the final decision on whether the military receives another long-term lease. The immediate question is narrower and important: is the Final EIS complete enough for the State to rely on? There are strong reasons to say no - not yet.
Why this matters
The proposed action would preserve military use of thousands of acres of State land for at least 25 years, with the maximum term left to later negotiation. A decision of that scale should be made only after the State has the information needed to understand the land, the impacts, the alternatives, and the obligations that will follow.
The strongest concerns are not speculative. DLNR's own Land Division warned during review of the Draft EIS that the document appeared not to meet Hawaii's EIS requirements and that, if the deficiencies were not corrected, staff could recommend non-acceptance to BLNR.
Five reasons BLNR should send the Final EIS back for more work
• Scope: DLNR Land Division said the EIS should address the training and testing that continued use of the State lands makes possible. The Navy rejected that approach and continues to treat many operational impacts as outside the scope of this land decision.
• Alternatives: OHA asked for meaningful analysis of an intermediate lease term, such as 30 years, so the State could review compliance before committing to another very long term. The Final EIS instead points to its analysis of terms shorter than 25 years. That does not appear to answer the alternative OHA actually requested.
• Cultural resources and access: the record states that a Traditional Cultural Places study with practitioner consultation is still being prepared, while restrictions on cultural access are already acknowledged as an adverse impact. The proposed access-management process is not yet fully developed.
• PFAS and cleanup: PFAS was detected above EPA screening levels at multiple locations, with additional investigation still required. The public should know the full extent of contamination, cleanup obligations, responsibility and surrender conditions before another generation of land use is committed.
• Cumulative effects: the Final EIS uses a 2019-2029 window for identifying past and reasonably foreseeable projects even though the contemplated land agreements may last 25 years or longer. BLNR should require an explanation of how that time horizon adequately informs a multi-decade decision.
The public ask
Ask BLNR to NON-ACCEPT the Final EIS at this time and return it for completion. Non-acceptance does not require the Board to decide today that PMRF must close. It means the State should insist on a complete informational record before making a long-term decision about public lands.
How to participate
Meeting Friday, September 11, 2026, 9:00 AM
In person DLNR Boardroom, Kalanimoku Building, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 132, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Written testimony Email: [email protected]
Recommended deadline Submit by 9:00 AM on Thursday, September 10 - 24 hours before the meeting - so Board members have time to review it. Late testimony is still accepted into the record, but BLNR warns it may not reach members before the decision.
Zoom testimony Email [email protected] and request to testify by video. Include your name, email address and the PMRF/KPGO Final EIS item. The meeting-specific Zoom information will be provided by BLNR.
Meeting information https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/meetings/blnr-meetings-2026/
Copy-and-paste sample testimony
Subject: Please Do Not Accept the PMRF/KPGO Final EIS
Chair and Members of the Board of Land and Natural Resources:
I respectfully ask the Board to NON-ACCEPT the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory at this time.
This request is not a demand that the Board decide the ultimate future of PMRF today. It is a request that Hawaii require a complete environmental record before making another long-term commitment of public lands.
DLNR's own Land Division previously raised serious concerns that the Draft EIS did not satisfy Hawaii's environmental review requirements, including concern that the document excluded training and testing impacts that continued use of the State lands helps make possible. The Final EIS continues to treat many of those operational effects as outside the scope of the real-estate decision.
Important questions also remain regarding alternatives, cultural resources and access, PFAS contamination and cleanup, and cumulative impacts. OHA requested meaningful consideration of an intermediate lease term such as 30 years, yet the Final EIS appears to answer that request by discussing terms shorter than 25 years. A Traditional Cultural Places study is still being prepared, while cultural-access restrictions are acknowledged as an adverse impact. PFAS contamination remains under investigation.
Hawaii should know the NEED for the land, the CONDITION of the land, and the tenant's PERFORMANCE under existing agreements before committing public lands for another generation.
Please return the Final EIS for completion and require the missing information before acceptance.
Mahalo for your consideration,
[YOUR NAME]
[ISLAND / COMMUNITY - OPTIONAL]
If you testify live
Keep it simple. BLNR generally asks oral and video testifiers to stay within about two minutes. You do not need to read the full written testimony. State your name, say you are asking for non-acceptance of the Final EIS, and give one or two reasons that matter most to you.
A strong two-sentence version is: "I am asking BLNR not to accept the PMRF/KPGO Final EIS yet. Before Hawaii commits public lands for another generation, the State should complete the cultural, contamination, alternatives and cumulative-impact record and independently determine what is actually needed."
A broader principle
This PMRF decision raises a question that goes beyond Kauai. Before the State renews major military land agreements anywhere in Hawaii, it should independently establish three things: NEED - what land and capability are actually required today; CONDITION - the present environmental and cultural condition of the land and the cleanup obligation; and PERFORMANCE - whether the tenant complied with the agreement that is ending.
Only after those questions are answered should Hawaii negotiate how much land, if any, should remain in military use and for how long.
Source documents
PMRF/KPGO Final EIS documents: https://pmrf-kpgo-eis.com/documents/
BLNR 2026 meeting calendar and testimony instructions: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/meetings/blnr-meetings-2026/
Written testimony email: [email protected]
Meetings of the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) are held on the second and fourth Fridays of each month except, should a holiday fall on a Friday, the […]
