WHEREAS, Puna, on the Island of Hawaii, is an incredibly large district that is approximately the same size as the Island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, Puna has the fastest growing population in the State; and

WHEREAS, Puna is located in an active lava zone, which has destroyed homes and negatively impacted the community in the past; and

WHEREAS, Puna is located near the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and is a popular tourist attraction and destination for ecotourism and personal development opportunities; and

WHEREAS, many people in Puna have been and will be cut off from supplies and emergency services as a result of the lava currently threatening to cross Highway 130; and

WHEREAS, the closest commercial airport to Puna is Hilo Airport, a roundtrip that takes approximately six to eight hours to complete if lava crosses the highway; and

WHEREAS, there is an abundance of basalt on the Island of Hawaii, and basalt rebar weighs twenty-five percent less than and is two hundred percent stronger than steel rebar; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems is working on a basalt rebar initiative, including the construction of a basalt rebar plant, on the Island of Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency is requested to conduct a study regarding the feasibility and cost of constructing a small, rural landing site or airstrip for use by the National Guard and emergency responders in south Puna and evaluate the possibility of using basalt rebar or lunar basaltic cement in the construction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency report 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 2016; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Adjutant General, Director of Transportation, Director of the Office of Aerospace Development, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems.

Report Title:

Emergency Management; Hawaii Island; Landing Site; PISCES; Basalt Rebar Initiative

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	71
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII