On July 1, Hawaii will launch a new judicial tool to enforce the state’s environmental laws

@byline — name2a:By Associate Justice Michael D. Wilson

Creating environmental courts to achieve law-based protection of the environment is new to the United States. While 41 countries have developed environmental courts, the U.S. has only two — in Vermont and Hawaii — and Hawaii’s jurisdiction is the broadest. Every natural resource can fall within its purview: water; forests; streams; beaches; air; mountains; terrestrial and marine animals and plants; even state parks with their associated issues of litter, graffiti and illegal camping.

To understand the new court’s creation, we must ask the question: “What do we care about?” The land, air and water that surround us give Hawaii life, and form the core of our needs for health, natural beauty and economic security. Even our state motto recognizes that our lives depend on how we treat the environment: “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

The Hawaii Constitution also contains provisions unique among state constitutions, mandating that natural resources, including “natural beauty,” be protected for “future generations.” No other state has elevated protection of “natural beauty” to the level of a mandate. Hawaii’s Constitution also is unique in its guarantee to every citizen “the right to a clean and healthful environment.”

Thus, with the establishment of the environmental court, Hawaii seeks to ensure a fair and effective forum for issues affecting our environment.

A second question also helps define the new court: “What is happening to what we care about most?” What is happening to the land, air and water upon which our communities depend?

At the local level, the answer affirms the creation of Hawaii’s environmental court. There is wide recognition that Hawaii is considered the ideal world environment — a beacon of hope for the globe. As a result, there’s been international interest in Hawaii’s new court. Signifying its importance, the presiding Judge of India’s National Green Tribunal, the Honorable Justice Swatanter Kumar, a foremost world environmental court leader, joined an all-day educational symposium about the new court held Friday at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii.

While Hawaii’s environment is a treasure for humanity, it must be treated justly. This is where the Environmental Court will play a major role.

Already Hawaii faces resource challenges. These issues could well involve legal decision-making by Hawaii’s environmental court.

» The Pearl Harbor Aquifer, as the most important on Oahu, provides about 100 million gallons per day of fresh groundwater mainly for public supply. But groundwater head levels in Pearl Harbor, which supplies 60 percent of Oahu’s municipal water, have declined by half since 1910.

» On Maui, the Iao aquifer’s water levels have declined to 50 percent of predevelopment levels, and the transition zone level of the freshwater lens has shrunk from 823 feet in 1985 to 667 feet in 2007.

» Forest watersheds that replenish aquifers are also at risk. As the Pearl Harbor aquifer diminishes, so does the watershed on which its recharge depends. Hawaii has already lost half of its natural forest cover.

» The global issue of climate change is a signature environmental issue for Hawaii, and its beaches. Mayor Kirk Caldwell recently proposed a special global warming tax to address effects of sea level rise on Waikiki beach, warning that Hawaii’s iconic beach faces inundation because of climate change.

» Hawaii’s coral reefs, the foundation of the state’s aquatic ecosystems, are also at risk.

Does the ordering of all natural resource laws under one court matter? The short answer is yes. The strategic positioning of environmental legal issues with one court offers efficient and consistent application of Hawaii’s environmental laws.

The great promise of Hawaii’s environmental court is matched by the tremendous partnership behind it. Every county prosecutor, the state public defender, the attorney general, the natural resources section of the Hawaii Bar Association, the chief judges of every island, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Richardson Law School have all joined to make the court an innovative arbiter for Hawaii’s natural resources.

This moment is historic! Hawaii stands ready to move forward with fair, effective and consistent protection of its renowned natural environment.