Navy issues final environmental study for renewing land leases in Hawaii

The Navy has issued a final environmental impact statement in its quest to retain leases for 8,172 acres of Hawaii state land on Kauai island that support the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Navy training and testing operations at the facility do not take place on the property, which serve in part as a buffer zone abutting the installation. The facility’s range is primarily used to test missile systems and conduct anti-submarine warfare exercises.

Current real estate agreements for the state lands expire in 2027 and 2030, the Navy said in a Friday news release. The agreements consist of 684 acres of leaseholds and 7,488 acres of easements, the Navy said.

The service is seeking to extend agreements by at least 25 years.

The environmental statement also includes the renewed lease of 23 acres of state land for NASA’s continuing operations at the Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory near the missile facility.

NASA uses the observatory for measuring the Earth’s rotation, orientation in space and field of gravity.

Public comments submitted in response to the draft environmental statement led the Navy and NASA to include a series of enhancements in the final draft intended to “improve mutual understanding and cooperation” under renewed land agreements, the Navy said.

Among those steps would be the creation of a quarterly newsletter; more open-house events and base visits for the public to the missile facility; greater transparency about natural resource management at the base; and improved protocols for public notification of restrictive easements during launch activities.

The Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources will meet on Sept. 11 to determine the acceptability of the final environmental statement.

Last year, that board rejected an environmental study by the U.S. Army for lease renewals on Oahu and the Big Island for roughly 25,000 acres of land. The Army leased the lands in 1964 for $1.

Many Native Hawaiians and environmental activists opposed the Army’s renewal and offered up hours of testimony during meetings of the board.

Despite the rejection, the Army decided in August 2025 to move ahead with obtaining the leases. The service has been negotiating them with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green since that time.

The Navy has highlighted the economic upside to renewing the real estate agreements on Kauai.

“For the Board of Land and Natural Resources, in addition to its role as the lessor of State lands, the proposed real estate action presents an opportunity to secure a revenue source to support its management of public lands and associated environmental and conservation programs,” the Navy said in the Friday news release.

Under Hawaii law, fees from leases and easements would be split between the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Navy said.

There is no revenue being generated by current real estate agreements between the state and the Navy on Kauai, Andrew Laurence, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, said in an email Monday.

“Any potential revenue will be based on an independent appraiser’s valuation, and the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources has not begun that process yet,” he said.