Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 12, 1 December 2019 — Final EA Finds No Significant lmpact in Honomū Subsistence Agriculture Project [ARTICLE]

Final EA Finds No Significant lmpact in Honomū Subsistence Agriculture Project

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) issued its final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of "No Significant Impact" for the Department's Honomū Subsistence Agriculture Homestead Community in South Hilo on Hawai'i Island. DHHL's Honomū project will be the first of its kind on the island and is among expanded options to bring beneficiaries the opportunity to return to the land and promote self-sufficiency through farming. "Honomū is a pilot project to implement the Department's new rules for subsistence agricultural lots," said Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William J. Aila, Jr. "These lots will allow beneficiaries to live and cultivate their land while producing locally grown food for themselves and their families." A bid for the first phase should go out in early 2020. The project's first phase is anticipated to cost

$2 million anel will include the infrastructure development for 16 one-acre subsistence agricultural homestead lots near 'Akaka Falls. In 2017, DHHL updated its Administrative Rules allowing for Subsistence Agriculture whieh provides beneficiaries with more manageable lot sizes and removed the requirements of traditional agricultural lots. The project in total is anticipated to include up to 375 lots to provide beneficiaries subsistence agriculture parcels ranging in size from one to three acres. The EA ean be read in full at the following link: http://oeqc2.doh. hawaii.gov/EA_EIS_Library/20 191 1 -08-HA-FEA-Honomu-Subsistence-Agricultural-Homestead-Community. pdf