02-14-2016, 04:19 AM
Why are Big Island Hawaiians with homeland leases being denied mortgages?
answer may be here...
below is an excerpt from ...http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/2015/03/08/for-the-record-star-advertiser-unexploded-ordnance/
The memo mentioned serious consequences with regard to DHHL’s ability to use funds from the Native Hawaiian Block Grant and 184-A on lands contaminated with UXO. Please elaborate. Has DHHL, for instance, been unable to expend some of those funds because of the UXO problem? If so, when did the funding problem first emerge and what have been the consequences to individual lessees? Also, what is the difference between the block grant money and the 184-A funds?
184-A funds provide a lending resource to DHHL beneficiaries on homestead lands. Both 184-A and NHHBG funds must comply with 24 CFR Part 58. West Hawaii Habitat for Humanity has a current NAHASDA contract to do home repairs on Hawaii Island. They had targeted Kuhio Village as a potential home repair area; however, since HUD’s instruction to the DHHL to stop using federal funding in these areas until a more permanent determination can be made on their “contamination” other funds are being used for the self help program. West Hawaii Habitat is in the process of identifying other homestead locations to use their NHHBG contract.
If the funding problem surfaced only relatively recently (such as within the past several years), why is that the case? Haven’t we known about the UXO issue for years?
The current administration first became aware of the issue of potential exposure to unexploded ordnance (UXOs) on Hawaiian Home Lands in October 2014 while conducting its due diligence for NAHASDA involving the processing of a simple home repair loan. At that time, HUD and DHHL met with USACE and DOH to determine the extent of the issue. The current administration was not aware that Trust lands were contaminated.
Military training exercises were conducted on the property during the World War II. The presence of unexploded ordnance has been documented by the military, however, it is unclear from our records what information, if any, was made available to the department at the time lands were transferred from the Territorial Commissioner of Public Land (CPL) to the department.
Here is what we know about the management and oversight of the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS):
During World War II, both the Makuu and Waikoloa Maneuver Area properties were already part of larger general leases issued to private parties by the Territorial Commissioner of Public Land (CPL); therefore, not under the control of the Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC).
Specific portions of the land were “recalled” from the CPL by the HHC when needed for homestead use and transferred back to the department. The HHC did not have the authority to manage its non-homestead land until 1965.
Between 1965 and 1985 the HHC had systematically “recalled” most Hawaiian home lands from the CPL (then DLNR) and created its own Land Management Division to manage these lands directly. The Kuhio Village subdivision was approved in 1952 and Makuu in 1985.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began community outreach to begin the ordnance remediation process in 2005 and completed clean up in Makuu in 2011 where the Corps continues long term monitoring of the site. Remediation of the Waikoloa Maneuver Area is ongoing.
answer may be here...
below is an excerpt from ...http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/2015/03/08/for-the-record-star-advertiser-unexploded-ordnance/
The memo mentioned serious consequences with regard to DHHL’s ability to use funds from the Native Hawaiian Block Grant and 184-A on lands contaminated with UXO. Please elaborate. Has DHHL, for instance, been unable to expend some of those funds because of the UXO problem? If so, when did the funding problem first emerge and what have been the consequences to individual lessees? Also, what is the difference between the block grant money and the 184-A funds?
184-A funds provide a lending resource to DHHL beneficiaries on homestead lands. Both 184-A and NHHBG funds must comply with 24 CFR Part 58. West Hawaii Habitat for Humanity has a current NAHASDA contract to do home repairs on Hawaii Island. They had targeted Kuhio Village as a potential home repair area; however, since HUD’s instruction to the DHHL to stop using federal funding in these areas until a more permanent determination can be made on their “contamination” other funds are being used for the self help program. West Hawaii Habitat is in the process of identifying other homestead locations to use their NHHBG contract.
If the funding problem surfaced only relatively recently (such as within the past several years), why is that the case? Haven’t we known about the UXO issue for years?
The current administration first became aware of the issue of potential exposure to unexploded ordnance (UXOs) on Hawaiian Home Lands in October 2014 while conducting its due diligence for NAHASDA involving the processing of a simple home repair loan. At that time, HUD and DHHL met with USACE and DOH to determine the extent of the issue. The current administration was not aware that Trust lands were contaminated.
Military training exercises were conducted on the property during the World War II. The presence of unexploded ordnance has been documented by the military, however, it is unclear from our records what information, if any, was made available to the department at the time lands were transferred from the Territorial Commissioner of Public Land (CPL) to the department.
Here is what we know about the management and oversight of the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS):
During World War II, both the Makuu and Waikoloa Maneuver Area properties were already part of larger general leases issued to private parties by the Territorial Commissioner of Public Land (CPL); therefore, not under the control of the Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC).
Specific portions of the land were “recalled” from the CPL by the HHC when needed for homestead use and transferred back to the department. The HHC did not have the authority to manage its non-homestead land until 1965.
Between 1965 and 1985 the HHC had systematically “recalled” most Hawaiian home lands from the CPL (then DLNR) and created its own Land Management Division to manage these lands directly. The Kuhio Village subdivision was approved in 1952 and Makuu in 1985.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began community outreach to begin the ordnance remediation process in 2005 and completed clean up in Makuu in 2011 where the Corps continues long term monitoring of the site. Remediation of the Waikoloa Maneuver Area is ongoing.