STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1348

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1325

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1325, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BIOSECURITY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to support implementation of the State's biosecurity plan.

 

     More specifically, this measure:

 

     (1)  Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish parameters and construction requirements for biosecurity facilities to ensure the safety of agricultural and food commodities arriving at the State's airports and harbors; and

 

     (2)  Appropriates funds for the Department of Agriculture Biosecurity Program.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Invasive Species Council, Local Food Coalition, Friends of Representative Clift Tsuji, Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association, Hawaii Green Growth, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, and fifteen individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure provides broad support for the 2017-2027 Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan for the State of Hawaii (Biosecurity Plan), released in January 2017 by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Your Committee further finds that this measure will help address several recommended action items of the Biosecurity Plan, including:

 

     (1)  Item number 34, requiring the adoption of an annual import substitution program for substitute crops by Hawaii farmers to reduce the importation of plant crops that impose a high risk of bringing invasive species into the State; and

 

     (2)  Item number 47, requiring the Department of Agriculture to adopt standards, specifications, and protocols for operation of import facilities to reduce the risk of introduction of invasive species.

 

Your Committee believes that these steps are necessary to prevent invasive species from entering the State and damaging Hawaii's fragile island ecosystem.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1325, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1325, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair