STAND. COM. REP. NO. 232
Honolulu, Hawaii
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 855 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COFFEE PEST CONTROL,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Extend the Pesticide Subsidy Program to June 30, 2024;
(2) Extend the Pesticide Subsidy Program Manager position and the position's civil service collective bargaining laws exemption to June 30, 2026; and
(3) Provide that no single coffee grower shall receive more than $6,000 for each pest per year in subsidies between June 30, 2021, and July 1, 2023.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; University of Hawai‘i System, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Kona Perfect; Hawaii Coffee Association; Maui Coffee Association; Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council; Kona Coffee Farmers Association; Rancho Aloha; Konaloha Farms; Intelinair; Halai Hill Coffee and Cacao; Rusty's Hawaiian; Kehau's Coffee Farm; United Ka‘u Farmers Cooperative; Ka‘u Ocean Vista Coffee Estate LLC; and six individuals.
Your Committee finds that coffee is a high
value agricultural crop to local economy.
A recent economic analysis by the College of Tropical Agriculture and
Human Resources estimated that the coffee berry borer caused $7,680,000 in crop
losses and $571,000 in lost state tax revenues in the 2013 fiscal year. The economic losses from coffee leaf rust and the
coffee berry borer would have an outsized impact in rural areas that serve
historically underserved populations.
Your Committee finds that Act 105, Session
Laws of Hawaii 2014, established a temporary Pesticide Subsidy Program in the
Department of Agriculture to assist coffee growers with offsetting the costs of
purchasing pesticides containing Beauveria bassiana as an active
ingredient to combat the coffee berry borer, a highly destructive pest that has
infested coffee crops on Hawaii and has recently been detected on Oahu, Maui,
and Kauai. Additionally, Act 152, Session
Laws of Hawaii 2015, established a full-time temporary manager position for the
Pesticide Subsidy Program, exempt from chapters 76 and 89, Hawaii Revised
Statutes. Your Committee also finds that
the current pesticide subsidy program manager position is a full-time,
temporary position that is exempt from civil service and collective bargaining
laws.
Your Committee further finds that the pesticide
subsidy program took longer than anticipated to implement, thus the program
sunset date was also extended from June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2021. However, applications for a subsidy for
pesticide purchases made in a fiscal year must be filed in the immediately
following fiscal year. Therefore, for
pesticide purchases made in the last fiscal year of the program (from July 1,
2020, to June 30, 2021), applications for subsidies must be filed in the
immediately following fiscal year (anytime from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022). The pesticide subsidy program will be
repealed on June 30, 2021, and the Program Manager position will be repealed on
June 30, 2022. Your Committee finds that
extending the Program to June 30, 2025, and the Program Manager position to June
30, 2026, should be viewed as a modest investment in one of the State's largest
and most important agricultural industries in mitigating the damage it causes
to coffee beans. The manager position is
also needed to process these applications for subsidies for costs incurred in
the final year of the program, thus, your Committee finds that the civil
service exemption and the subsidy program should be extended by three more
years.
Your Committee considered concerns about whether
landowners of coffee fields are able to provide input or consent in whether or
not their property will be sprayed with fungicides like Priaxor, which is
currently not approved for use on coffee by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, especially those landowners who live on their property and
seek to protect themselves from exposure.
Additionally, systemic fungicides have been posed as a short-term
solution, but questions remain as to whether the quality of Kona coffee would
become compromised. Evidence of adverse
effects to bees has been linked to the use of systemic pesticides, and further
research is needed in understanding Priaxor's impact on bees. Your Committee also considered whether organic
certifications will likely be in jeopardy if there are no subsidies for organic
controls, which provide a non-toxic alternative to watersheds and aquatic
life. Equal subsidies for local, organic
alternatives promotes the circular economy by creating local jobs, promoting
environmental sustainability, and keeping monies in State.
Therefore, your Committee finds that continuing
efforts to combat the coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust subsidies under a
single program is necessary to control against these invasive species.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 855 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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