STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2604
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 3237
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2024
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 3237 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Facilitate the control and eradication of invasive species and pests;
(2) Establish a plant nursery licensing program;
(3) Require the Department of Agriculture to designate certain species as pests for control or eradication;
(4) Impose certain limits on imports and transportation; and
(5) Update the method by which the Department's noxious weed list is updated.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species; Greenpeace Hawaii; Big Island Invasive Species Committee; Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi; Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi; Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee; We Are One, Inc.; The Outdoor Circle; Free Access Coalition; Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition; ROAR; and twenty-three individuals.
Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association.
Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Agriculture, and Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau.
Your Committees find that invasive species pose a significant threat to the State's native ecosystems. As the State has a high concentration of endemic species, many of which are endangered, greater action is needed to protect native plant species. This measure provides for enhanced limitations on imported plant species to ensure protection of the State's natural resources.
Your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that the Department of Agriculture is required to designate other pests for
control or eradication by rule, and update designated taxa no less than once
every two years;
(2) Allowing
the Department of Agriculture to proceed to adopt an emergency rule for the
eradication of a pest or incipient infestation that is or is likely to become
injurious or deleterious to native species or the environment;
(3) Allowing
the applicable county, invasive species committee, or Hawaii Ant Lab to develop
or implement a program for a pest that is, or is likely to be, a threat to
public health and welfare, or private property, if the Department of
Agriculture does not develop and implement a detailed control or eradication
program for a taxa designated as a pest for control or eradication;
(4) Replacing
references to "state plant regulatory official" with the Chairperson
of the Board of Agriculture;
(5) Requiring
the Board of Agriculture to give a prompt hearing to the Chairperson of the
Board of Agriculture and the appellant of a decision of Chairperson or any
inspector of the Department of Agriculture;
(6) Inserting
language to include a pest that the Department of Agriculture or other
government entity, including the appropriate invasive species committee for an
island, attempts to contain, suppress, or reduce within the State or an area of
the State as a "high-priority pest";
(7) Inserting
language to require a temporary plant nursery licensee demonstrate to the
Department of Agriculture's satisfaction that the person does not sell any
plant species designated by the Department as a noxious weed or restricted
plant;
(8) Deleting
language that would have required a temporary plant nursery license produce
nursery stock with a person with a valid plant nursery license;
(9) Inserting
language to require a temporary plant nursery licensee to import necessary
stock subject to rules;
(10) Inserting language prohibiting a small seller plant nursey licensee from selling any
plant species designated by the Department of Agriculture as a noxious weed or
restricted plant;
(11) Inserting language to require a small
seller plant nursey licensee import necessary stock subject to rules;
(12) Deleting language that would have required the
Department of Agriculture to place a stop sale on an affected nursery stock or
location where a high-priority pest is present, low priority pests are not under
effective control, or that the holder of a full plant nursery license,
temporary plant nursery license, or a small seller plant nursery license is
otherwise not in compliance with certain requirements;
(13) Inserting language requiring the Department of
Agriculture to mitigate, by whatever means necessary, the potential spread of a
pest in an affected nursery stock or location where a high-priority pest is
present, low priority pests are not under effective control, or that the holder
of a full plant nursery license, temporary plant nursery license, or a small
seller plant nursery license is otherwise not in compliance with certain
requirements;
(14) Inserting language allowing an applicant or
person affected by the Department of Agriculture's actions in response to an
affected nursery stock or location where a high-priority pest is present, low
priority pests are not under effective control, or that the holder of a full
plant nursery license, temporary plant nursery license, or a small seller plant
nursery license is otherwise not in compliance with certain requirements to request
a contested case hearing with the Department in writing within thirty days
following the date of the Department's notice;
(15) Inserting language requiring the
Department of Agriculture's suspension or revocation of or refusal to issue or
renew a full plant nursery license, temporary plant nursery license, or small
seller plant nursery license be subject chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
and the rules adopted by the Board of Agriculture;
(16) Deleting language that would have required the
Department of Agriculture to consider certain taxa to be pests;
(17) Deleting language that would have allowed the
Department of Agriculture to designate the infested area of a pest by rules,
including interim rules;
(18) Deleting language that would have allowed the
Department of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with the United
States Department of Agriculture and other federal, state, or county agencies
to assist in the enforcement of federal quarantines;
(19) Deleting language that would have prohibited
certain articles relating to citrus pests and diseases from entering the State;
(20) Deleting language that would have
included a written agreement that serves as a permit issued by the Department
of Agriculture to a person who carries out commercial activities and includes
any terms or conditions the state plant regulatory official determines will
slow or prevent the spread of a pest as a "compliance agreement";
(21) Clarifying that inspectors have the
authority to administratively inspect whenever the inspector has good cause to believe
that the provisions of chapter 150A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are being
violated;
(22) Replacing the term "item or
material" with "article" or "articles" when referring
to certain articles subject to certain conditions for importation into the
State;
(23) Inserting language establishing penalties for
a person who violates conditions of importation of certain articles;
(24) Inserting language clarifying that the
Department of Agriculture is authorized to specify the flora, fauna, pest host
material, and any other article, without being subject to chapter 201M, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, or rulemaking requirements under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised
Statutes;
(25) Inserting language to repeal the criminal
penalty for section 150A-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(26) Inserting language allowing the Department of Agriculture to submit an
application seeking a change to the list of noxious weeds;
(27) Inserting language requiring the Department of
Agriculture to adopt rules and implement the Plant Nursery Licensing Program
within two years;
(28) Inserting language allowing persons to sell
nursery stock without a license issued pursuant to the Plant Nursery Licensing Program
in the two years before the Department of Agriculture is required to adopt
rules and implement the Plant Nursery Licensing Program; and
(29) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments
for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Transportation and Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3237, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3237, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Transportation and Culture and the Arts,
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________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair |
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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