STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3406

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 27

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 Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 27 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING THE UNITED STATES NAVY TO ERADICATE OCTOCORAL AND OTHER INVASIVE SPECIES FROM PEARL HARBOR,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage the United States Navy to take responsibility for the eradication of octocoral and other invasive species from the waters of Pearl Harbor.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, one member of the Honolulu City Council, Pearl City Neighborhood Board No. 21, and two individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Military Affairs Council and Aliʻi Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club.

Your Committees find that octocoral takes over marine habitats extremely quickly because it is a "soft coral" that does not form a calcium exoskeleton like reef-building corals, allowing it to rapidly grow and spread colonies, smothering Hawaiian coral reef ecosystems. Your Committees further find that United States Navy reported the presence of octocoral near Pearl Harbor in late 2020 during surveys that were not focused on these octocorals and recent surveys have documented these species in a much larger area and indicate that they were most likely present before 2019. Your Committees conclude that due to the United States Navy's jurisdiction over Pearl Harbor, the Navy must take action to eradicate octocoral and other invasive species in the waters of Pearl Harbor.

Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 27, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 27, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair