STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3021

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2489

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2489 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INVASIVE SPECIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require each lease that the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity enters into, renews, or extends to include provisions stating that the Department may:

(1) Enter the leased premises;

(2) Order or otherwise require the lessee to maintain control of any invasive species on the leased premises; and

(3) Terminate the lease for refusal or violation.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee, Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, and Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (Department) includes various access provisions in its agricultural leases. However, at times it has been difficult to determine what specific access provision applies to each lease, which can create impediments to access and the Department's ability to respond to a high-impact invasive species detected on state-leased agricultural lands. Additionally, the Department's agricultural leases are managed by the Agricultural Resource Management Division, while invasive species response is carried out by the Plant Industry Division, further complicating the process of determining each lease's access provision. This measure will allow invasive species control actions to be carried out efficiently to prevent the spread of the species throughout certain state-leased lands and surrounding areas.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language specifying that the mandatory lease terms established by this measure apply to leases for agricultural parks under chapter 166, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and non-agricultural park lands under chapter 166E, HRS; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2489, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2489, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair