WHEREAS, pests such as wasps, centipedes, scorpions, ants, mice, rats, termites, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and weeds, on public property pose significant potential worker safety, public health, and environmental risks if not effectively controlled; and

WHEREAS, a variety of pest control tools and methods, including but not limited to mechanical, chemical, structural, and sanitation tools and methods, are essential in maintaining effective control of pests to protect humans, property, and the environment; and

WHEREAS, integrated pest management is an approach to effective pest control that has been widely used for several decades in the agriculture industry; and

WHEREAS, in many private industries, including the hospital, food, landscape, and golf industries, "urban" integrated pest management programs have been developed and implemented to minimize the risks associated with pests and their control; and

WHEREAS, many government jurisdictions across the United States have voluntarily or mandatorily implemented science-based integrated pest management programs to effectively control pests while minimizing the risks associated with pests and their control; and

WHEREAS, public agencies in Hawaii have historically resisted the mandatory implementation of science-based integrated pest management programs because of the erroneous belief that pest control costs necessarily would increase; and

WHEREAS, it has been demonstrated elsewhere that implementation of science-based integrated pest management programs by public agencies can result in significant economic savings while maintaining effective pest control; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that state agencies with pest management responsibilities are requested to implement science-based integrated pest management programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Agriculture, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and industry organizations are requested to provide expert assistance to any state agency desiring to voluntarily implement a science-based program of integrated pest management with the goals of effective pest control while minimizing the risks associated with pests and their control; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, the Directors of all other State Departments, the Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii, the Hawaii Pest Control Association, and the Hawaiian Alliance for Responsible Technology and Science.