Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2050 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide the Department of Agriculture (DOA) with the authority to restrict entry into the State of any articles originating from Guam that have not been certified as having been inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services or another approved agency prior to shipment.

The Nature Conservancy, DOA, Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Hawaii Audubon Society submitted testimony in support of this measure. Matson Navigation Company and Horizon Lines, LLC, supported the intent of this measure.

Your Committees note that concerns have been raised that this provision may be in violation of the Commerce Clause. Your Committees believe that these concerns are more appropriately addressed in your Committee on Judiciary. However, your Committees find that the DOA already lawfully requires other states that have high-risk pests to pre-treat certain types of commodities before shipping them to Hawaii, for example, Christmas trees that may be infested with fire ants. Similarly, Guam requires Hawaii to pre-treat all nursery products with citric acid to prevent the spread of the coqui frog, and be certified by the DOA.

Your Committees also learned that shippers may contract with the United States Department of Agriculture-Animal & Plant Health Inspection Services' (USDA-APHIS') Wildlife Services or another agreed-upon provider to perform the inspections. Furthermore, the USDA-APHIS' Wildlife Services operates on a fee-for-service basis. Encouraging and transferring the responsibility to shippers to have their goods inspected in Guam before departure to Hawaii reduces the risk of brown tree snake entry and costs that may otherwise be borne by the State for inspections and emergency eradication of the brown tree snake.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Energy and Environmental Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2050 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.