STAND. COM. REP. NO.  767-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2501

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2501, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BIOSECURITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to prevent and control the importation and spread of pests by statutorily establishing the Department of Agriculture's (DOA's) Biosecurity Program.

     The Hawaii County Council, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Maui County Farm Bureau, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, Conservation Council for Hawaii, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, and the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species  supported this bill.  DOA, Department of Transportation, and Department of Land and Natural Resources submitted comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2020; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2501, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2501, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair