STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2844

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 501, 502, 503, 504

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 501, 502, 503, and 504, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

 

Advisory Committee on Pesticides

 

G.M. No. 501

ARNOLD HARA,

for a term to expire 06-30-2019;

 

G.M. No. 502

JON-PAUL BINGHAM,

for a term to expire 06-30-2019;

 

G.M. No. 503

PATRICK BILY,

for a term to expire 06-30-2019; and

 

G.M. No. 504

ROGER BREWER,

for a term to expire 06-30-2019,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Arnold Hara, Jon-Paul Bingham, Patrick Bily, and Roger Brewer to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.

 

ARNOLD HARA

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Arnold Hara from the Department of Agriculture, Big Island Invasive Species Committee, Maui Invasive Species Committee, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, Maui County Farm Bureau, and fifteen individuals.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Dr. Hara's experience as a professor and entomologist, commitment to public service, and proven leadership qualify him for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.  Your Committee notes that Dr. Hara has been with the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Hawaii for over thirty-three years focusing on insect and mite pests of agricultural and floricultural crops, elucidating the bionomics of these pests, and developing pest management programs that minimize the use of chemical pesticides.  Some of Dr. Hara's research accomplishments include the development of heat treatments to control quarantine pests, including the invasive coqui frog.  Dr. Hara is a member of the Entomological Society of America, American Chemical Society, Hawaiian Entomological Society, and American Society for Horticultural Science, and has received many awards and published over seventy research papers in national and international journals on pesticides and nonchemical controls of invasive species.  Your Committee further finds that Dr. Hara has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides as a representative of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation based on his knowledge, experience, and commitment to public service.

 

JON-PAUL BINGHAM

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Jon-Paul Bingham from the Maui County Farm Bureau and five individuals.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Dr. Bingham's experience as a biochemist and toxicologist, specializing in marine toxins, commitment to public service, and proven leadership qualify him for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.  Your Committee notes that Dr. Bingham has expertise in natural product pesticide development, has worked to understand cone shell toxins and convert them into pain killing drugs, and was involved in the development of the drug Prialt, an analgesic used to treat severe chronic pain, for human use.  Dr. Bingham is a member of the American Peptide Society, American Chemical Society, International Society on Toxinology, Malacological Society of Australasia, and Federation of Clinical Biochemists.  Your Committee further finds that Dr. Bingham has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides as a representative of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources based on his knowledge, experience, and commitment to public service.

 

PATRICK BILY

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Patrick Bily from the Maui Invasive Species Committee, West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, and four individuals.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Mr. Bily's experience as an invasive plant specialist, commitment to public service, and proven leadership qualify him for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.  Your Committee notes that Mr. Bily has familiarity with general use pesticides and innovative methods of herbicide application, experience with herbicide use in natural areas, and knowledge of various standard herbicides and newer families of herbicides.  Mr. Bily is currently working on innovative herbicide application techniques, with the goals of target specificity and reduction of overall herbicide quantity needed.  Mr. Bily has experience working with various conservation and government agencies through partnerships, providing advice on best methods for control of priority weeds, and decades of experience working for The Nature Conservancy and Maui Invasive Species Committee.  Your Committee further finds that Mr. Bily has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides as a representative of an environmental organization based on his knowledge, experience, and commitment to public service.

 

ROGER BREWER

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Roger Brewer from the Department of Health and three individuals.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Dr. Brewer's experience as a senior environmental scientist with the Department of Health, commitment to public service, and proven leadership qualify him for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.  Your Committee notes that Dr. Brewer has over twenty years of experience in oil and gas exploration, environmental site investigation, and human health and ecological risk assessment, including regulatory compliance audits, soil and groundwater investigations, quantitative human health risk assessments, and screening-level ecological risk characterizations.  He oversaw the development of the Department of Health guidance for the investigation of pesticide contamination at former sugar cane operations across the State.  Dr. Brewer is a member of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council team tasked with the development of national guidance on the use of Decision Unit and Incremental Sampling Methodology approaches for the investigation of contaminated sites.  Your Committee further finds that Dr. Brewer has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides as a representative of the Department of Health based on his knowledge, experience, and commitment to public service.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

 

 

 

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair