STAND. COM. REP. NO.  585-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   H.B. No. 1869

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 1869 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to address the damage to agricultural crops and local ecology and the potential health threats to residents due to the increasing population of rose-ringed parakeets on Kauai by appropriating funds to the Department of Agriculture to assist the National Wildlife Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture (Research Center) with:

(1)  Completion of the Research Center's research on the negative impacts of the rose-ringed parakeet on the island of Kauai; and

(2)  Development and implementation of an effective control plan to reduce those negative impacts.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Invasive Species Council, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and a concerned individual supported this measure.  The Department of Agriculture submitted comments on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to January 20, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     Your Committee notes that at this point in the legislative process, the appropriation for the Department of Agriculture to assist the National Wildlife Research Center in completing its research on and developing and implementing an effective control of the rose-ring parakeet is unspecified and further discussion is necessary to determine a recommended amount.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1869, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1869, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

CLIFT TSUJI, Chair