STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2800

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2907

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2907 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INVASIVE SPECIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Hawaii Invasive Species Council to amend its administrative rules to classify coffee leaf rust as an invasive species.

The measure further requires the Council to expend any moneys available for that purpose on mitigation efforts, research, and prevention or control actions for coffee leaf rust.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from a member of the Hawaii County Council, Hawaii Coffee Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and two individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture.

Your Committee finds that efforts to control coffee leaf rust are critical to sustaining the State's coffee industry. The long-term impact of a coffee leaf rust outbreak could cause a thirty to eighty per cent loss of Hawaii's annual coffee yield if not properly treated. This measure's requirement that the Hawaii Invasive Species Council classify coffee leaf rust as an invasive species will help focus additional coordination and resources on mitigation and prevention efforts.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2907, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2907, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair