STAND. COM. REP. NO. 987

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 252

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 252, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Clarify that the importation of any item or material infested or infected with an insect or other animal, disease, or other pest is prohibited;

(2) Authorize the Department of Agriculture to inspect any item imported or moved into the State from another part of the continental United States or between the Hawaiian Islands;

(3) Prohibit the sale of merchandise that a seller knows is infested or infected with a pest;

(4) Authorize the Department of Agriculture to compel the quarantine, treatment, or destruction of certain materials; and

(5) Clarify penalties for violations.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, Maui Chamber of Commerce, and three individuals.

Your Committees find that the State's agricultural industry and natural environment face constant threats from invasive species. Pests such as the coffee berry borer, coconut rhinoceros beetle, little fire ant, and two-lined spittlebug have caused severe economic damage to local farms, increased production costs, and disrupted ecosystems. This measure will strengthen the State's biosecurity measures to protect the State's food security, economy, and native biodiversity from invasive pests.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of April 23, 2057, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 252, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 252, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair