STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1761

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 330

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 330, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Agriculture to enforce federal quarantines.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species; Hawaiʻi Farmers Union; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that the State's growing citrus industry is vulnerable to invasive pests and diseases, which pose a serious threat to agricultural productivity and biosecurity. Your Committee further finds that the State lacks a mechanism to enforce federal quarantines on shipments from invested areas, leaving Hawaii exposed to the introduction of harmful pests and diseases such as citrus greening. This measure addresses that gap by strengthening the State's ability to protect its agricultural resources.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting unnecessary language authorizing the Department of Agriculture to establish a quarantine and also adopt rules against pests not covered by federal regulations or orders;

(2) Clarifying the documentation required for regulated articles to avoid a conflict with federal regulations;

(3) Inserting a separate definition for "federal quarantine"; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 330, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 330, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair