STAND. COM. REP. NO. 571

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 746

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 746 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 establish a two-year Community-Incentive Based Pilot Program under the Department of Land and Natural Resources to eradicate the coconut rhinoceros beetle in the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, and one individual.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaii Invasive Species Council.

Your Committees find that the coconut rhinoceros beetle poses a significant threat to the State's tropical plants, including hala and taro, which are integral to Native Hawaiian practices. Your Committees further find that the protection of these plants is essential for preserving local traditions and maintaining a balanced ecosystem. This measure incentivizes community members to collect and submit coconut rhinoceros beetles and its larvae to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for compensation, which will hasten the eradication of this invasive species.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, 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 Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 746, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 746, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair