COMMENT ON SB1100 SD2: Save the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council
/March 10 update
The Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and the future of Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity still need your help! Please testify on SB1100 SD2 and ask for the removal of provisions placing HISC and other critical biosecurity entities under the Department of Agriculture.
HISC plays a crucial role in protecting our islands from invasive species by coordinating cross-agency efforts, funding essential projects, and supporting island invasive species committees. SB1100 SD2, while aiming to strengthen the Department of Agriculture’s biosecurity role, proposes moving HISC and its island invasive species committees under a newly created deputy of biosecurity within the department. However, the Department of Agriculture has struggled to fulfill its existing regulatory responsibilities, even with increased funding, and this transfer could severely disrupt some of the most effective invasive species programs we have - setting Hawaiʻi back in its fight against invasive pests.
While SB1100 SD2 includes positive steps, such as emphasizing biosecurity, its restructuring of HISC under Department of Agriculture leadership could severely undermine existing efforts. A hearing for SB1100 SD2 is scheduled for Wednesday, March 12, 9am, room 325 (watch online here) in the House Agriculture & Food Systems Committee. Please take a moment to submit comments on this bill to ensure that HISC and its committees remain effective. Sample testimony and instructions below.
Sample testimony
Aloha Chair Kahaloa, Vice Chair Kusch, and members of the Agriculture & Food Systems Committee,
My name is [Your name] and I am writing today to offer the following COMMENTS AND CONCERNS on SB1100. I appreciate and support the provisions to emphasize the need for the Department of Agriculture - to be renamed the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity - to embrace the particular and unique role in our overall biosecurity strategy. However, I STRONGLY OPPOSE placing the Department of Agriculture and the new deputy of biosecurity in charge of the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and other biosecurity programs outside the Department of Agriculture’s current purview.
While I recognize and appreciate this measure’s effort to get the Department of Agriculture to embrace its long-neglected role in biosecurity, I have serious concerns about placing the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and other external programs and projects under the rebranded Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB), as well as the lack of accountability mechanisms for the proposed deputy of biosecurity.
HISC and its county-based invasive species committees (ISCs) play a critical role in stopping invasive pests before they cause lasting damage to our environment, food systems, and communities. HISC coordinates across agencies to research, plan around, engage community, and take action to hold the line and push back against the ever present threat of invasive pests. Despite limited funding, these teams have successfully prevented millions of dollars in damages by responding quickly to outbreaks, leading eradication efforts, and working with community groups to protect our forests, watersheds, and neighborhoods.
Moving HISC and the ISCs under DAB would be a big mistake with potentially devastating consequences. The Department of Agriculture has struggled for years to meet its existing responsibilities, and even after receiving historic levels of funding last year, much of that money remains unspent. Shifting control of our already successful invasive species programs to an untested structure within DAB could set us back years in the fight against invasive species.
Further, I urge you to consider amendments that will better ensure the department and deputy are held accountable to their responsibilities going forward, such as regular reporting requirements to the Board of Agriculture and the public, deadlines for invasive species action plans with clear benchmarks for actions and outcomes, and initial and biannual confirmation hearings for the appointed deputy of biosecurity.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "SB1100" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)
February 6 update
SB1100 was passed out of the Senate Agriculture & Environment, Transportation & Culture & the Arts, and Commerce & Consumer Protection Committees with amendments. These amendments include all of the Agriculture Departments’s suggested amendments for clarity on certain definitions, replacing DLNR with DAB under the new department, and other provisions, except the renaming of private inspector. None of the concerns raised in the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi or allies testimony were addressed.
Over 100 pages of testimony were submitted on this measure and we are incredibly grateful for all that took the time to testify. We will have additional chances to ensure that HISC and its ISCs remain independent of the Department of Agriculture and can continue doing the good work that they do day in and day out. We also want to thank Vice-Chair Fukunaga for her reservations, for the same reasons expressed by our organization.
SB1100 Bill Background
The Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and the future of Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity need your help! Please testify on SB1100 and ask that the Committees remove provisions placing HISC and other critical biosecurity entities under the Department of Agriculture, to answer to a new deputy of biosecurity.
HISC and its county-based invasive species committees play a critical and indispensable role in our fight against invasive species. Administratively attached to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, HISC develops plans, funds projects, coordinates cross-agency efforts, and provides critical support for the Big Island, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi Invasive Species Committees. These latter county-level committees in turn lead on-the-ground efforts to eradicate and manage pests in our forests, open spaces, and neighborhoods, including through the education, training, and enlistment of community groups and local businesses in our all-hands-on-deck biosecurity efforts.
Despite extremely limited resources, HISC and its invasive species committees have successfully eradicated dozens of outbreaks of invasive pests throughout the islands - preventing millions of dollars’ worth of damages and the irreversible degradation of our islands’ environmental and cultural integrity, and our quality of life. They also continue to work tirelessly to help manage established pests and mitigate the impacts they have on our communities and landscapes.
The Department of Agriculture, in contrast, continues to demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to fulfill its critical and exclusive regulatory responsibilities, even after receiving “historic” funding last year that remains largely unspent.
SB1100 has the commendable goal of ensuring the Department of Agriculture finally embraces its unique roles in our biosecurity framework. However, its specific provisions to have an untested Department of Agriculture deputy of biosecurity direct HISC and other entities focused on invasive species eradication and control may severely disrupt or dismantle some of the very few effective invasive species programs we have. This in turn could set us back years if not decades in our fight against invasive pests, leaving our islands ever more vulnerable to their devastating impacts.
A hearing on SB1100 has been scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, February 6, at 9:30 am, before the Senate Agriculture and Environment, Transportation and Culture and the Arts, and Commerce and Consumer Protection Committees (Room 229). Please take a moment to submit comments OPPOSING the transfer of HISC to the Department of Agriculture. You can also watch the hearing live here.
What the bill does
SB1100 is an omnibus bill that would re-brand the Department of Agriculture as the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB), establish a deputy of biosecurity within the department, and place HISC and other programs and entities under DAB. Other provisions would authorize an emergency response program, provide for “transitional facilities” that the DAB director can require imported goods to be stored and inspected at, provide a process for any entity to request a DAB contract for the implementation of a pest management plan, among others.
Why this is good but needs amendments
SB1100 emphasizes the Department of Agriculture’s long-neglected biosecurity role, establishing a deputy director of biosecurity to focus on fulfilling this role, and providing the renamed DAB with additional biosecurity tools and funds. However, its proposal to place the HISC and other non-DAB programs under the direction of the DAB and its deputy of biosecurity threatens to throw what few effective biosecurity strategies we have in disarray, rendering our islands critically vulnerable to the potentially devastating impacts of invasive pests.
Sample testimony
Aloha Chairs Gabbard, Lee, Keohokālole, Vice Chairs Richards, Inouye, Fukunaga, and members of the Committees,
My name is [Your name] and I am writing today to offer the following COMMENTS on SB1100. I appreciate and support the provisions to emphasize the need for the Department of Agriculture - to be renamed the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity - to embrace the particular and unique role in our overall biosecurity strategy. However, I STRONGLY OPPOSE placing the Department of Agriculture and the new deputy of biosecurity in charge of the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and other biosecurity programs outside the Department of Agriculture’s current purview.
While I recognize and appreciate this measure’s effort to get the Department of Agriculture to embrace its long-neglected role in biosecurity, I have serious concerns about placing the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and other external programs and projects under the rebranded Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB), as well as the lack of accountability mechanisms for the proposed deputy of biosecurity.
HISC and its county-based invasive species committees (ISCs) play a critical role in stopping invasive pests before they cause lasting damage to our environment, food systems, and communities. HISC coordinates across agencies to research, plan around, engage community, and take action to hold the line and push back against the ever present threat of invasive pests. Despite limited funding, these teams have successfully prevented millions of dollars in damages by responding quickly to outbreaks, leading eradication efforts, and working with community groups to protect our forests, watersheds, and neighborhoods.
Moving HISC and the ISCs under DAB would be a big mistake with potentially devastating consequences. The Department of Agriculture has struggled for years to meet its existing responsibilities, and even after receiving historic levels of funding last year, much of that money remains unspent. Shifting control of our already successful invasive species programs to an untested structure within DAB could set us back years in the fight against invasive species.
Further, I urge you to consider amendments that will better ensure the department and deputy are held accountable to their responsibilities going forward, such as regular reporting requirements to the Board of Agriculture and the public, deadlines for invasive species action plans with clear benchmarks for actions and outcomes, and initial and biannual confirmation hearings for the appointed deputy of biosecurity.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (you’ll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "SB1100" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
*Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)