Bill Text: HI HB2542 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Auditor; DOA; Plant Quarantine Branch
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-03-16 - The recommendation was not adopted. [HB2542 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HB2542-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2542 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE AUDITOR.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that invasive species arrive at United States ports of entry every day, hidden in the wooden crates, pallets, and shipping containers used to transport agricultural cargo, or concealed in the imported goods themselves. Failure to detect and intercept these invasive species imposes serious economic and social costs on all Americans.
The United States Department of Agriculture has stated that foreign pests and disease already cost the United States economy tens of billions of dollars annually in lower crop values, eradication programs, emergency payments to farmers, and increased costs for food and other natural resources.
In light of the current and potential staggering economic costs of invasive species, which fall on businesses, taxpayers, and local governments that have no way to avoid the harm, it is critical to focus on prevention, specifically improving agricultural import and entry processes.
Economic costs are just one aspect of the severe consequences that can result from foreign pests and disease slipping through our ports. In Hawaii, which is home to more endangered species per square mile than any other area on the planet, invasive species and disease could permanently devastate the State's fragile ecosystem. Hawaii is ranked highest among the fifty states in risk to biodiversity of plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles. Over one hundred species of native plants, ninety per cent of seven hundred fifty species of terrestrial snails, and seventy-one of at least one hundred thirteen bird species have already been lost to extinction. While Hawaii accounts for only 0.2 per cent of the landmass of the United States, Hawaii is home to thirty-eight per cent of the nation's threatened and endangered plants and forty-one per cent of the nation's endangered birds. For the majority of these extinct and endangered species, invasive species are a primary contributor to their decline.
During the attempt to expand Kahului airport in 1998, the federal Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, and Interior joined the state departments of agriculture, land and natural resources, and health in signing a memorandum of understanding that recognized that oceanic island ecosystems in general, and the Hawaiian islands and Maui in particular, are highly susceptible to damage from alien invasive species, including damage to the natural, agricultural, and human assets.
The record of decision for Kahului airport stated that there are serious concerns about the airport as an entry point for alien invasive species. Further, because the introduction of alien invasive species poses serious problems to the State's ecosystem, any introduction of alien invasive species via the airport or any other entry points may lead to significant cumulative impacts. As a result, federal and state agencies cooperatively devised the alien species action plan to further minimize the chance of alien species introductions via aircraft arriving at Kahului airport. The Federal Aviation Administration made the requirement of the biological opinion and the alien species action plan conditions of its approval.
In similar fashion, in 2004, the Hawaii Superferry signed an agreement to buy two nine-hundred-passenger, two-hundred-eighty-vehicle vessels, only to go bankrupt in 2009, because of costly environmental litigation.
Hawaii is now the center of the United States military's strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. When military movements are completed, sixty per cent of the United States Navy's fleet will be in the Pacific-Indian Ocean area. However, the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region not only has a military component, it is also a whole-of-government approach. It entails strengthening alliances and partnerships and building an economic infrastructure. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement has been signed and is expected to cover forty per cent of world gross domestic product and nearly a third of world exports. Hawaii must be ready for this strategic pivot that is expected to shape the global order in coming decades.
The Hawaii biosecurity system, which was based on the alien species action plan, and improved through consultation with the agricultural, environmental, and transportation sectors, was moving rapidly toward completion. However, the state administration has continued to undermine Hawaii's quarantine system, creating more gaps in the State's battle to prevent the introduction of invasive pest species. Inspectors are inspecting less imported cargo at the ports and their insect and disease interception rates have dropped drastically from 3,416 interceptions in fiscal year 2013 to one thousand thirty-four interceptions in fiscal year 2015. There is visible frustration with the administration's lack of transparency in failing to provide annual reports required by law for the last two years and increased concerns from members of the agricultural and environmental communities, and the public at-large, regarding the lack of progress in continuing the implementation of the biosecurity program.
The legislature further finds that the plant quarantine branch of the department of agriculture is a critical component in meeting the threat of invasive species entering Hawaii through its ports of entry.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the auditor to conduct an audit of the plant quarantine branch of the department of agriculture.
SECTION 2. The auditor shall conduct a financial and performance audit of the duties and facilities of the plant quarantine branch of the department of agriculture, including the branch's biosecurity program and related programs.
The auditor shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the governor and the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2017.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2030.
Report Title:
Auditor; DOA; Plant Quarantine Branch
Description:
Directs the Auditor to audit the Plant Quarantine Branch of the Department of Agriculture. (HB2542 HD2)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
