Bill Text: HI SB2291 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 2291 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Appropriation; Agriculture; Grant ($)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-31 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to WAM. [SB2291 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-SB2291-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2291
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to agriculture.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that agriculture will continue to play a vital role in Hawaii's efforts to become more self-sustaining. Agriculture not only contributes to the State's economy by providing employment opportunities, products for export, and a stage for tourism, but also performs a public service by helping to perpetuate a rural lifestyle for Hawaii's residents who, in turn, provide stewardship for Hawaii's lands and water.

Based on 2010 information from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Hawaii's agriculture industry generates farm gate revenues totaling $690,000,000 per year. A recent analysis indicates that only 11.6 per cent of food available for consumption in Hawaii was actually sourced from local production in 2010. However, approximately sixty per cent of Hawaii's fresh fruit consumption and thirty-two per cent of fresh vegetables are produced locally.

The majority of Hawaii's farms, about five thousand of approximately eight thousand crop farms statewide, are less than ten acres in size. More than ninety per cent of Hawaii's farms generate less than $100,000 per year in revenue. The cost of necessary farm inputs such as land and lease costs, water, labor, feed, fertilizer and energy are all higher in Hawaii than in most areas of the United States mainland, placing many of these farms at risk if they are exposed to further financial burdens.

The United States Food and Drug Administration will soon formalize stricter food safety regulations for agriculture under the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act. While Hawaii's farmers and ranchers share a strong commitment to the safety of their food products, the new standards are likely to include provisions such as frequent sampling of irrigation water that will be burdensome and expensive. The new regulations will not necessarily recognize the wide variety of crops grown in Hawaii, be suitable for Hawaii's unique growing conditions, or accommodate the small size of most Hawaii farms. The anticipated regulations also appear to conflict with standards governing organic farming. If implemented as currently written, compliance with these new regulations could cost a significant proportion of a small farm's revenues, potentially making many of Hawaii's farms unprofitable and threatening the State's efforts to increase food self-sufficiency.

The Food Safety Modernization Act does allow the use of alternative farming methods other than those prescribed by the Food and Drug Administration's published regulations, provided that these methods are scientifically shown to be at least as safe as the Food and Drug Administration's prescribed procedures. Therefore, research is needed to demonstrate to the Food and Drug Administration's satisfaction that alternative methods are safe and acceptable under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The burden of proof is placed on the farmer, but the conduct of scientific research is beyond the financial capability of most of Hawaii's farmers.

The legislature believes that the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, the University of Hawaii's college of tropical agriculture and human resources, the Hawaii department of agriculture, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center should work collaboratively to expand their agricultural research efforts. These research operations are critical to the State's efforts to strengthen and improve the agriculture industry, expand employment opportunities for residents, and revitalize the economy.

The legislature also finds that the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation is a nonprofit agricultural organization representing the interests of, and exemplifying a strong commitment to, the agriculture industry in Hawaii and can ensure that agricultural research meets the needs of local farmers and ranchers. The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation has frequently partnered with institutions like the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, the University of Hawaii's college of tropical agriculture and human resources, and the department of agriculture on many research and market development projects. The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation has also worked with many other kinds of commodity organizations, including sugar, pineapple, papaya, macadamia, coffee, flower, fruit, vegetable, aquaculture, forestry, and livestock organizations to formulate research needs for the entire agriculture industry.

Therefore, the legislature finds that the most logical organization to oversee and expend funding for agricultural research is the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for a grant to the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation to:

(1) Conduct research into alternative, less burdensome methods by which Hawaii's farmers can satisfy the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act; and

(2) Demonstrate to the Food and Drug Administration that such methods are acceptably safe.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $2,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2014-2015 for a grant, pursuant to chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation to conduct agricultural research and projects demonstrating to the United States Food and Drug Administration that Hawaii's farmers can comply with the food safety requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act using alternative, less burdensome methods.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of agriculture for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Appropriation; Agriculture; Grant

Description:

Appropriates funds to be expended by the department of agriculture and granted to the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation for agricultural research.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.