Report Title:

Invasive Species Control

Description:

Controls invasive species, such as coqui frogs, through various measures. (HB2765 HD2)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2765

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

H.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO INVASIVE SPECIES.

 

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

SECTION 1. Section 141-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§141-2 Rules. Subject to chapter 91 the department of agriculture shall adopt, amend, and repeal rules not inconsistent with law, for and concerning:

(1) The introduction, transportation, and propagation of trees, shrubs, herbs, and other plants;

(2) The quarantine, inspection, fumigation, disinfection, destruction, or exclusion, either upon introduction into the State, or at any time or place within the State, of any nursery-stock, tree, shrub, herb, vine, cut-flower, cutting, graft, scion, bud, seed, leaf, root, or rhizome; any nut, fruit, or vegetable; any grain, cereal, or legume in the natural or raw state; any moss, hay, straw, dry-grass, or other forage; any unmanufactured log, limb, or timber; or any other plant growth or plant product unprocessed or in the raw state; any sand, soil, or earth; any live bird, reptile, insect, or other animal, in any stage of development, that is in addition to the so-called domestic animals, which are provided for in section 142-2; and any box, barrel, crate, or other containers in which the articles, substances, or objects have been transported or contained, and any packing material used in connection therewith, which is or may be diseased or infested with insects or likely to assist in the transmission or dissemination of any insect or plant disease injurious, harmful, or detrimental, or likely to become injurious, harmful, or detrimental to the agricultural or horticultural industries, [or] the forests of the State, or the environment, or which is or may be in itself injurious, harmful, or detrimental to the same (included therein may be rules governing the shipping of any of the articles, substances, or objects enumerated above in this section between different localities on any one of the islands within the State);

(3) The prohibition of importation into the State, from any or all foreign countries, or from other parts of the United States, or the shipment from one island within the State to another island therein, or the transportation from one part or locality of any island to another part or locality of the same island, of any specific article, substance, or object or class of articles, substances or objects, among those enumerated above in this section, which is diseased or infested with insects or likely to assist in the transmission or dissemination of any insect or plant disease injurious, harmful, or detrimental or likely to be injurious, harmful, or detrimental to the agricultural or horticultural industries, [or] the forests of the State, or the environment, or which is or may be in itself injurious, harmful, or detrimental to the same; and

(4) The manner in which agricultural product promotion and research activities may be undertaken, after coordinating with the agribusiness development corporation.

All rules adopted under this section shall have the force and effect of law."

SECTION 2. Section 141-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§141-3 Designation of pests; control or eradication of pests; emergency power. (a) The department of agriculture shall establish by rule, the criteria and procedures for the designation of pests for control or eradication[.]; provided that vertebrate species that are injurious to the environment or vegetation of value, including coqui frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui), shall be designated as pests.

(b) The department of agriculture shall, so far as reasonably practicable, assist, free of cost to individuals, in the control or eradication of insects, mites, diseases, noxious weeds, or other pests injurious to the environment or vegetation of value; and in the investigation, suppression, and eradication of contagious, infectious, and communicable diseases among domestic animals; and shall in like manner distribute to points where needed, beneficial insects, or pathogens and other antidotes for the control of insects, mites [and], diseases, or other pests injurious to the environment or vegetation of value, and for the control or eradication of vegetation of a noxious character.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the department finds the incipient infestation of a pest that has an adverse effect on the environment, or that is injurious or deleterious or that is likely to become injurious or deleterious to the agricultural, horticultural, aquacultural, or livestock industries of the [State] state without immediate action, it may proceed without prior notice or upon a minimum of forty-eight hours notice and hearing to adopt an emergency rule for the eradication of the pest to be effective for a period of not longer than [one hundred eighty days] one year without renewal."

SECTION 3. Section 150A-6.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§150A-6.5 Animals; prohibition against possession, etc.; exception. No person shall intentionally or negligently possess, propagate, sell, transfer, transport, or harbor any animal included on the list of prohibited animals maintained by the board, except upon a determination that the species:

(1) Was initially permitted entry and later prohibited entry into the [State] state; or

(2) Was continually prohibited but unlawfully introduced and is currently established in the [State;] state; and

(3) Is not significantly harmful to agriculture, horticulture, or animal or public health, and the environment.

Under the circumstances described in this [[]section[]], the board may permit possession of the individual animal through its registration with the department while still prohibiting the same species of animal from importation, propagation, transfer, transport, and sale."

SECTION 4. Section 150A-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§150A-8 Transporting in [State.] state. (a) Flora and fauna specified by rules and regulations of the department shall not be moved from one island to another island within the [State] state or from one locality to another on the same island except by a permit issued by the department.

(b) All goods determined by the department to be at risk of transporting a pest shall not be offered for sale, sold, or moved from one island to another island within the state or from one locality to another on the same island unless the pest can be eradicated by treatment of the goods and the department so treats the goods."

SECTION 5. The department of agriculture in collaboration with the department of land and natural resources shall:

(1) Map and define quarantine areas on each of the six major islands of the state for pests that pose the greatest or most immediate danger to the environment;

(2) Post signs near or in the area to identify the area and its boundaries; and

(3) Adopt civil penalties to be imposed on persons violating the quarantine by moving untreated materials from these areas.

SECTION 6. Each county shall develop a county invasive species management plan to address the control and management of invasive plant and animal species that pose the greatest or most immediate danger to the environment. The plan shall include requiring the removal or eradication of prohibited, invasive, and non-native vegetation or animals so designated by the Hawaii invasive species council:

(1) Before a certificate of occupancy is issued for any privately owned property sold or transferred after the effective date of this Act; and

(2) Within three years of the effective date of this Act, for all other privately owned properties.

SECTION 7. Each county may establish an incentive program in which the county or its designated agent will pay for some or all of the cost of removing an invasive species from property on which the invasive species is found, with the permission of the property owner. The incentive programs may include but not be limited to cost-sharing measures.

SECTION 8. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $      or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the development of county invasive species management plans in each county.

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

SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.