State lawmakers are moving along a bill that would bring a host of biosecurity improvements to the state — but stakeholders feel uneasy about a provision that could have a significant impact on the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council.
The council, or HISC, is administered by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, but its coordinator, Chelsea Arnott, said its focus is on invasive species.
Senate Bill 1100 would move the council under the state Department of Agriculture. Some worry that HISC could lose its current focus on pests.
“The council was established as an autonomous forum with the purpose of statewide coordination and policy direction for the prevention and management of invasive species. It's co-chaired by the directors of the Departments of Land and Natural Resources and Agriculture, and it has leader membership representation from the Departments of Health, Transportation, Business, Economic Development and the University of Hawaiʻi,” Arnott said.
HISC did not oppose or support the measure, but said that it has the autonomy to provide support across agencies.
“It's really important for the council to remain an inter-agency overarching forum, so it really focuses on that purpose and isn't subjected to one mandate or one jurisdiction of a single agency,” Arnott said.
Others have said that there's actually been support for building on HISC's autonomy, instead of placing it within a department.
Like any other agency, the state Department of Agriculture prioritizes certain activities.
The DOA’s primary goal is to promote local agriculture, but that focus has already conflicted with efforts to manage invasive species management.
A notable example of that followed a situation last year. The department, which is also the state’s lead agency for fighting invasive species, was hesitant about acting on landscaping businesses and nurseries accused of knowingly moving plant material that could have been infested with little fire ants.
That was, in part, because the department didn’t want to hurt the operations of those businesses.
Jonathan Ho, the manager for the department’s Plant Quarantine Branch, noted that its invasive species work has helped other agencies, but part of the challenge is that pests have wide-ranging impacts.
”Biosecurity issues are biosecurity issues, and we need to figure out ways to address them for everyone, because they're not necessarily one-industry … issues,” he said.
The department supported SB 1100 in written testimony but also said, “The Department notes that HISC’s coordination efforts between the respective agencies is important and defers to the Legislature as to where HISC should ultimately be placed for the most effective use of its allocated resources.”
While the fate of HISC was the most discussed part of SB 1100 during Friday’s hearing, the measure proposes a range of biosecurity changes.
It would establish a biosecurity emergency plan, create more rules for the interisland movement of material, and change state laws on the interagency planning for invasive species. It would even change the name of the state Department of Agriculture to the state Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.
