The state will consider a community petition asking for a restriction on imports to Maui or Lānaʻi, in an attempt to keep the islands from being overrun with coconut rhinoceros beetles.
In June, the Lahaina Community Land Trust presented the petition to the state Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. It called for emergency and interim, yearlong rules banning the import of CRB host material to the islands.
The board denied the emergency rules, but said it would review the proposed interim rules.
On Friday, the board's Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals approved an amended version of the proposed interim rule to go before the board.
“We here on Maui, and especially here in Lahaina, really feel very strongly that this CRB poses a very significant emergency risk to our island,” said Carolyn Auweloa, the land trust’s director of operations, during the committee meeting. “The disaster that we have seen CRB create on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi cannot be allowed to happen here, and it's become evident that existing processes are inadequate to protect us from infestation of CRB from the other islands.”
The restrictions would include the movement of live plants and decomposing material, like mulch and soil. Coconuts themselves wouldn’t be allowed to the islands under the interim rule.
The community petition comes in the wake of recent CRB discoveries on the island, where the invasive beetle has yet to establish.
In April, a CRB was found in a trap near Kahului Airport. Three dead beetles were found in Central Maui in early June, and two more were found in traps just days later.
A beetle was found in a potted plant shipped to Lānaʻi in May.
In June, there was some concern from the state Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s Plant Quarantine Branch about the proposed restrictions. The branch has also expressed concern about previous discussions on import restrictions.
However, the version that the committee approved had amendments proposed by the branch, which include protocols for treating and storing shipped goods.
