House Standing Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems

Good morning. This is the, Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems in Conference Room 325 here at the State Capitol, scheduled today for 03/18/2026. Thank you for being here and the folks on Zoom. My name is Matthias Kush. I'm the vice chair of agriculture and the chair, Corey Chung.

Switching up roles today. Keep it fresh for you guys. Bob and weave some ground rules will go over here and I'm just going to read them off because morning hearings must adjourn prior to floor session at noon. I'll testify as all testifiers may have the opportunity to testify in that event. Know that your written testimony will be considered by the committee.

In order to allow as many people as possible to testify, There's a two minute time limit, per testify. For those on Zoom, please keep yourself muted, and video off while waiting to testify. And after your testimony is complete, The zoom chat function will allow you to chat with the technical staff only. Please use that chat for technical reasons only. If you're disconnected and unexpectedly you may attempt to rejoin the meeting.

If you're disconnected while presenting testimony, you may be allowed to continue of time permits. Please note that the house is not responsible for any poor Internet Internet connections on the testifiers end. In the event of a network failure. It may be necessary to reschedule a hearing or schedule a meeting for decision making. In that case, the appropriate notice will be posted.

Please avoid using any trademark are copyrighted images if you're on zoom in the background. And then please refrain from any profanity or uncivil behavior. Such behavior may be grounds for removal from the hearing and without the ability to rejoin. Finally, we have a new microphone system in the house conference rooms and microphones are in the ceiling, so please be aware that any side conversations will maybe picked up. We are listening.

No. Just kidding. You see the green lights up there. Thank you. So, on our agenda today, first up, we have sb 2885 sd one.

It's relating to biosecurity. Beginning in 01/01/2027 establishes mandatory handling and storage rules for commercial and residential coconut rhinoceros beetle host material to reduce the spread of CRB within infested zones and to prevent the spread into non infested zones. Establishes penalties and as a defective effective date. We have 21 people in support, zero in opposition, and one comment on this measure. And first up to testify, we have Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

Hello, chair, vice chair, members of committee. Riley Yu from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. We stand on our written testimony and support. Thank you for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Patrick Chee from DLNR. In person?

Yes. Aloha, chair, vice chair, member of the committee. We support this bill. We believe that, it definitely gets to to the point of of trying to reduce the spread of coconut rhinoceros beetle. We do note that there are additional methods that, may not be mentioned in this bill at the moment that could be considered.

The the, Hawaii's COVID-nineteen retroactive fetal response project has many science backed methods that, could be added to the bill if necessary. So, I'm available for questions.

Thank you. Next up on Zoom, we have Maya Hunter from Maui County Department of Agriculture.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and member of the committee. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify on this important measure. Maui County Department of Agriculture stands by our support testimony, and we'll remain on the call for questions.

Thank you. Next up, we have Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Morning, vice chair, chair, member. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. It was done on written testimony supporting the intent. Thank you.

Next, we have Marvin Min from Hawaii Earth Recycling with comments on Zoom.

Aloha, chair Chan, vice chair Acushin, members of the committee. My name is Marvin Min and testifying on behalf of Hawaiian Earth Recycling. You have a written testimony and would like to briefly summarize our comments on SB2885SD1. As the state's largest greeneries recycler with over thirty years of experience, we respectfully offer several recommendations to strengthen this bill based on practicality and experience. First, erosion control stops and filters should be included in this bill.

DABs has confirmed these materials can harbor CRV as well. Second, we recommend aligning this bill with the existing Department of Health and EPA solid waste regulations, including permit requirements for all commercial green waste processing, storage, and distribution. This will provide consistency across agencies with compliance, clarity, and enforcement statewide. Third, we encourage allowing future approved treatment methods produced in the state of Hawaii and validated through the University of Hawaii laboratory testing. This supports local innovation while while reducing reliance on imported and potentially unapproved biological controls.

Finally, we recommend replacing the sixty day turning requirements with the established process to further reduce pathogen standards. Turning alone is not effective without sustained thermophilic temperatures. And PFRP is already a proven and regulated approach under the Department of Health, The United States, and the United States Composting Council standards. Mahalo for this for this opportunity to testify, and I will be available for any questions.

Thank you. Next up, we have Hunter Haviland from Hawaii Farmers Union in support.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, committee member, Hunter Hevelin on behalf of Hawaii Farmers Union. We will stand on our written testimonies. Thank you.

And lastly, we have Joy Shih, individual in support on Zoom.

Good morning, Chair Chen, acting chair for today, Kusch, and members of the committee. Thank you for hearing this important bill today. Residents, cultural, environmental, and industry groups are all eager to see this bill come into fruition. While it's noted just noted by DLNR, there are other methods that we can and should deploy in addition to Mulch management. I'm gonna thank you for raising that point.

This bill would establish a statewide consistent, simple, but meaningfully effective framework, knitting together existing efforts that are, being implemented in regional and county efforts already. As long as there are gaps, there will be confusion, and CRB will continue to spread. CRB is manageable as as we have seen in other island nations, such as Samoa, Palau, and Fiji. It just requires the concerted effort. And the sooner we act, the less it will cost our seat to manage.

So for the opportunity to testify. I am available to answer any further questions.

Thank you. That's, everybody we have on our sheet here. Is there anybody else wishing to come forward?

Department is here, and we stand on our testimony and

State your name.

My name is Eliza, and I'm from the Hawaii State Tax Department.

Okay.

And, we noted one thing that refundable credits are susceptible to fraud and abuse. So, we do have them so we can administer them, but we recommended to make it nonrefundable.

Yeah. I think I think you are are you testifying on SB 2174? Or is there a section in this one to 2885

SB 2925 I'm sorry

to nine to five.

Yeah. I thought you guys were talking about this.

That's right. So it's it all matches together. Okay. Is there anybody else who would like to testify on this measure in person?

Aloha. My name is Daniel Anthony, and I wanna testify in support of this bill. But I I wanna make a point here that's very important is that the people that we're putting our faith in to build this strategy has failed for the last thirteen years because there has been no reasonable effort put into community or cultural consultations.

One of the challenges that the Department of Ag faces is has a culture of chemicals, not one of community and food production, and this is proof in the actions that they have across the community. I deplore you to amend this and to add a cultural advisement position into this so that the community that subsists from coconuts yeah.

Let me tell you this. So far, the strategy to fight coconut rhinoceros beetle has never been for coconut trees. It has been for landscape palms. And I ask you, those that would hold the Department of Ag accountable, to really question their use of the terminology of coconuts if they really mean landscape palms. And that because they don't have anyone that is holding them accountable, it has been thirteen years of do whatever you want.

And here we are today asking to give them more support when in actuality, we are here because of them. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else?

My name is Amy Lowell Boylan. I'm with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I you submitted all of our testimonies written only, but we are here. So we do stand on our written testimony in support. Just wanted to highlight that some smaller operations may not have the ability to acquire the equipment or staffing needed to meet the requirements of this measure.

So I just wanted the committee to respectfully encourage you folks to consider technical guidance and cost your support.

Thank you. For the is there anybody else who would like to testify on this in person? Maybe on Zoom. Okay. Moving on our next bill.

Oh, I'm sorry. Question. Sorry. Rookie maneuver. Any questions for our chief. Deputy or chairs?

For department of ag. So this bill requires you to enforce if it passes. How would enforcement look like? Are you folks even able to enforce this considering it's it's requiring commercial items and mental health?

For solid waste, that's really Department of Health responsibility, but we would enforce it with inspection, working with the comp working with the composting, the retail side. We have our policy has been educate before you regulate or, in this case, educate before you actually penalize. So that would be our enforcement. But I do have a subject matter expert here. And if you Jonathan?

Oh, he just stepped out.

Oh, we just stepped out. Okay. But but that but, may I make a comment before it unrelated comment, respectfully? You know, with the recent rains that washed that may might have washed away some of this green waste in piles of of CRB hosting material, If if that occurred in your neighborhood or in your community, please don't create another pile.

It's a good opportunity to start fresh, and I'm sorry to with all the damage that did occur, but that would be what we could one of the measures we could do for CRB control.

And, maybe Jonathan will walk in to it. But, Esther, do you have anything to say about CRB? I think sorry. That would be it. We would regulate before we, we would educate before we regulate oral penalties.

Is that is that good? Okay. Thanks.

Actually, wait. Sure. One of the questions I had reviewing this bill was, how do you in your mind, looking at this, how would small farmers in distal regions like on Hawaii Island where we don't have municipal rubbish pickup, Everybody takes their rubbish to the transfer stations. Not all transfer stations have greenway sites greenway sites at the regional areas that could be 40 miles away, like driving from Waialua to Hawaii Kai to drop your green waste. They're only open a couple days a week.

I mean, how do you in your mind, how do you see farmers kind of bridging that gap and and what tools might be out there at at your disposal disposal to make that?

Okay. That's a good question. And we've just we've met a couple times with the counties, quite frequent with the counties because it is a county issue. I guess the way to handle it is more disposal sites, more control of green waste. Apparently, when you do when you trim your tree, that is considered green waste.

But when you start to pile it up and it becomes a product, you might say, it becomes another issue. And that at that point, we can step in. Green waste is, is our is our mandate, but when it starts piling up, we have to work with our partner agencies to move it around. So maybe on a state level, we can assume we can set up green waste places, drop off points, and manage that. We've tried that.

A lot of it had we don't have enough state properties, so to speak, that we can cordon off and designate as a drop off point, but we've considered it. Previous testifier, Daniel Anthony, he has come up with some ideas for drop off points, but it's been problematic. The management, the security, access, liability, it all comes into play when the state manages. Maybe on a private sector side or a community side, it might be a little bit easier to set up jump off points, but it's been a what they call a boondoggle. Yeah. So

Yeah. No. I could I could see it.

That's what I'm it we it's solvable, but we have to get everybody involved, interagency effort, community effort, get everybody involved because it's manageable, but you need a lot of drop off points.

Yeah. No.

That's what you're doing is you're creating another breeding site. Yeah?

Thank you.

Yeah.

Sir, did you

I would just like to state that between 2013 and 2016, the US military was effective in removing coconut rhinoceros beetle from Hickam Air Force Base without the use of toxic chemicals. They used a product called an air burner, which is a smoke free it burns 13 times per hour. So the solution I wrote a GIE this year. I would hope that you folks would support it. Would be to acquire the first private air burner here so that we can mitigate mulch in our communities.

And the reality is that we're asking for the state's help to equip those hard to reach communities with the necessary equipment so that we can fight this in our community. We give us the tools. They might not be effective in managing and using it. I will also share that for the $2,000,000 a year that has gone to CRB response, that has never trickled down to impacting a community. I also want to show this.

This is metarizan anastopoly and this fungus is available for purchase on Amazon. Now I am not making any pesticidal claims, but I can tell you if you go on the CRB response team's website, the the Hawaii Invasive Species Council and DLNR, they all listed as an effective fungus against coconut rhinoceros beetle in Mulch managing this in the Mulch. The reality is what we're asking for is actual collaboration with the Department of Ag. I can't even get these guys to return my phone call. Yeah.

I I call twice, three times a week. They're unable to return our calls, and the solution is not to give them the ball. It's to give the community the ball because that is how it has effectively been fought in other Pacific Islands. Great.

Thank you for your your answer to that. I appreciate that. Any further questions?

Yeah. I had a question from Marvin. I mean, if he's still available.

Marvin still online?

Hi. Hello.

Hey, Marvin. Thanks for being thanks for being here. You know, I I had a question about just the treatments that you you outlined and just, like, you know, what what is the cost to that for for you folks. And if anyone else is required to do this.

I'm I'm not sure. I understand your question. What is the cost for what?

Oh, for the the CRB treatments outlined in this bill. For the heat

treatment? Yes. The management of green waste is a natural process that we go through with with natural composting process to to to to allow it to heat up on its own.

order to to to compost the the the right way, you need to basically grind your green waste and have an adequate amount of moisture and equipment to turn the mulch piles in order to create, the activities of the microbes. It's the activity of the microbes when they work hard, that's what creates all the heat the natural way.

Okay. So So in

Thank you.

Can I ask a follow-up question? Marvin, thanks for being here, and I really appreciate your work and your recommendations for amendments. And I think what chair might have been asking or what I'm curious about is whether including this kind of language would increase the cost of of business in terms of what you are already doing at Hawaiian Earth. So this seems to me to be, like, within the scope of what you folks are already doing.

Yes. Representative Perruso, you're you're correct. It's it's just we we go through this process. It's required that that we do this based on the State Department of Health requirements, the United States EPA, as well as our United States composting council standards. This is what we do already.

And again, by by just saying to to mechanically turn the piles in sixty days, that is not in any of the regulations today because it's it doesn't make sense if unless the pile gets heated up to reach temperatures of 131 degrees minimum.

So is quick followup? you is your operation alone in having already adopted these practices? Or are there other operations maybe on other islands? I don't think there's any other operations similar on Oahu, but I'm not too sure about the neighbor islands.

No. Every every, permitted facility, goes to the same requirements.

And they would be up to they would not require any, kind of modifications to, come like, be consistent with these amendments?

Yeah. No. Good. It's a good question. The the consistency, and that's what I mentioned in my summary, is just by following our Department of Health requirement, which would basically just be environmental mitigations of of odor control, leachate control, stormwater, invasive species control, fire control, etcetera.

We we all have to as long as you have a a State of Hawaii Department of Health permit, we all have to file that same permit. You know, we have our our our other branches on the Big Island as an example. We go through the exact same process. There are other composters as well that that are permitted and go through the same process as well.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Joe.

So quick follow-up, Marvin. Thank you again. So most of these amendments are basically following DOH regulations?

Exactly. Which follows the EPA regulations.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Without further questions, moving on to the next bill, sb 2174 sd two relating to agriculture. Hang with me.

This is a longer paragraph. Authorizes the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to declare an emergency quarantine when it has been reasonably determined that there is a threat to agriculture on the environment in the in the state.

Authorizes the department to halt operations related to or within the affected area for ninety six hours, subject to extension by vote of the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity, authorizes the department to quarantine any business or other area that is known or reasonably suspected to be infested or infected with any pest, requires the department to provide certain notices to affected farmers and provide compensation, authorizes the department to establish interim rules governing the transportation of any material within the state known to harbor or transport high impact invasive species or pests.

And, we had, six in opposition I'm sorry. Six in support, one in opposition, and two comments on this.

First up to testify in person is department of agriculture and biosecurity.

Chair, vice chair, members of the committee. That stands on his written testimony and support. I'm here for any questions.

Thank you. Next, we have DLNR, Patrick Chee.

The department stands on its, testimony in support. We also definitely support that the, the expanded amended authority of Deb to declare, an emergency quarantine. It is very critical within those, first few hours of understanding, an invasion to, act quickly and to do something in order to reduce the impacts of invasive species. I'm available for questions here.

Thank you. Next up, we have Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Hawaii Farm Bureau stands on its written testimony providing comments.

Hunter Hevlin, with comments, Hawaii Farmers Union.

Yes. I'm a Zoom person today. Thank you chair, vice chair, committee member Hunter Hevelin on behalf of Hawaii Farmers Union. You'll have our written comments. We support, the amendments that were added previously, and earnest that added compensation for producers but would like to see if this measure is to move forward.

These are extraordinary powers, that would be given to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity And we think that they should come along with the expectation of collaborative communication and outreach to the agricultural sector through partners, many of whom are in the room, as well as a mechanism to understand the efficacy of such quarantines. What was proposed in our written testimony was something like say, ninety days later, let's have a report to the board of agriculture about was this effective?

How what was the impact to the agricultural economy? What was the impact to the spread of invasive species? To understand whether this extraordinary power is one that should continue to be utilized. Happy to answer any questions. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Those are all the people we have listed. Is there anybody in person who would like to testify? Anybody on Zoom? No? Oh.

Daniel Anthony here again, guys. Normally, I I would say I would wanna support this bill, the intention of this bill, but I I wanna tell you that there is a great distrust of the Department of Ag amongst small farmers and community members.

And this would be giving, like, a child with no transparency, some type of weapon to hold the the the parents, accountable. And so I implore you guys to to really focus on having the Department of Ag build strong community relations before giving them the ability to have such great power. Thus far, what I have heard many, many times is that the culture is forgotten and that they can't enforce what they already have on the books.

So by giving them more power in which they cannot enforce what they already have leads me to believe that it will be based upon favoritism and the status quo of looking the other way and misinterpreting their own regulations and rules. Thank you.

K. Thank you. Anybody else in person? Chair or actually, member questions? Chair?

..., question for .... Hi, Jonathan. So my question is, so last year, we gave DAB the power to declare a biosecurity emergency. How would this differ, and is this needed if you already have that authority?

So the oh, sorry. Jonathan Ho, plant quarantine branch manager department of Ag Bio Security. So the way they differ is the boss security emergency requires governor approval, which this is a department only function.

And the idea here is, like, we we do have some authority in administrative rules to to do something similar, but I think having statutory authority for a short period to to manage that so that we can get in and do what needs to be done is I think kinda what the intent is without having the governor approval. And the governor approval one also has much more sweeping powers.

You can start, you know, taking land and reimbursing people and funds and things like that where this is just regulatory authority for the department for essentially incipient pests. It wouldn't be for stuff that's widespread. And we're we tried to clarify a lot of that as it was being made, as it went through the prior iteration.

So, yeah, on the rules, you do have authority to point to? Yes.

Quick quick quick question. So would this be considered kind of an intermediary step to the powers that were described last year during the biosecurity?

Yes. That that is something that could be done. I think the only difference with this one is that the the time frame is relatively short for the I I mean, I'm not sure how quickly emergency declaration through the governor would conceivable depending on, you know, pest and the level of infestation that's that's determined in in the 96 hours. You could do one and then the other. So you you could do both.

So it's like an intermediate it could be an intermediate step. Okay. Yeah. We're trying to thank you, Hunter. I'm sorry, chair.

No problem. Did you have a question?

You know, in your testimony, you talked about the, coordinating with farmer organizations and then the, post evaluation report. Like, could you describe how that organ how coordinating with organizations would look?

The department consistently relies having been deprived of an effective statistical service for the past decade on on national statistics to have an understanding of the scope of agricultural activity in the state. That data affords little in terms of outreach into agricultural communities.

And while there are there's a growing effort with efforts over the past couple of years to build some databases and understanding, concern is that if, enforcement to this degree were to be implemented, that the communication would not necessarily be rapid or sufficient to ensure awareness is is actually had amongst agricultural communities, and particularly since the compensation, that we'd advocated for was written into, you know, the existing version of bill.

If people aren't aware that they're under a quarantine or aren't aren't aware that they could potentially and should be compensated for losses as a result of that quarantine, the concern is then that this would have considerable deleterious effects to the agricultural economy. And so ensuring that there's robust outreach is one mechanism to try

and make this a little bit more palatable. Okay. Via, like, organizations like Curacao?

Yeah. Like Farmers Union, Farm Bureau, Cowlands, a variety of other, entities across the islands that maintain day to day contact from a non regulatory experience with with producers. And then on the far end of it then saying, if we are going to be implementing these kinds of things, are they actually effective? Or are we just putting in hardship upon the already beleaguered agricultural sector without much out outcome in terms of invasive species management. Okay.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Any other question, chair, members? Okay Without further questions, we're going to move on to our next bill. SB 2,925 SD one.

That's related to coconut trees. Establishes recognition of coconut trees as a source of food and water as a cultural treasure. Requires the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to establish rules to allow the use of coconut tree seed banks in the state.

Requires owners or operators of property where any coconut tree is located to post and maintain a sign that clearly indicates that the coconut tree is a landscape palm where applicable, requires the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to establish labeling standards for nonconsumable landscape palms, establishes an income tax credit for consumable coconut trees maintained through natural management practices as a defective effective date. We have nine in support, zero in opposition, and three comments.

First off, in person, we have Department of Ag and Biosecurity.

... vice chair members of the committee DAB stands on its written testimony in the comments.

Okay. Thank you. Next, we have, you twice, Department of Taxation. Yay. Here's your time.

Department of Taxation will stand on its written testimony with comments.

Thank you. Thank you. Heather McMillan, DLNR on Zoom.

Aloha. Good morning. Heather McMillan representing DLNR. We stand on our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Maya Hunter, Maui County Department of Agriculture on Zoom in support.

Hello, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. Maya Hunter here, representing Maui County Department of Agriculture. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify on this measure. Our department stands in support and stands on our testimony and is open for questions.

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau in person.

Hawaii Farm Bureau stands on its testimony with comments.

And Hunter Hevelin, Hawaii Farmers Union in support on Zoom person.

Zoom. Live Zoom. Hunter Hevelin on behalf of Hawaii Farmers Union. We're in support of a number of the aspects of this measure, from supporting producers who are actively cultivating new. One amendment that we would like to see, however, is a look around the labeling requirements.

I think that the landscape palm labeling aspect be limited to public lands and lands that are generally and publicly accessible, so as not to incur upon the private activities of land managers that are not adjacent to publicly accessible areas. If I'm clear in that, I'll drop the floor.

Okay. Thank you. That's everybody we have listed. Is there anybody in person who would like to testify on this measure?

Aloha, Again, the written only we're here. We stand on our written testimony in support of this measure. You is part of a network of native clients and that has sustained our community since time immemorial. And so recognizing Niu as a food and water source and affirming its cultural significance ensures that these relationships to aina are preserved and carried forward for our future generations. And the loss of our new comes with the loss of an essential source of food and water as well as our traditional customary practices.

And as our communities face increasing pressures from climate change, rising food costs, and a loss of traditional resources, safeguarding our new against CRB while ensuring they are safe for human consumption, maintains alignment with Malama'aina to better support Hawaii's long term food security. Thank you.

Is there anybody else who'd like to testify in this measure?

Hi, guys. This is the bill that I came for.

I State your name, please. And

My name is Daniel Anthony. I I shared that with you guys because, in my depression over learning about the situation of our coconuts, it I literally had to start carving stones. And I asked I said, what is the solution to this? And that is a representation of the solution. It is four owls combined in one.

It's different perspectives that don't get along, get together, coming together to find a solution. This bill is a community led bill that is asking the tough questions. One, who decided to define coconuts as landscape bombs? I've asked this question. I actually asked it to the board of of of agriculture and biosecurity.

How did it become a landscape palm? Nobody can answer. Arbitrarily someone decided that this most important sacred tree that is protected by the constitution. Because you see, native Hawaiians with lineal ties can go on private lands to gather. Now I ask you, you see a 80 foot coconut tree.

Anybody over here planted that 80 foot coconut tree? Because that was planted prior to statehood. That these trees are actually ancestors that have never once said they weren't a part of our food system. It has not been defined in any regulations nor can we find it that says that a coconut is no longer a coconut. So, yes, it is difficult to label trees.

I understand that, and this is something in this bill we'd be willing to negotiate. But I will tell you this, the liability is removed by simply stating that it is not in our food system. Do you know who the number one supplier of coconuts on the Island Of Oahu is? Tweakers. Uh-huh.

Tweakers. Straight up. I have had to go into this, like, investigative reporter, and the Tweaker economy is funded by all those trees that we don't think are food because nobody gets them. And when they see them at a certain point, they go at night and they harvest them. And where do these coconuts go?

You know, once I was in a community meeting and a member of DAB said that we have to save coconuts for the tourists. That's why we poison them. How many tourists are drinking poison coconuts? Now when I ask what the impacts of drinking a poison coconut, they don't have an answer. When I ask what is the impacts of drinking 20 to 40 poison coconuts a week, now they're concerned.

I feel like the state has a tremendous amount of liability in regards to the health of our Pacific Island community and all the visitors that come to Hawaii to do what? Drink a coconut. So I ask you to really bring those that would question how important this is to the table to have a open discussion. As I've said before, I come here as a collaborator with the Department of Ag asking to be a part of the discussion that is impacting everyone. And I would ask for your folks' help in making that happen.

And I believe that this bill is a major step into regulatory recognition that this is a part of our food system. You know, every fully producing coconut is two weeks worth of food and water. That is more than what the state has for each individual in case of emergency. In fact, 1,000,000 coconut trees on Oahu would ensure that we would survive any disaster for up to two weeks unscathed. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Anybody else would like to testify? Okay. Members? Questions?

Okay. Moving on to our next bill. SB 2798 sd one relating to law enforcement makes permanent the, Department of Agriculture pilot program established pursuant to act two three five. SLH twenty twenty five, renames the program as the agricultural enforcement program and expands the program statewide as a defective effective date.

And we had seven in support, zero in opposition, zero comments I'm sorry. 2198. Nine in support, zero in opposition, and three comments. First import in person, we have Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

DAB stands on for your testimony and support. Thank you.

Thank you. Mike Lambert, DLE in person, Department of Law Enforcement.

Good morning. Jared Rudula, the deputy director. We'll stand on our testimony this morning.

Thank you. Kelvin Wapjan from Hawaii County, prosecuting attorney in support on Zoom. Not present? Okay. Maya Hunter, Maui County Department of Agriculture in support on Zoom.

Aloha, everyone. Maya Hunter from Maui County Department of Agriculture. Aloha, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify. Our department does stand in support of this bill, and I would like to just add for context that permanency of this program would extend the same robust enforcement privileges that are being piloted on Oahu and Hawaii Island to outer islands, farmers, and ranchers that we at MDOA hear from all the time getting impacted by this.

And it would ensure all Hawaii producers, regardless of location, benefit from equal protection against theft, and threats. .

Thank you. Next, we have Nicole Galase from Hawaii Cattlemen's Council in support on Zoom.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. I'm Nicole Galase on behalf of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council. The Hawaii Cattlemen's Council supports this bill. We know that there's a high need for it across the state, not just Oahu and Hawaii Island. We hope that more prosecutions will lead to more deterrence of crime because currently it's still rampant.

We really appreciate working with the Department of Law Enforcement, but we recognize that they need enough resources to be able to truly help agriculture. Please make this program permanent and statewide, but ensure that the program is funded to its full needs. On top of food production being a high priority for the state, even higher than that is the safety of our community. Mahalo.

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau in support in person.

Hawaii Farm Bureau will stand on its written testimony in support. In fact, with comments. We'd like to see this statewide because, apparently, we have a tweaker coconut problem with that problem with your address. Thank you.

Just say no to drugs. Hunter Heavlin, Hawaii Farmers Union in support. Okay.

Farmers Union Stands on its written testimony in support.

Thank you. That's everybody we had listed in person. Was there is there anybody else who would like to testify in person on Zoom? K. Members, questions?

I have a question for Daley. So I saw your testimony in support, and, it seemed to be, like, pretty enthusiastically in support of expansion and making permanent this program. And I, don't argue with the intent, but I am concerned about capacity because, in other spaces, we are having to privatize, security at a in our courts because you folks don't have the capacity to even staff our courts.

So we're gonna be paying, you know, some exorbitant amount for private security out of courts, and yet you're asking to expand your duties and your responsibilities. So maybe you can speak to that a little bit.

Yeah. Yes. Thank you very much for that important question, ma'am. So really what we're trying to do is find balance in our statewide law enforcement duties that run the full spectrum and specifically the issue of the new agriculture enforcement program. I'll say overall, we thank the legislature for its support and its continuing efforts to allow us to expand our recruitment by issues of increasing our members pay, our officers pay.

That foremost, that kind of support is absolutely necessary to making sure that we can not only meet our general recruitment needs for deputy sheriffs, but especially in the agriculture enforcement realm. Now there is, a difference. What we see nationwide is a shortage of law enforcement officers and recruitment everywhere, but specifically with specialized law enforcement. For example, DLNR Dole Care enforcement. They recently had a recruitment.

There are over 700 people across the state that applied for a small amount of officers. And we think there are two issues with that. One is a sense of Kuleana towards our natural resources. And the other is there is an attractiveness, an appeal to that kind of outdoor work where you're on the ocean, in the forest reserves, and those kinds of things that are different than the mainstay street law enforcement. We think similarly with agriculture enforcement.

Being out there with the farmers and ranchers, being up in our very scenic places, places that ordinary, people in our communities don't normally get to see every day is a real attraction for that kind of work. It certainly is for me, because in the last several months, I personally have had to go

out and, investigate these types of agriculture crimes. I was just out the other day doing it. It. So we think that that with the agriculture realm, we won't have the kinds of recruitment issues that we are having for example in the court houses and in regular street work that we're having because of that appeal.

So may I have a follow-up question? So aren't isn't the recruitment, like, just a standard basic recruitment so that the deputies all have to have the same meet the same requirements and go through the same process?

So there is

Are you ready to serve in any capacity to which you assign them?

So what we're doing right now is, two things. The first is we're modernizing our training program for every law enforcement officer in the department. You are correct, ma'am. There is a certain basic law enforcement training program that every law enforcement officer gets. With agriculture enforcement, we are designing an enhanced program.

Those officers, for example, need to know how to drive four wheel drive vehicles and they need to know a specific specialized agriculture enforcement

laws that the general police officer in our community that the general police officer in our community doesn't necessarily need to know. You know, we need to know, for example, branding, the mechanics of branding, what goes on in these farms and ranches, and what we can expect to be the daily normal activities that we expect to see. Because much of law enforcement is when things just don't look right.

And so I've spent a lot of time now in our agriculture community on ranches, speaking with, mister Minh who testified in the other bill to understand what the heartbeat every day is in agriculture so that we can create that specialized enforcement program for our new officers.

Can I ask one more question? Sorry. So it sounds to me like the the pathway is longer to become an agricultural specialist or enforcement officer.

Yes.

And and, it also sounds to me like you already have folks within the department who have shown interest and who might be then kind of siphoned off into that work. So then you face a recruitment problem just to fill the the basic ranks. Right? The folks who are staffing at the airport, staffing. Also, we have problems with public security at our libraries, our courts.

So I I I think I am still concerned, and I appreciate that we are doing we are taking some steps to address the shortage. But I I really feel like you are you folks are expanding your responsibilities so rapidly that I'm not sure you can keep up. And so I I'm just skeptical. So thank you. And I that's not really a question. It's more of a comment.

Any other questions or comments from the members? Chair? Thank you. Appreciate your

Thank you.

Without further questions or comments from the Committee, we're going to move on to SP 2,20 SD 1, this related to agriculture establishes a Kuleana Ag. Tech Pathways Program to create career pipelines in the fields of agriculture and agriculture technology. Requires University of Hawaii to collaborate with the Department of Education, Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Agribusiness Development Corporation, Department of Labor, Industrial Relations, and appropriate community organizations to develop and administer the program. Requires a report to the legislature, appropriate funds, and it has a defective effective date.

We have, 11 people in support, zero in opposition, two comments, two with comments.

And starting off in person, we have Jade Butai from Department of Labor Industrial Relations in support.

Chair Kusch, Chair Chan, Members, on behalf of Director Butai, the Department stands on the testimony of this work.

Thank you. Next, we have the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and support in person.

DAB stands on as written testimony and in support of your work.

Thank you. Wendy Gady, Agribusiness Development Corporation in support in person.

Mark Takemoto for Wendy Gady, Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members. ADC stands on our testimony in support.

Thank you. And then Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau in support in person.

Hawaii Farm Bureau will stand on this written testimony in support.

K. Is there anybody else who would like to testify on this measure in Zoom? Seeing none, Members, questions? Chair, question? Okay.

With that, we're going to move on to SB 2800 SD 1, related to irrigation systems, appropriate funds to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Agribusiness Development Corporation to acquire, repair, and maintain irrigation systems in the state. It has a defective effective date. Sorry. I'm falling behind. We have seven in support, zero in opposition, zero comments. And I am off count here.

First off, we have Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in person.

DAB stands on its written testimony and support.

Thank you. Lauren Yasaka. I'm sorry.

Stands on our written comments as a part of the bill.

Thank you. Wendy Gaiety or?

Yeah. Mark talking as a little less caffeinated version of Wendy Gaiety.

Shh. She might be watching.

Your secret is with us, don't worry.

She stands on our first point in support.

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farmers Union in person.

Farmers Union Bureau, United. Hawaii Farm Bureau, like the former ADC employee, Mark Takemoto's down there with the testimony and in support. Especially, and all joking aside, in light of the recent kona low and the impact to some of our irrigation infrastructure that it could have had on public health.

Thank you. Hunter Hevelin, Hawaii Farmers Union in support.

I'll send our written testimony in support.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to testify on this measure? On Zoom? Members questions? Chair?

No? Okay. We're going to move on. SB 1230 SD 2, relating to meat donation. Exempted donation of wild game meat, including access tier by a hunter for the use or distribution by a charitable, religious or non-profit organization to needy persons from certain laws regarding the inspection and transportation of meat. Has a defective effective date.

We have 22 people in support, zero in opposition, and two with comments. First up, Nicholas Vargas from DLNR in support in person.

Nick Vargas with the DLNR. Hi Chair, Vice-Chair, Members of the Committee. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. HTH Environmental Health Administration, Department of Health with comments in person.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Matt Crono, Department of Health, Environmental Health Services Division. We submitted, testimony with comments. I do want to highlight though that, we do have concerns about the verticality of the food safety program. Obviously, this impacts part of agriculture and biosecurity.

However, they're kind of upstream in the food security world. Moving guardrails in that food security system potentially creates different tiers of safety, especially for most vulnerable communities.

While we absolutely support efforts for food safety and invasive and animal control and such, we do have concerns that if we remove those guardrails there upstream, without consideration for what would be needed to make sure that that food system is safe as it goes into the food stream, then downstream, we may have really unintended consequences that have impact on population. Thank you available for any questions.

Thank you. Mia Hunter from Maui County Department of Ag. in support on Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. Maya Hunter from Maui County Department of Agriculture. We stand in support of this bill. Just for some context here in Maui County, we are really overrun by access deer in particular. There's a lot of invasive ungulates.

And if we want to talk about safety, let's talk about safety to agriculture, our ecosystems, and our watersheds by these invasive ungulates. This bill presents a really unique opportunity to improve local food security and community resilience by offering a local protein source as the demand of food will only rise and the cost of food only rises here, in our outer islands. And I will be open for questions. Mahalo.

Thank you. Next, we have Nicole Galase from Hawaii Cattlemen's Council in support on Zoom.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Nicole Galase on behalf of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council. Like the previous testifier said, the invasive deer issue is still really, really negatively impacting farmers and ranchers as well as everyday residents, and the environment. This bill will help to facilitate the removing of these animals while still making sure they go to feeding our communities. And from what I understand, this bill is modeled after Texas legislation where they have found success, with this method. Thank you.

Thank you. Lauren Zerbel from Hawaii Food Industry Association in support on Zoom. Not present. Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau in support in person.

Hawaii Farm Bureau will stand on its written testimony in support, adding that it's not just access to deer but feral pigs. So, this bill is wild game. Thank you.

Thank you. Ted Kefalas, from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in support in person. Not present. And then Richard Fuerst, individual in support on Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is Richard First. I'm a hunter- sorry, apparently looking at the wrong camera.

It's a good profile.

I just want to add a few additional comments in in addition to the written testimony that I supported in regard to the valid concerns raised by the Department of Health. With respect to concerns about food safety and absence of inspection, I think it's important to recognize that hunters already have a strong incentive to protect and practice proper field care of wild game. They're the same handling practice they rely on to safely feed their own families and communities.

If the legislature wants to strengthen safeguards further, I would encourage, consideration of a funding partnership between DLNR and Department of Health to expand hunter education programs. They could take on additional training, on field care, processing techniques, and identifying any signs of illness or disease in harvested animals.

Additionally, nonprofit organizations distributing the wild game could be supported in providing clear cooking guidance to recipients so that these meals, for example, cooking wild boar to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, add venison, goat, and sheep to 145 degrees. This would kill off any pathogen concerns. In regard to comparisons to hunter donation programs in states with cooler fall climates, I respectfully note that the fundamentals of proper field care are consistent no matter the geography.

Promptly gutting, cleaning, and quartering remains of game animals after you've harvested them are the most effective methods for preventing contamination. I think it's also worth acknowledging that many Mainland donation programs rely on commercial meat processors, resources that are limited here in Hawaii.

This presents an opportunity, I think, the legislature could consider supporting development of funding commercial kitchens or meat processing facilities that are accessible to the public. That infrastructure would, not only enhance the food safety, but also expand community access to locally harvested protein. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Thank you. Next up, we have Jackie Keith, individual in support on Zoom. Not present. That concludes all of our listed, testifiers. Is there anybody in person who'd like to testify?

Hunter, please.

Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members, Farmers Union stands on its unwritten testimony and support. Apologize we did not get something in ahead of time. This is a pretty important measure that seeks to unravel the state maybe tying its own shoelaces together while trying to address food security and ungual management. At the federal level, wild game is not considered an amenable species for inspection if it is not going to be used for sale.

Applying an additional layer of requirements for inspection at the state level seems like we would put ourselves well out in front of federal requirements while seemingly having no benefit as a result.

So, I think this is a necessary measure to ensure that we are in alignment while simultaneously being able to increase access of local proteins that are seemingly are much more renewable than we'd like them to be and simultaneously hopefully addressing some of the myriad concerns that agricultural operations face as a result of invasive species. Happy to answer any questions and mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to testify on this measure? Anybody on Zoom? Okay.

I think I forgot to mention there's 22 people in support, zero in opposition and two comments on this bill. Members any questions?

Sure.

Okay. Seeing none. We're gonna move on to SB 2706 SD1. Relating to workforce development. Establishes a five year agriculture and biosecurity workforce development pilot program within the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in collaboration with University of Hawaii's Leeward

Community College and the Department of Human Resource Development requires a report to the legislature and sunsets June 30, 2031 as a defective, effective date.

We have six in support, zero in opposition with one and one in comments. First up, we have Patrick Chee from DLNR in person.

Hello, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. We are in strong support of this bill. We believe that there need there is a significant need for a pipeline of biosecurity workers. There definitely are not enough of them applying for a lot of our invasive species biosecurity jobs, and having this in place

would definitely help to fill those positions. I'm available for questions if you could.

Thank you. Next, we have Brenna Hashimoto. Brenna Hashimoto from Department of Human Resource Development with comments in person. Not present. Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in support in person.

That stands on his written testimony in support. Any questions?

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau in support in person.

Hawaii Farm Bureau's done on its written testimony in support.

Alrighty. Anybody else like to testify on this measure?

Anybody on Zoom? Members, question? Chair? K. Seeing none.