Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Environment

Aloha mai kakou and good afternoon mahalo for joining today's AEN hearing. It's Monday, March 30, and we're convening in Room 224 and video conferencing, which includes the audio and video of remote participants. It's being streamed live on YouTube.

In the unlikely event that the hearing is cut short, the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Wednesday, April 1 at 03:15 PM and 02:24, during AEN's time slot and a public notice will be posted on the legislature's website. And because of our ninety minute time limit, for hearings, there'll be a two minute time limit for all testifiers.

So let's see. First up is GM 511. Submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Molokai Irrigation System Water Users Advisory Board, gubernatorial nominee Harry Purdy III. And first up is DL oh, excuse me. Department of Hawaiian Homelands.

They here? They are in support. DAB?

Aloha, Chair. Randy Chu from the Department of Agriculture in biosecurity. We stand on our written testimony.

Okay. Thank you. Lu Ann Mahiki Lankford-Faborito on Zoom.

Aloha.

Aloha.

From Molokai. Aloha, Senator Gabbard and committee members. Thank you so much for this opportunity to provide testimony and strong support for Harry, Tuddie, Purdy. He is one of our Ho'olehua homesteaders and has been three generations with their beautiful mac nut farm. The Ho'olehua Hawaiian civic club.

I'm sorry. The Ho'olehua Homesteaders Association proudly supports him. Thank you very much for your time. Aloha.

Thank you. Next is Barbara Kalipi. In person, in support. Patrick Kahawai Olaa on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, Chair.

Okay. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Okay. Is Harry here?

Harry is here, labeled under Kilia Purdy-Avelino. Sorry.

Okay.

Where am I?

Right there.

Hello. Hello, Harry. You wanna make a statement?

Not really unless you guys have a question or two, or three.

Okay. Any questions? Okay.

From me or from them?

Let's see here.

Okay. Let me get glasses on.

So, Harry.

Yes.

What do you see is the biggest barrier for young homesteaders who are trying to enter agriculture on Molokai?

Well, the biggest is, first of all, wanting to be one. And to do, to be one, you have to probably have some background or generational type of knowledge of especially on on Molokai, especially, Ho'olehua. A lot of challenges, so it's not an easy step for anyone if they're brand new into it.

So coming from my family being more sustainable type, not, I wouldn't say farmers, but just sustainable having products on the homestead as I was growing up, learning from my my mom and my dad, you know, utilizing the homestead for sustainability.

And then in 1982, I actually opened up a macadamia nut farm on my homestead that was originally planted by the first homesteaders on the property, in the 1920s. Once I got the homestead from our neighbor, it was passed on to me in 1980.

My mom and dad said in here, there's a whole bunch of macadamia nut trees, so we're gonna clean it. And I was working for Aloha Airlines at the time, so I wasn't really into the cleaning end and ended up utilizing the 50 trees on the side of me working for Aloha. And from that point on, Aloha left this island in the eighties.

And instead of me going back to Oahu to work, I chose to stay home on Molokai, and I've been a Hawaiian homestead farmer since 1982 for economics.

And that is my primary source of income. Utilizing now, I'm probably utilizing about 12 to 15 acres of land in terms of macadamia nut production and sustainable agricultural plants that we have on at least 10 to 15 acres of land.

Okay.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. We're gonna move on to the next GM. It's GM 676 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Molokai Irrigation System Water User Advisory Board. Denise Kawano. And first up is Department of Hawaiian Homelands. They are in support. DAB?

DAB stands on written testimony in support.

Okay, anyone else wishing to testify on this GM? Any questions? There were two, a total of two in support and zero opposed. Oh, yeah. And we heard from her that she would, there was an emergency or something with her family that she would not be available to testify on her own behalf.

So we'll move on to the next measure, GM 771. Submitting consideration confirmation to the Board of Ag and Biosecurity, governor's nominee, James Gomes. First up is DAB.

Good afternoon, Chair Gabbard, Senator Rhoads, Sharon Hurd, Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in strong support of Jimmy Gomes' adviser consent, to the Board of Agriculture for a second term. James has been an, an advocate for agriculture all his life. It's been a lifelong path for him. He served on many county boards as well as state boards. During the meetings that, he is, oh, he's been every meeting.

And during the meetings, he always has the most cogent questions and shows a real passion for all facets of agriculture being a rancher. He not only advocates for ranching, but he questions even the the diversified ag or water issues. He's always there with the, the probing questions. So I strongly advocate for his renomination to the board, and thank you for your time.

Thank you. Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Good afternoon, Chair, Senator Rhoads, Brian Miyamoto on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau and our president, Randy Cabral. We're in strong support of this nominee. I think Chair Hurd said it very well, why we support Mr Gomes. There's a lot going on with the colonels, and but I think it reflects on Jimmy Gomes that both Chair and I are here for his confirmation hearing.

He's got extensive background and experience. He is a Paniola. He wears a lot of cowboy hats, as you heard the Chair say in our testament references. Whatever hat he's wearing, he's always calling and asking about the farmers and ranchers. Every time I talk to him, it's about helping the farmers and ranchers.

This issue, that issue. We've seen him do it as a strong advocate on BLNR, and he's currently doing it on the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. We want him to continue. As the Chair said as Chair Hurd said, Mister Gomes asked the hard questions, but he demands the answers also. Again, he is a true Paniola, a true producer, a true aggie.

We are in strong support of mister Gomes. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony.

Thank you. Nicole Galase from Hawaii Cattlemen's Council on Zoom.

Thank you, Chair Gabbard, Senator Rhoads. This is Nicole Galase on behalf of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council. We are also in strong support of Mister Gomes as he has shown his dedication to advocating for agriculture in all the time and effort he's put into state and nonprofit boards, all of this on his own time. I've had the pleasure of working directly with Mister Gomes as the president of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council.

And in his time in leadership with the cattlemen, he always took off his personal hat and spoke for the industry as a whole. That's really necessary when making decisions on the Board of Ag and biosecurity.

James Gomes was inducted to the Paniola Hall of Fame for really good reason. His love of the land, his extensive practical experience, and all of the efforts he makes to perpetuate the Paniola culture. These are all qualities that will continue to serve the Board of Ag and Biosecurity well. Mahalo.

Thank you. Thanks, Nicole. Anyone else wishing to testify on GM 771? Is Mister Gomes on Zoom?

He is present, Chair.

Aloha, Mister Gomes.

Aloha. Aloha, senators. Thank you.

You have a brief statement you'd like to make?

Well, I thank the Chair, Mister Miyamoto, and Nicole for wonderful remarks. I had everything written out, but there's no sense in me trying to say anymore. They've covered it. And there's one thing that I have in mind that I'd like to know is that we need to support the Department of Law Enforcement to help us deal with ag crimes. That's a very rampant deal that's going on with poaching as we well know about the Cranston Pia bill.

Yeah. And I also would like to know I'm I'm listening to stakeholders throughout the state of Hawaii. They're always asking for cheap lands, cheap interest rates, low I should say low interest rates and water and so forth. So they would like to also continue I would like to continue the Act 90 transferring land from DLNR to Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

I've noticed that since Chair Hurd has come on board, the needle has moved with Chair Don Chang. So I appreciate that. But still yet, a lot of farmers and ranchers are asking, we need land. You know? We we we want land, and we want it reasonable. So I think, you know, that this is a very important deal.

Many ranchers and farmers are already practicing that from years gone by. So in closing, you know, I there's a lot more, but it's already been said. I'd like to help keep Ag lands in Ag hands and and its resources model.

And, you know, as we prepare and we wanna practice the environmental stewardship of, what we have learned from our kupunas, you know, and put it into practice, integrate it into climate changes, that we can, you know, help with the wildfires, drought, renewable energy, x, y, z.

Thank you, Mister Gomes. Any questions? So, Jimmy, you mentioned, ag crimes, cheaper land, environmental stewardship. What is the the biggest challenge that are facing, ranchers in Hawaii today in your mind?

It's enforcement probably because, you know, you just get a slap on a hand. So, you know, you need to really be active. And so, you know, when they, when we get enough info and these and you take these crimes down, it's gotta really hurt their pocketbook. You know? It's gotta we really gotta be out there and enforcement and really nail them to deter them from doing this kinda actions.

You know? Also, we have a lot of drug activity that's happening on ranches and farmers. You know? So I believe that we need to have a lot more teeth in the laws. So when this happens, you know, you will really set precedence and you will not just a slap in the hand for a $50 fine. It has to be substantial.

Okay. Alright. Thank you, Jimmy.

I did have one question.

Yes, senator Rhoads.

Oh, Mister Gomes. So I, my recollection or so maybe somebody said it today. You used to be on the BLNR?

Yes. I was there for two terms, two four year terms. I had started off with William Aila and then Suzanne Case.

So when it, when, when were you, when did you go off the board?

I think I went off in two thousand and, I have it here. 2021. I went on 2013. I got off 2021.

I can't remember. Is that a term limited, is that a term limited position? Do you, did you have to go off?

Yeah. Two terms, two four year terms.

And then I went on to the agricultural development corporation for about a year. And then I know that was only for Oahu and Kauai, but I wanted to help stakeholders throughout the state of Hawaii, the fiftieth state. So

Okay.

Gotcha.

Joe Tanaka here was coming up on his four year term for the Department of Ag, and I asked him, you know, I'd like to take that position. And he said, yeah. So that that's when I went on to Department of Ag. But it was with Phyllis Geiser, Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, and Morris Atta. And then after that, with, Chair Sharon Hurd.

Thank you very much. Thanks, Chair.

Thank you. Okay. There were 20 who testified in support, zero opposed, zero comments.

Thank you, Mister Gomes. We'll get back to you. We'll go on to the next measure, gm 772 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Environmental Advisory Council, gubernatorial nominee, Michele Lefebvre. First up is the Environmental Advisory Council on Zoom. Dawn Hegger-Nordblom.

Good afternoon. Thank you for, can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. Great. Thank you so much, Senator Gabbard and the Committee on Agriculture and Wnvironment, Vice Chair Richards and Members of the Senate Committee on Ag and Environment. We fully stand with your support, hopefully, for miss Lefebvre. She's wonderful.

And she's, you know, no good deed goes unpunished. I can say that. And what I can say is that, we are on the Environmental Council looking at these exemption lists that are going through, and Michele does a great job at heading that particular committee. So I appreciate, your support, and I stand by our testimony. Thank you.

Thank you, Dawn. Next is Mary Alice Evans from OPSD.

Hi. Tom Eisen with OPSD. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on GM 772? And do we have Michele online?

Yes. I'm here.

Hi, Michele. Before we take questions, would you like to make a statement?

Just that I appreciate being nominated, to serve on the Environmental Advisory Council. Again, served a term of four years and and look forward to continue helping, in that role with this nomination.

Okay. Any questions?

Chair, I got one.

Senator Rhodes.

So you're current, I think the, I think Dawn said that you currently are you're already serving. Correct?

That's correct.

And you're Chair of a committee that does the, can you just talk about a little bit about what you're doing as Chair of that committee?

Certainly. It's the Exemptions Committee of the Environmental Advisory Council. And we review our committee. Well, it's pretty much since we're such a small council now, we review it. I, I, really the committee, but really the whole council participates.

So sort of the very deminimis activities out of part one and and then exemptions that, you know, don't quite fall under part one, but, but are still considered exemption get published.

So agencies with the update to the 343 implementing rules with 11-200.1 exemption list where our agencies were encouraged to split their exemption list into part one and part two exemptions. Part one not needing any additional documentation and part two exemptions getting published with ERP for public review.

And so we review agency lists as they come in, county and state agencies as they, you know, strive to comply with the sort of two part exemptions and and really help them make it work for their agencies, make it work for their, the types of projects that they do. And we work, yeah, pretty closely with ERP as well.

They have a lot of experience working with all these agencies. So, yeah, just trying to help that help them with that process, the sort of the, the good housekeeping stamp of approval through the exemption review process. But, yeah, really, really enjoy that work.

Okay, thank you. Thanks, Chair.

Okay.

I have a question.

Question, Brent, oh, Senator Awa?

One ,one of the bills that came through shoot, I forgot what committee it was if we're all there or not. It wasn't this one, though. This was a joint. But it was about giving the reef, human rights reef down on that issue.

I did see that. That was very surprising to me. I did, do you know the outcome of that, Phil?

Deferred. Yeah. I think it got deferred.

I, I think it's a very, I think it's a very interesting. I remember showing it to my husband when it came through. I was like, look at this. This is, this is wild. I didn't anticipate that it would, that it would go through, but I certainly think I think it's interesting. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't understand the the legal implications that, that would bring, but I certainly appreciate the sentiment, I guess, of of where that was going. Not sure that I, I would be in full support. But Yeah.

That's what I was thinking. If I, if I seen your name advising on it, like, where, where would, where would you be in the testimony?

Definitely would want yeah.

Would it be support, oppose, or abstaining?

I, I would yeah. I don't think I would be in support, but I certainly will be interested in learning the people that drafted that bill, you know, what they were interested in and and learning more about it. But yeah.

Sorry. One more time. Which which one would it be?

I would not support. I would not.

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate the clarity.

Okay. And we can put you in touch with the person who came up with that idea, that concept, but I was informed that we did try to pass it out, but it did not pass. Okay. And I have a question for you. Michele.

So, you know, where do you think the the current environmental review process, if it does fall short, where do you think it it falls short In terms of engaging our community.

That's a, that's a very good question. I think, you know, every time I, in my professional capacity, I, I work as a environmental consultant. So I prepare, you know, EAs and and EISs. And, you know, again and again, when we are in a a public outreach part of those environmental review documents, you you hear frustration with the public in the process.

And I think, you know, a big part, even though you're, you're trying to educate, you know, when you're in this process, what, what project you're doing, but a lot of times, you sort of have to back up and talk about the process.

So I'd, I'd say the most I think your question was the most frustrating part or or the part that maybe isn't working the best. And I think that's public understanding of the 343 process. I think people come to public meetings or or write comments on EAs and EISs, and they feel if they express opposition or they express support that that will, that will translate, you know, into action.

And sort of ex, you know, the hard part is is explaining the process, explaining what a substantive comment is, and that process, you know, it isn't a, isn't a vote, isn't a voting process, right, but an analysis. You know, to provide agencies the information they need to decide whether to accept or reject a document.

So, yeah, I strive I think, I think a lot about how to sort of help help the public understand the process so that they can provide substantive comments and then see that there's a, their, that their participation matters, in the process.

But, again, it it has to sort of be guided because that's, you know, unless you've read the rules, you know, that's not intuitive.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. On GM 772 there were six in support, zero opposed, and zero comments. So members, we can go right into decision making.

Senator Rhoads, if he could assist since our Vice Chair is not present. On GM 511 for Harry Purdy III to the Molokai Irrigation System Water Users Advisory Board. Chair's recommendation would be to advise and consent. Any questions or concerns? Chair votes aye. Senator Rhoads?

Chair's recommendation on GM 511 is to advise and consent. [ROLL CALL] Recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you, Members. Then on GM 676 for Denise Kawano to the Molokai Irrigation System Water User Advisory Board. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. Any discussion? Chair votes aye. Vice chair.

Chair's recommendation on GM 676 is, is to advise and consent. [ROLL CALL] Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you, Members. And GM 771 for James Gomes, confirmation to the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity. The chair's recommendation will be to advise and consent. Any discussion? Senator Rhoads.

On GM 771 Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent. [ROLL CALL] Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you, members. And then on GM 772, Michele Lefebvre to the Environmental Advisory Council. Chair's recommendation would be to advise and consent. Any discussion? Chair votes aye.

Chair's recommendation on GM 772 is to advise and consent. [ROLL CALL] Recommendation's adopted.

Great. And that's it. We'll adjourn the 03:00 agenda.