Senate committees pass amended SB 1100 expanding biosecurity authority, creating biosecurity inspector license

Senate committees on Agriculture and Environment (AEN), Transportation and Culture and the Arts (TCA) and Commerce and Consumer Protection (CPN) on Feb. 6 passed Senate Bill 1100 with amendments that expand state biosecurity duties, rename and license “biosecurity inspectors” and set a series of staggered effective dates for the measure.

The measure drew extended testimony from invasive‑species groups, state agencies and community members who supported stronger biosecurity but differed about where the Hawaii Invasive Species Council (HISC) and other functions should be placed and whether the Department of Agriculture has the capacity to carry out the work.

Chelsea Arnott, testifying for the Hawaii Invasive Species Council, said the council was created as “an autonomous form with the purpose of statewide coordination and policy direction for the prevention and management of invasive species” and urged that the council remain an interagency forum rather than be subject to a single agency’s jurisdiction. Don Chang, director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said DLNR supports DOA’s work but asked the Legislature to continue funding DLNR for invasive‑species management and listed specific budget requests, including $4,250,000 for statewide invasive species emergency response and $500,000 for the Hawaii Ant Lab.

Christy Martin of the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS) said her organization backs stronger biosecurity but raised legal concerns that the bill’s language could impede interstate commerce if transitional inspection facilities charge fees and delay shipments. Martin also warned the bill language might inadvertently remove authority to regulate pest movement within an island and urged the committee to review a 2015 Legislative Reference Bureau report on HISC recommendations.

Wayne Tanaka of the Sierra Club of Hawaii said he and other testifiers worried that placing HISC and island invasive species committees under a new Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity “is not the right approach” and urged mechanisms for accountability if the bill creates a new deputy biosecurity position.

Community testifiers and island invasive‑species committees described operational gaps that they say already exist when funding or responsibilities shift. Joe Watt, a community member who works at Key Project, said reallocation of funding to the Department of Agriculture had caused “a gap in services” at his uncle’s house for little fire ant response. Nate Dubey, manager for the Oahu Invasive Species Committee, described how HISC had helped local ISCs secure nearly $5 million in federal funds after DOA reduced some operations in 2020–2021.

A Department of Agriculture staff speaker described progress recruiting staff under recent appropriations and outlined operational limits. The staff member said recruitment is under way for 44 positions (about 22 inspectors) funded last year but that HR and the short funding window to June 30 make hiring difficult. The same witness said field inspectors are not required to enter hazardous terrain and staff are allowed to use judgment about safety: “they're not required to go and scale a mountain,” the witness said, adding that specialized DLNR and ISC teams have training and equipment for steep or remote sites.

On the bill text and amendments, a committee motion to pass SB 1100 with amendments was adopted. The amendments read into the record included renaming “private inspectors” to “biosecurity inspectors,” directing that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) license and offer training for the biosecurity inspector license, and placing licensing and enforcement with the DCCA pest control regime. The committees also read a series of staggered effective dates for different parts of the bill (for example, some sections effective immediately, some on Nov. 27, 2025, others on Jan. 1, 2027, and July 1, 2025) and said appropriation amounts would be blanked and inserted into the committee report.

Committee votes: AEN chair recorded five members in favor and adopted the recommendation to pass SB 1100 with amendments. The TCA and CPN committees subsequently adopted the same recommendation; CPN members registered some reservations during floor comments but voted to pass. The measure will proceed with the adopted amendments and the committee report will include final appropriation figures and technical edits.

Sponsors, agency staff and stakeholders at the hearing repeatedly emphasized coordination needs across state agencies. DLNR Director Chang and HISC representatives said existing memoranda of understanding and an interagency biosecurity plan set roles for DOA, DLNR and university research partners, but testifiers warned that shifting authorities without sustained funding or clear operational plans could create gaps in port inspections, post‑border rapid response, and island‑level eradication work.

The hearing record includes technical and legal concerns raised by CGAPS about intra‑island regulatory authority and by community groups about on‑the‑ground capacity; the committees adopted amendments that move licensing to DCCA and rename inspectors but did not remove the legislative effort to centralize biosecurity functions. Next steps include insertion of appropriation amounts in the committee report and further floor consideration by the full Senate.