Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Biosecurity Invasive Species topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Department of Agriculture details biosecurity spending: CRB tree removals, LFA residential treatments and e‑arrival pilots
Summary
Department of Agriculture leaders told the House Finance Committee on Jan. 13 they are obligating Act 231 biosecurity funds across CRB and LFA work, university pest‑management contracts and pilots for electronic agricultural arrival forms and an animal portal.
Department of Agriculture director Sharon Hurd and senior staff briefed the House Finance Committee on Jan. 13 about biosecurity work underway after the 2024 appropriations and on department priorities in the governor’s executive budget.
The nut graf: The department said the Act 231 funding (roughly $10 million final appropriation) is being rapidly obligated across preparedness and response actions including contractor‑led coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) removal and little fire ant (LFA) residential treatments, University of Hawai‘i pest management research, and interagency Akamai Arrival electronic screening pilots for passengers and live animals.
Hurd said the department had obligated roughly 72% of the Act 231 funds and encumbered about 47% at the time of testimony and that 44 new classification positions approved in the plan remain in the classification review and recruitment pipeline. She described contracts already awarded: a CRB removal award to a local firm (HTM) at about $1.1 million that includes removal of the highest‑priority large trees (the contract scope identifies an initial target of at least 150 very large trees on Oʻahu and at least 70 on Kauaʻi and contains options to add Maui and Hawaiʻi Island work if trees are identified). For LFA, the department awarded a residential treatment contract (reported award to Terminix in testimony) estimated at about $1.1 million that covers an estimated 580 residential properties on Oʻahu and 290 on Hawai‘i Island under a residential treatment and outreach scope.
Hurd and plant‑quarantine manager Jonathan Ho noted that the department asked the University of Hawai‘i to develop pest‑management system assessments and that the UH contract will provide diagnostic and program design support. Hurd said the department is also spending on public education, green‑waste management, and removal/disposal systems tied to infected vegetation.
On policy and operations, the department described an interagency Akamai Arrival initiative led by the lieutenant governor’s office: an electronic passenger agricultural declaration that aims to increase compliance beyond the roughly 60% capture rate for current paper forms, and a separate animal portal (for dogs, cats and other live animals) that will allow owners to pre‑register required public‑health paperwork to reduce on‑arrival processing delays and quarantine surprises.
Members questioned whether the residential LFA treatments were the most efficient use of funds and asked about green‑waste handling and neighbor‑to‑neighbor re‑infestation risks. Department staff said the residential contractor work is designed to handle sensitive household conditions and that the program is intended to pair contractor treatment with education and follow‑up monitoring; they also said the department has worked to avoid duplication with existing nonprofit lab resources and to coordinate memoranda of understanding where partner groups have established local programs.
Ending: Hurd told the committee the governor’s executive budget proposes approximately $12.7 million for continued biosecurity work in the next biennium; the department will return with implementation details and a hiring timeline as positions clear classification and recruitment steps.
