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SB2703
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
2703
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to agriculture
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
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The
legislature finds that fruit flies are one of the State's most destructive
agricultural pests.
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The economic impacts
of fruit fly infestations in Hawaii are severe, leading to millions of dollars
in lost agricultural production and revenue to the State.
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There are several different fruit flies in
Hawaii, the first of which arrived in 1895.
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Since fruit flies have no natural predators in Hawaii, their existence
has persisted over the years.
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The fruit
fly federal quarantine, which was enacted when Hawaii was a United States
territory, still exists in full effect today due to the presence of fruit flies
in the State and their threat to the continental United States' agricultural
sector.
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This quarantine, however, is a
major hinderance to the State's expansion of diversified agriculture.
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The legislature further finds that in 1999,
the United States Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service (ARS)
funded a five-year area-wide fruit fly pest management system with the goal to
develop and implement environmentally acceptable, biologically based,
sustainable pest management strategies that reduce the use of harsher
insecticides while suppressing fruit flies to economically manageable levels
for the benefit of Hawaii.
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This program
was a cooperative partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture,
ARS, college of tropical agriculture and human resilience at the university of
Hawaii at Manoa, and department of agriculture and biosecurity.
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The area-wide fruit fly program used a
combined approach of field sanitation, protein bait sprays, and male-lure traps
to combat fruit fly infestations.
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The
program successfully lowered infestation rates to below five per cent for many
crops, increasing yields and marketable products.
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The program also significantly reduced
insecticide use in some areas.
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The legislature also finds that the
department of agriculture and biosecurity has contracted with the college of
tropical agriculture and human resilience at the university of Hawaii at Manoa
to reinitiate the area-wide fruit fly suppression program with funding from Act
231, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024.
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This
initial contract is critical to evaluating the ARS's 1999 protocols, methods,
and chemicals, and to update them to meet current needs.
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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to
appropriate funds to suppress fruit flies in Hawaii.
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SECTION 2.
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There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii
the sum of $1,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year
2026-2027 for an area-wide fruit fly suppression program.
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The sum appropriated shall be expended by
the department of agriculture and biosecurity for the purposes of this Act.
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SECTION 3.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Department
of Agriculture and Biosecurity;
Area-Wide Fruit Fly Suppression Program,
Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates funds for the Area-Wide Fruit Fly Suppression
Program.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.