VOTING MEMBERSDAVID IGE

SUZANNE CASE
DEPARTMENT OF LAND & NATURALRESOURCES

GOVERNOR OF HAWAIIJOSH GREEN

PHYLLIS SHIMABUKURO-GEISERHAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

LIEUTENANT GOVERNORKATHLEEN HO, D.Env
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTHANIA WEICZOREK, Ph.D.
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘IHAWAIʻI INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL
1151 PUNCHBOWL ST, #325
HONOLULU, HAWAIʻI 96813

MARY ALICE EVANSOFFICE OF PLANNING, DEPARTMENT OF
BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT &TOURISMDAVID RODRIGUEZDEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONAugust 17, 2022
SUBMITTALTO:

Co-chairs and Members
Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council
State of Hawaii

FROM:

Justine Nihipali, Chair Resources Working Group andChelsea Arnott, Invasive Species Coordinator
Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council

SUBJECT:

Requesting approval of the recommended HISC budget for Fiscal Year 2023

Background
Since its inception in 2003, the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) has disbursed funding
to support interagency invasive species projects that:• Fill gaps between agency mandates or existing agency programs, and/or• Advance our collective knowledge through research and development of new tools.
Funds are disbursed via an intra-governmental granting process wherein state, county, andfederal offices may submit requests for funding and meet to collaboratively draft a recommended
budget for HISC review.
For Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the legislature appropriated $5,750,000 to the HISC. An additional$1,500,000 was added to the HISC budget by the legislature. These funds are non-recurring and$500,000 of them are stipulated to support invasive ant management through the Hawaii Ant
Lab. The HISC appropriations are subject to a 7% expenditure restriction by the Department ofBudget and Finance and 7% overhead from the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) at
the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) as the administrative host of the HISC.
The account that the HISC appropriation is allocated to, LNR402, was subject to a 20%
reduction in FY22 which carried over to FY23. The 20% reduction was only applied to the HISC
base budget of $5,750,000 and not the additional $1,500,000. A breakdown of these amounts isprovided in Table 1.
The amount of funding required to support core programs under the HISC for FY23 is$630,597.72. This includes:• The “HISC Support” project that entails two full-time positions (HISC Planner andInvasive Species Research and Projects Coordinator, formerly the Projects Coordinatorthat managed the interagency airports biosecurity project Māmalu Poepoe. This
position’s title and description has changed to include previous duties of planning andimplementing the ports of entry pest monitoring, but also work with scientists andpractitioners to identify research needs and priorities that can advance invasive species
knowledge, technology, and tools. This position is partially funded in FY23 with federal
dollars received from the Congressionally Directed Spending request submitted byDLNR in FY22. Finalizing the updates to the position title and duties will most likely be
finalized in early Fall 2022. The Online Reporting Technician’s time with HISC will
increase from .5 FTE to .9 FTE. HISC Support Program budget also provides associatedtravel, supplies, and other costs associated with administration of the HISC and its
supported projects.
• Intermittent support for programmers and administrators associated with online productdevelopment under a project known as the Hawai‘i Biodiversity Information Network(HBIN). HBIN manages the online pest reporting system 643pest.org as well as otherinvasive species products.
• Support for the Hawai‘i-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment, which employs one weed risk
assessor.
• Operational support for the Hawaii Ant Lab.
The remaining balance of $3,830,870.37 is available for interagency project grants.
Table 1: Breakdown of total available HISC funding to support interagency projects and programs.
Appropriation – Includes $5.75M recurring G-funds and$6,750,000.00$1M additional funds
20% Cut to LNR402 – Only applied to $5.75M-$1,498,882.75

Total Remaining After Restriction (7%), DOFAW
Overhead (7%), 20% cut$4,401,172.00

HISC Support, HBIN, WRA, HAL-$630,597.72

Total Available Remaining$3,830,870.37

Discussion
The preparation of the FY23 recommended budget for the HISC was accomplished through thefollowing process:• A call for proposals was released May 2, 2022, with applications due by 5:00 pm HST onJune 3, 2022. HISC Support Staff provided an informational webinar to all potentialapplicants live through Zoom on May 4, 2022. The webinar was recorded and posted tothe HISC website as a reference guide to all prospective applicants.
• As described in the proposal guidelines, applications needed demonstrate applicability to
the 5 funding priorities based on the strategies outlined in the “HISC & CGAPS 2025
Joint Strategy: In support of tthe Hawaiʻi Interagency Biosecurity Plan”.
• Members of the Resources Working Group (RWG), comprised of twelve managers andstaff from the Departments represented on the Council and HISC Support Staff,
evaluated proposals, scoring them based on the projects ability to address the 5 funding
priorities. Additional points were possible for sector relevancy and providing leveraged2•funding. The total amount of points possible is 57. A quantitative score for each proposal
is calculated and provides a ranking of lowest scoring to highest scoring proposals.
Scores are factored into the application’s funding request and the total available HISC
funds to produce a recommended award amount that serves as a starting point for thediscussion at the Resources Working Group meeting. Changes to FY23 evaluations
included 1) no additional points awarded for the inclusion of a management plan orstrategy, 2) HISC Support Staff determined points awarded for relevancy to sectors, and3) proposals that scored low based on the quantitative evaluations were not recommended
for FY23 HISC funding and not part of the Resources Working Group discussion.
On July 28, 2022, the Resources Working Group facilitated a meeting to discuss
applications and develop a balanced recommended budget for FY23 HISC funding. Uponearlier consult with the AG’s office and OIP, it was determined that the Resources
Working Group is not subject sunshine law requirements. The meeting was a hybrid
where attendees had the ability to attend either virtually with the Zoom link provided orin-person in the DLNR Board Room in the Kalanimoku Building. Applicants that werebeing considered for FY23 HISC funding were provided a meeting link and opportunity
to attend in person. The recommended FY23 HISC Budget approved by the HISC
Resources Working Group is provided in Attachment 1.

Requests received for FY23 funding totaled $8,246,824.55 across 37 applications. Eightapplications were not recommended for funding. Six of those were not recommended funding
based on low-ranking proposals and the other two were based discussion at the Resources
Working Group. For the remaining 29 proposals, the Resources Working Group recommended
partial funding based on the amount requested, application merit (e.g., score), and the overall
amount of available funding. Applicants were asked at the time of submission to indicate
whether their projects were scalable, indicating that a partial award would be useful incontributing toward the overall project budget.
Legal Authority• HRS 194-2 (a): Establishes the HISC for the purpose of cabinet-level coordination andplanning among state departments, federal agencies, and international and local initiatives• HRS 194-2 (a)(4): Directs the HISC to create and implement a plan for prevention, early
detection, rapid response, control, enforcement, and education• Act 5, SLH 2019: Provides $5,750,000 in general funds to be disbursed by DLNR as
directed by the HISC
Recommendations
1. That the HISC approve the FY23 budget for HISC support and an interagency project
portfolio provided in Attachment 1, and
2. That, should the Department of Budget and Finance make any changes to the restriction
on expenditures, the HISC delegate authority to the HISC Support Staff to identify best
way to apply additional restrictions to project funds, or to identify best uses of any
released funds, and3. That, if there are any changes in the scope or implementation of projects over the courseof the year, the Council delegate authority to the HISC Support staff to make adjustments
to project funds or reassign project funds from any project that does not proceed in atimely manner.
3

Attachments:• FY23 HISC Budget Recommendations of the HISC Resources Working Group4

Attachment 1: FY23 HISC Budget Recommendations of the HISC Resources Working Group
Table 1: Programmatic Asks and Award Amounts. Programmatic is interpreted as cumulative
asks from a single program that are $300,000 or more.

OverallRank

Application Title

18

Kauai Rapid Ohia Death Detection &Response

7

Kauai Invasive Species Committee EarlyDetection, Rapid Response, and Control

3Program$89,434.00$808,713.00

Public Outreach and Education on Kauai$145,201.00

15

Early Detection and Rapid Response forOahu Invasive Species$508,916.10

11Priority Weed Control & Eradication
Across Oahu

$978,336.55

6Invasive Species Outreach & Education onOahu$265,046.75

12Mitigating invasive species impacts to theenvironment, economy, and human healthon Hawai’i Island$422,015.00

4Detection and Control of Invasive Species
on Hawaii Island$625,363.00

2Community Engagement and Invasive
Species Education on Hawai'i Island$363,426.00

10

Engaging the Public to Protect Maui Nuifrom Invasive Species - MISC & MoMISC$249,810.00

8Detection and Control of Invasive Species
in Maui County - MISC & MoMISC

Total

KISC

OISC

BIISC

MISC/MoMISC

RWG
Recommended
Award Amount

Total Requested$

659,677.05$

715,000.00$

809,502.00$

825,000.00$

3,009,179.05$ 1,505,434.00$ 5,961,695.40

5

Table 2: Project Asks and Award Amounts. Project asks are interpreted as cumulative asks froma single program that are less than $300,000.
RWG
Recommended
Award AmountOverallRank

Application Title

Program

Total Requested

36

East Oahu Feral Goat Control and Surveys

KMWP$24,975.00

$0.00

35

Evaluating the use of steam as a nonchemical means to control common andinvasive weeds in urban areas in Hawaii

UHCTAHR$

33,530.82

$0.00

34

Birds, Not Mosquitoes Outreach Kits

KFBRP

$

14,000.00

$0.00

33

Hawaiʻi’s forests in your pocket: using 3Dmodels and augmented reality to create a“Pokemon Go” experience for Hawaiian
plants and animals impacted by invasivespecies

DOFAW

$

55,000.00

$0.00

32

Survey of potential biological control
agents of hala scale in its native range

UHCTAHR$34,264.00

$0.00

31

Develop and disseminate an invasive pest
extension program to the Hawaii
Agricultural communityUHCTAHR$

14,740.00

$0.00

30

Invasion ecology of Arcte coerula(Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), a New Pest ofMāmaki and other nettles in Hawaiʻi.

UHCTAHR

$

71,812.00$

16,726.93

DOFAW

$

50,000.00$25,000.00

USFS

$

237,000.00$

102,910.00

29
28

Development of mongoose control
technology: refining the Goodnature A18
mongoose trap
Natural enemies for biocontrol of albizia

27

Modeling first records to guide invasivespecies biosurveillance in Hawai‘i

UH LifeSciences$

45,342.00

26

Acoustic early detection of coqui using
low-cost audio devices

UHCTAHR

$

43,212.00$12,502.64

25

Biocontrol of invasive Rubus

USFS$118,100.00$

37,657.28

24

Biocontrol of melastomes and other highpriority invasive plants

USFS

$

182,000.00$

61,032.63

23

How do harbors jumpstart algal invasions?

UH LifeSciences$

85,579.00$

30,244.64

22Detection and Management Strategies for
the Control of Prosapia bicincta (TwolinedSpittlebug) in Hawaii

UHCTAHR$459,408.00$

167,700.24$0.00

621Tibouchina Control and T. Ovatus
Disbursal in the Ko’olau

KMWP

$

91,676.00$

33,475.72

20

Island Wide Survey and Development of aRapid Assessment Protocol of Invasive
Macroalgae on Oʻahu

UH Life
Sciences$

26,910.00$

10,015.89

19

Outreach and Extension for Rapid Ohia
Death

UH
CTAHR

$

42,474.00$

23,075.00

DLNR
DOFAW

$

75,607.33$48,755.00

KMWP

$

245,046.00$

62,250.00

UH Life
Sciences$

100,212.00$

44,158.56

DOFAW

$

40,000.00$

18,481.19

USDA
Wildlife$

51,000.00

DAR$85,241.00$

78,000.00

CGAPS$58,000.00$

49,705.45$ 2,285,129.15$

821,691.18

17161413

Outcross and maintain incompatible
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus
mosquitoes
Albizia Community Control Teams andRegional Eradication Efforts in theKo’olau
Expansion of management and techniques
for species of highly invasive genus
Avrainvillea
Educational film production related toinvasive mosquitoes, Hawaiian birds, andincompatible insect technique

5

Surveillance and Monitoring for Rapid
Response at an Area with Frequent Snake
Reports and Recoveries
Hawaii Ballast Water and Biofouling

1

CGAPS--Filling the Gaps

9Total$0.00

Table 3: Total Requests and Total Awarded
Programmatic Asks
Project AsksGrand Total

Total Requested$ 5,961,695.40$ 2,285,129.15$ 8,246,824.55

Total Awarded$3,009,179.05$821,691.18$
3,830,870.23

7