VOTING MEMBERSNEIL ABERCROMBIEWILLIAM AILA, JRDEPARTMENT OF LAND & NATURALRESOURCESGOVERNOR OF HAWAIISHAN TSUTSUISCOTT ENRIGHTDEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

LIEUTENANT GOVERNORGARY GILL
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
MARIA GALLO, PhD
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘IHAWAI‘I INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL
1151 PUNCHBOWL ST, #325
HONOLULU, HAWAII 96813

LEO ASUNCION
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT & TOURISM, OFFICE OF
PLANNINGDAVID RODRIGUEZ
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONMINUTES	  Hawai‘i	  Invasive	  Species	  Council	  June	  26,	  2014,	  9:00AM	  Rm	  325,	  Hawai‘i	  State	  Capitol	  Building,	  415	  S.	  Beretania	  St,	  Honolulu,	  HI,	  96813	  	  Council	   Members	   in	   Attendance:	   William	   J.	   Aila,	   Jr.	   (DLNR),	   Neil	   Reimer	   (HDOA),	   Leo	   Asuncion	   (DBEDT),	  Gary	  Gill	  (DOH),	  Kenneth	  Grace	  (UH),	  David	  Rodriguez	  (DOT),	  	  Participants	   in	   Attendance:	   Representative	   Richard	  Onishi,	  Senator	  Mike	   Gabbard,	   Representative	   Chris	  Lee	  	  1.
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AGENDA	  Call	  to	  order	  (Chair	  Aila)	  Introductions	  Approval	  of	  minutes	  (Motion	  by	  Gill,	  seconded	  by	  Asuncion,	  unanimous	  approval)	  Overview	  of	  changes	  in	  Council	  membership,	  participation,	  and	  support	  staff	  (Reviewed	  by	  Josh	  Atwood,	  HISC	  Program	  Supervisor)	  a. New	  Council	  members:	  Scott	  Enright	  (Dept.	  of	  Agriculture)	  and	  Leo	  Asuncion	  (Dept.	  of	  Business,	  Economic	  Development	  and	  Tourism)	  b. New	  legislative	  participants	  appointed	  in	  2014:	  	  i. Appointed	  senators:	  Kouchi,	  Gabbard,	  English,	  Kahele.	  Appointed	  representatives:	  Kawakami,	  Lee,	  Ing,	  Onishi.	  
c. New	  HISC	  support	  staff	  structure:	  i. HISC	  Support	  staff	  includes	  Josh	  Atwood	  (Program	  Supervisor),	  Randal	  Bartlett	  (Interagency	  Coordinator),	  and	  Emily	  Montgomery	  (Planner).	  
5. Review	  of	  invasive	  species	  bills/resolutions	  in	  2014	  legislative	  session	  a. Many	  bills	  regarding	  invasive	  species	  were	  introduced	  this	  year,	  none	  passed	  with	  the	  exception	  of	  the	  appropriation	  for	  the	  HISC	  and	  species-­‐specific	  appropriations	  for	  control	  of	  the	  coffee	  berry	  borer	  and	  the	  macadamia	  feltid	  coccid.	  Three	  resolutions	  were	  passed,	  supporting	  restrictions	  on	  import	  of	  potential	  hosts	  of	  ‘ōhi‘a	  rust,	  urging	  the	  federal	  government	  to	  control	  and	  regulate	  invasive	  species,	  and	  endorsing	  the	  Aloha+	  Challenge.	  
6. Request	  for	  approval	  to	  reissue	  an	  unspent	  portion	  of	  an	  FY12	  award	  to	  the	  HDOA	  biocontrol	  foreign	  exploration	  program	  a. Due	  to	  intermittent	  expenses	  related	  to	  exploratory	  biocontrol,	  $24,716.84	  remained	  unspent	  at	  the	  end	  of	  an	  FY12	  HISC	  award	  to	  HDOA	  and	  was	  returned	  to	  DLNR	  as	  the	  HISC’s	  administrative	  host.	  Gill	  made	  a	  motion	  to	  reissue	  these	  funds,	  Grace	  seconded.	  No	  public	  comments	  on	  motion,	  unanimous	  approval.	  
7. FY15	  HISC	  Budget	  (Overview	  provided	  by	  Josh	  Atwood)	  a. Overview	  of	  evaluation	  process	  b. Overview	  of	  recommended	  FY15	  budget	  i. Full	  details	  of	  recommended	  budget	  can	  be	  found	  online	  at	  http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/projects/fy15	  ii. 61	  proposals	  received,	  42	  projects	  recommended	  for	  at	  least	  partial	  funding.	  Recommended	  budget	  overview:	  a. DOFAW	  Overhead	  (3.5%):	  $201,250	  b. HISC	  Support:	  $226,700	  (including	  direction	  to	  solicit	  a	  contract	  up	  to	  $50,000	  for	  an	  economic	  impact	  study	  on	  invasive	  species)	  c. Control	  projects:	  $3,620,865	  d. Outreach	  projects:	  $470,311	  e. Prevention	  projects:	  $720,091	  f. Research	  projects:	  $529,000	  c. Council	  review	  and	  vote	  on	  budget	  i. Discussion	  on	  the	  need	  to	  balance	  the	  merit	  of	  individual	  project	  proposals	  with	  geographic	  distribution.	  Noted	  that	  sub-­‐island	  proposals	  were	  not	  prioritized	  in	  favor	  of	  island-­‐wide	  work	  on	  O‘ahu.	  Council	  members	  discussed	  the	  logistics	  of	  funding	  project	  outcomes	  versus	  capacity	  building	  for	  staff	  at	  various	  projects.	  Staff	  noted	  that	  the	  application	  base	  was	  much	  broader	  this	  year	  as	  the	  HISC	  budget	  has	  increased.	  Representative	  Onishi	  discussed	  the	  value	  of	  the	  collaborative	  budget	  process	  and	  noted	  that	  the	  content	  of	  the	  proposals	  was	  the	  primary	  focus	  in	  evaluations.	  Suggested	  that	  if	  the	  Council	  wants	  more	  consideration	  of	  distribution	  of	  funds	  among	  programs	  and	  geographic	  areas,	  that	  direction	  can	  be	  provided	  to	  the	  staff	  and	  evaluation	  committee	  in	  coming	  years.	  Council	  member	  Grace	  noted	  that	  he	  appreciated	  the	  focus	  on	  outcomes	  rather	  than	  programmatic	  capacity.	  
Council	  member	  Gill	  agreed	  that	  additional	  direction	  can	  be	  provided	  for	  evaluations	  in	  the	  future.	  
ii. Council	  member	  Rodriguez	  discussed	  mongoose	  control	  strategy	  on	  Kaua‘i.	  Council,	  staff,	  and	  a	  representative	  from	  the	  Kaua‘i	  Invasive	  Species	  Committee	  (KISC)	  discussed	  the	  history	  of	  mongoose	  reports	  and	  captures	  on	  Kaua‘i	  and	  how	  to	  move	  forward	  with	  funding	  detection	  for	  a	  cryptic	  species.	  The	  group	  discussed	  that	  strategic	  mongoose	  planning	  would	  move	  forward	  in	  FY15	  under	  the	  new	  KISC	  manager	  in	  cooperation	  with	  partners,	  including	  HISC	  support	  staff,	  and	  that	  this	  process	  would	  provide	  more	  long-­‐term	  planning	  ability	  to	  mongoose	  efforts	  on	  Kaua‘i.	  
iii. Council	  member	  Gill	  discussed	  whether	  the	  evaluation	  committee	  prioritized	  the	  effective	  use	  of	  funds	  by	  focusing	  on	  incipient	  populations	  that	  have	  small	  current	  control	  costs	  relative	  to	  their	  potential	  future	  costs.	  Staff	  discussed	  the	  ways	  in	  which	  the	  evaluation	  process	  prioritized	  incipient	  populations,	  but	  that	  the	  HISC’s	  mandate	  was	  very	  broad	  and	  is	  not	  necessarily	  restricted	  to	  incipient	  work.	  Council	  member	  Gill	  recommended	  that	  participants	  in	  the	  evaluation	  process	  discuss	  in	  the	  strategic	  planning	  process	  how	  to	  prioritize	  incipient	  versus	  established	  project	  funding.	  iv. Council	  discussed	  that	  if	  funds	  become	  available	  midway	  through	  FY15,	  that	  an	  evaluation	  of	  providing	  funds	  to	  additional	  projects	  or	  groups	  would	  be	  undertaken	  and	  reviewed	  by	  the	  Council.	  
v. Public	  comments	  were	  solicited;	  no	  members	  of	  the	  public	  provided	  comments.	  
vi. Vote	  taken	  by	  Chair	  Aila,	  recommended	  budget	  unanimously	  approved	  by	  Council.	  
8. Next	  meeting	  date	  and	  topics	  a. Senator	  Gabbard	  recommended	  that	  the	  Council	  continue	  to	  focus	  on	  the	  issue	  of	  interisland	  biosecurity	  and	  that	  the	  Council	  direct	  staff	  to	  facilitate	  a	  stakeholder	  discussion	  to	  provide	  recommendations	  for	  legislation	  in	  the	  2015	  session.	  HDOA	  representative	  Reimer	  noted	  that	  the	  department	  is	  putting	  together	  biosecurity	  legislation	  for	  the	  2015	  session	  and	  will	  be	  looking	  to	  talk	  to	  stakeholders,	  and	  setting	  up	  these	  meetings	  through	  HISC	  Support	  would	  be	  beneficial.	  Teya	  Penniman	  (Maui)	  noted	  that	  she	  and	  Lloyd	  Loope	  are	  working	  on	  a	  pathways	  analysis	  funded	  by	  Hawaii	  Tourism	  Authority	  and	  would	  be	  interested	  in	  engaging	  in	  this	  process.	  HISC	  Program	  Supervisor	  Atwood	  affirmed	  that	  support	  staff	  would	  work	  with	  these	  ongoing	  efforts	  to	  facilitate	  recommendations	  to	  Senator	  Gabbard	  ahead	  of	  the	  2015	  session.	  
b. Program	  Supervisor	  Atwood	  also	  recommended	  that	  the	  next	  HISC	  meeting	  focus	  on	  updates	  to	  ongoing	  support	  staff	  projects,	  including	  Māmalu	  Poepoe,	  the	  Report-­‐a-­‐Pest	  online	  reporting	  system,	  and	  regional	  involvement	  in	  the	  Pacific,	  including	  engagement	  on	  the	  Regional	  Biosecurity	  Plan	  for	  Micronesia	  and	  Hawaii.	  
c. A	  general	  timeline	  for	  the	  next	  Council	  meeting	  was	  discussed,	  targeting	  September	  2014.	  
9. 	  Public	  Comments	  a. Teya	  Penniman	  (Maui)	  thanked	  the	  Council	  for	  their	  support.	  
b. Christy	  Martin	  (Coordinating	  Group	  on	  Alien	  Pest	  Species)	  noted	  that	  the	  evaluation	  process	  included	  discussions	  about	  the	  relationship	  between	  the	  State	  civil	  service	  and	  the	  Research	  Cooperation	  of	  the	  University	  of	  Hawaii	  (RCUH).	  
Martin	  noted	  that	  RCUH	  staff	  filled	  gaps	  in	  existing	  capacity	  and	  expertise.	  
Representative	  Onishi	  noted	  that	  gaps	  in	  agency	  capacity	  can	  also	  be	  addressed	  by	  legislation	  that	  allows	  for	  hiring	  of	  new	  civil	  service	  positions.	  This	  would	  increase	  efficiency	  of	  expending	  funds	  by	  decreasing	  overhead	  fees.	  Was	  encouraged	  by	  how	  much	  gets	  done	  with	  a	  small	  amount	  of	  funding;	  the	  issue	  of	  legislation	  for	  State	  capacity	  should	  continue	  to	  be	  examined.	  
c. Senator	  Gabbard	  expressed	  appreciation	  for	  the	  collective	  work	  of	  invasive	  species	  practitioners.	  
10. Adjournment	  	  (Chair	  Aila)	  	  For	  information,	  please	  contact:	  HISC	  Support	  staff:	  1151	  Punchbowl	  St,	  #325,	  Honolulu,	  HI	  96813;	  Fax:	  587-­‐0160	  Josh	  Atwood,	  Invasive	  Species	  Coordinator	  &	  HISC	  Program	  Supervisor:	  587-­‐4154,	  Joshua.P.Atwood	  [at]	  hawaii.gov	  Randy	  Bartlett,	  HISC	  Interagency	  Coordinator:	  870-­‐6443,	  Randal.T.Bartlett	  [at]	  hawaii.gov	  	  Emily	  Montgomery,	  HISC	  Planner:	  587-­‐4198,	  Emily.C.Montgomery	  [at]	  hawaii.gov