I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3468

To recognize the unique ecosystems of the Hawaiian islands and the threat 

to these ecosystems posed by non-native plants, animals, and plant and 

animal diseases, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to expand Federal efforts to prevent the introduction 

in Hawaii of non-native plants, animals, and plant and animal diseases, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2005

Mr. CASE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To recognize the unique ecosystems of the Hawaiian islands 

and the threat to these ecosystems posed by non-native 

plants, animals, and plant and animal diseases, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior to expand Federal efforts to prevent the 

introduction in Hawaii of non-native plants, animals, and 

plant and animal diseases, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hawaii Invasive Spe3 cies Prevention Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The uniqueness of the Hawaiian islands lies 

7 in part due to their isolation from continental 

8 landmasses, their great topographic and climatic di9 versity, and the intervals between natural coloniza10 tion (colonization without human assistance) of the 

11 Hawaiian islands by new plant or animal species, 

12 which have been on the order of thousands of years. 

13 (2) The resulting evolution in isolation over 

14 time has often led to the generation of species en15 tirely unique to particular islands and found no16 where else, and such isolation also often meant the 

17 absence of natural predatory or competitive species. 

18 (3) The natural geographic isolation of the Ha19 waiian islands is no match for the advancement of 

20 human activities, including transportation and global 

21 commerce, and native biota and ecosystems are 

22 being overwhelmed by the introduction and estab23 lishment of non-native plant and animal species and 

24 plant and animal diseases associated with such spe25 cies. 
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1 (4) More than 5,000 species of non-native 

2 plants and animals have become established in the 

3 Hawaiian islands in the past 200 years, which rep4 resents a rate of successful colonization of new spe5 cies every 18 days. 

6 (5) Although not all new species introductions 

7 alter ecosystem function and structure, damage agri8 culture, or cause human health or other safety haz9 ards, the introduction of invasive species to the Ha10 waiian islands has resulted in the extinction of na11 tive species, the destruction of native forests, and 

12 the spread of disease and costs the State of Hawaii 

13 millions of dollars in crop losses. 

14 (6) For example, Miconia calvescens, an aggres15 sive weedy tree from South America, has established 

16 itself in Hawaii and threatens Hawaii’s tropical for17 ests and the watersheds those forests support, and 

18 the resulting decreased water infiltration in just two 

19 of Hawaii’s priority watersheds could amount to ad20 ditional water costs of $13 million annually. 

21 (7) Just one new invasive species, such as the 

22 the brown tree snake, could change the very char23 acter of the Hawaiian islands. In addition to its dev24 astating impacts on fragile native bird populations, 

25 the venomous brown tree snake poses a public health 
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1 risk because it bites people and pets, threatens poul2 try farms because it feeds on chickens and eggs, and 

3 presents the risk of dangerous and costly power out4 ages because it climbs electrical lines causing short 

5 circuits in power supply. 

6 (8) Although Congress responded to the danger 

7 of the brown tree snake by enacting the Brown Tree 

8 Snake Control and Eradication Act of 2004 (Public 

9 Law 108–384; 7 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.), many more 

10 invasive species, including fire ants and West Nile 

11 Virus, threaten to invade Hawaii and cause further 

12 environmental and economic damage. 

13 (9) The current Federal statutory and regu14 latory regime is not sufficient to minimize the intro15 duction of invasive species into Hawaii and the envi16 ronmental, economic, and social harm that would re17 sult from the introduction of additional invasive spe18 cies. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) DISEASE.—The term ‘‘disease’’ means any 

22 living stage of a bacterium, a fungus, a virus or 

23 viroid, an infectious agent or other pathogen, or any 

24 other article similar to or allied with any of these 

25 specified articles, that can directly or indirectly 
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1 cause economic or environmental harm or harm to 

2 human health. 

3 (2) INTRODUCTION.—The terms ‘‘introduce’’ 

4 and ‘‘introduction’’ refer to the intentional or unin5 tentional dissemination, placement, release, or es6 cape of a species as a result of human activity out7 side of the range where the species is commonly 

8 found. 

9 (3) INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘invasive 

10 species’’ means any species, including its seeds, eggs, 

11 spores, or other biological material capable of propa12 gating that species, whose introduction does or is 

13 likely to cause economic or environmental harm or 

14 harm to human health. 

15 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary con16 cerned’’ means—

17 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re18 spect to matters under the jurisdiction of the 

19 Department of the Interior; and 

20 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re21 spect to matters under the jurisdiction of the 

22 Department of Agriculture. 

23 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

24 means both the Secretary of the Interior and the 

25 Secretary of Agriculture. 
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1 (6) SPECIES.—The term ‘‘species’’ means a 

2 group of organisms all of which have a high degree 

3 of physical and genetic similarity, generally 

4 interbreed only among themselves, and show per5 sistent differences from members of allied groups of 

6 organisms. 

7 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY REGARDING FEDERAL OB8 LIGATIONS RELATED TO PREVENTING THE 

9 INTRODUCTION OF INVASIVE SPECIES IN HA10 WAII. 

11 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that there exists a need for improved and better co13 ordinated control, interdiction, and eradication of invasive 

14 species and diseases on the part of the United States and 

15 other interested parties to prevent the introduction or 

16 spread of invasive species or diseases in Hawaii. 

17 (b) UNITED STATES POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

18 United States to fund and support coordinated and con19 certed programs and activities to control, interdict, and 

20 prevent the introduction or spread of invasive species and 

21 diseases in Hawaii. 

22 (c) PREVENTING INTRODUCTION.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of law, to the extent practicable, no 

24 Federal agency may authorize, fund, or carry out any ac25 tion that would likely cause or promote the introduction 
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1 or spread of invasive species and diseases in Hawaii. All 

2 Federal agencies shall consider invasive species and dis3 ease issues, to the extent possible, when planning any ac4 tivity that may cause the accidental introduction of 

5 invasive species and diseases in Hawaii. 

6 SEC. 5. LEGAL MECHANISMS TO CONTROL THE INTRODUC7 TION AND SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES OR 

8 DISEASES IN HAWAII. 

9 (a) IMPOSITION OF QUARANTINE.—Using the au10 thorities available to the Secretary concerned under sec11 tion 412 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7712), sec12 tion 10406 of the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 

13 8305), section 42 of title 18, United States Code, section 

14 3015 of title 39, United States Code, the Alien Species 

15 Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992 (section 631 of 

16 Public Law 102–393; 39 U.S.C. 3015 note), section 3 of 

17 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372), 

18 and the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and 

19 Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4702 et seq.), the Secre20 taries shall impose a quarantine on the State of Hawaii 

21 to prevent the introduction of invasive species and diseases 

22 in Hawaii. 

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM OF QUARANTINE

24 PROTOCOLS.—
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1 (1) RULEMAKING.—Not later than two years 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retaries shall issue rules regarding the establishment 

4 of a system of post-arrival quarantine protocols for 

5 all persons, baggage, cargo, containers, packing ma6 terials, and other items travelling or being shipped 

7 to Hawaii from domestic and foreign locations. 

8 (2) FUNDING SOURCE FOR REGULATIONS.—The 

9 Secretaries shall use funds otherwise available for 

10 the operation of the Department of Agriculture and 

11 the Department of the Interior to issue the rules re12 quired by paragraph (1). 

13 (3) CONDITIONS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF

14 QUARANTINE PROTOCOLS.—The system of post-ar15 rival quarantine protocols established by rulemaking 

16 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be operated at Fed17 eral expense and, as a result, may not be imple18 mented until—

19 (A) funds are specifically appropriated for 

20 the implementation of the system; or 

21 (B) a means of financing the system is 

22 specifically designated. 

23 (c) USE OF FEDERAL OFFICIALS TO ASSIST STATE

24 AND LOCAL EFFORTS.—Federal quarantine, natural re25 source, conservation, and law enforcement officers and in-
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1 spectors may enforce State and local laws of Hawaii re2 garding the importation, possession, or introduction of 

3 invasive species or diseases. 

4 (d) COOPERATION.—The activities described in this 

5 section shall be carried out in cooperation with the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, 

7 the Secretary of the Treasury, the government of Hawaii, 

8 and each of their respective quarantine, natural resource, 

9 conservation, and law enforcement agencies and officers, 

10 as appropriate. 

11 (e) ADDITIONAL STATE AND LOCAL EFFORTS.—

12 (1) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF STATE AND

13 LOCAL CONTROL PROPOSALS.—Not later than two 

14 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Secretaries shall establish an expedited process for 

16 the State of Hawaii and its political subdivisions to 

17 seek the approval of the Secretaries to impose gen18 eral or specific prohibitions or restrictions upon the 

19 introduction or movement of invasive species or dis20 eases from domestic or foreign locations to Hawaii 

21 that are in addition to any prohibitions or restric22 tions imposed by the Secretaries. 

23 (2) RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY THREATS.—In 

24 the event of an emergency or imminent threat from 

25 an invasive species or disease, the State of Hawaii 
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1 may impose, for not longer than two years pending 

2 approval by the Secretaries under paragraph (1), 

3 general or specific prohibitions or restrictions upon 

4 the introduction or movement of that invasive spe5 cies or disease that are in addition to the prohibi6 tions or restrictions imposed by the Secretaries. 

7 (3) FUNDING SOURCE.—The Secretaries shall 

8 use funds otherwise available for the operation of 

9 the Department of Agriculture and the Department 

10 of the Interior to carry out this subsection. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec13 retary concerned to carry out this Act for fiscal years 2007 

14 through 2011 such sums as may be necessary.

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