II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 927 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to partner and collaborate with 

the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address Rapid 

Ohia Death, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to partner and 

collaborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

State of Hawaii to address Rapid Ohia Death, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continued Rapid Ohia 

5 Death Response Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the fungus Ceratocystis, known as ‘‘Rapid 

2 Ohia Death’’, has killed more than 1,000,000 native 

3 trees in the State; and 

4 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

5 the Chief of the Forest Service and the Adminis6 trator of the Agricultural Research Service, has pro7 vided funding and staff— 

8 (A) to identify and detect Rapid Ohia 

9 Death; 

10 (B) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia 

11 Death; 

12 (C) to identify Ohia trees that are resist13 ant to Rapid Ohia Death; and 

14 (D) to propagate trees that are resistant to 

15 Rapid Ohia Death in order to restore the native 

16 forests of the State. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) RAPID OHIA DEATH.—The term ‘‘Rapid 

20 Ohia Death’’ means the fungus described in section 

21 2(1) that has killed more than 1,000,000 native 

22 trees in the State. 

23 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

24 of Hawaii. 


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1 SEC. 4. COLLABORATION. 

2 The Secretary of the Interior shall partner and col3 laborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State 

4 to address Rapid Ohia Death. 

5 SEC. 5. SUSTAINED EFFORTS. 

6 (a) TRANSMISSION.—The Secretary of the Interior, 

7 acting through the Director of the United States Geologi8 cal Survey, shall continue to conduct research on Rapid 

9 Ohia Death vectors and transmission. 

10 (b) UNGULATE MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary of the 

11 Interior, acting through the Director of the United States 

12 Fish and Wildlife Service, shall continue to partner with 

13 the State and with local stakeholders to manage ungulates 

14 in Rapid Ohia Death control areas on Federal, State, and 

15 private land. 

16 (c) RESTORATION AND RESEARCH.—The Secretary 

17 of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest 

18 Service, shall continue to provide— 

19 (1) financial assistance, including to the Sec20 retary of the Interior— 

21 (A) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia 

22 Death; and 

23 (B) to restore the native forests of the 

24 State; and 


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1 (2) staff and necessary infrastructure funding 

2 to the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry to con3 duct research on Rapid Ohia Death. 

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 For each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034, there 

6 is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out 

7 this Act, including for activities carried out by the Sec8 retary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, or 

9 both. 

Æ 


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