HI HR57

Requests the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management investigate techniques to eliminate mosquitoes from Hawaii.

Directs the University to estimate the cost of establishing a statewide mosquito eradication program and assess expected environmental impacts.

Requires submission of findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the start of the 2018 Regular Session.

Acknowledges that mosquitoes are an invasive species introduced in the late 1800s that vector diseases, threaten native birds through avian malaria transmission, and are expanding to higher altitudes as climate warms.

Notes that genetically-engineered mosquito techniques have been developed and tested in multiple regions worldwide to disrupt breeding and reproduction cycles.