S.C.R. No. 155 Summary

• Urges all applicable Hawaii state agencies to coordinate with stakeholders, including the Honolulu Harbor Users Group, to assess risks of aquatic invasive species, their vectors, and mitigation strategies ahead of new federal standards by 2022.

• Identifies vessel ballast water and biofouling as primary vectors for introducing invasive species to Hawaii's marine environment, accounting for more than half of all non-native marine and estuarine species.

• References the federal Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), signed December 4, 2018, which requires the EPA and U.S. Coast Guard to establish federal standards and regulations within four years for vessel discharges including ballast water, biofouling, and hull cleaning.

• Requests the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Transportation Harbors Division submit reports on their findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the regular sessions of 2020, 2021, and 2022.

• Notes Hawaii's tourism, aquaculture, and fisheries industries generate approximately $4 billion in annual gross revenue and depend on healthy marine environments.