The state House Committee on Agriculture wrapped its first hearing Friday, clearing several bills that directly impact Hawaii Island.
State Rep. Richard Creagan (D- South Kona, Ka‘u) chairs the committee. The vice-chair is District 13 Rep. Lynn DeCoite.
Among the bills that passed was a measure (House Bill 96) to allow the state Board of Agriculture to regulate a new industrial hemp industry in the state. HB 96 passed with amendments, with several providing written comments stating that any regulations for industrial hemp would still have to comply with federal policy. Under federal law, industrial hemp can only be grown in the context of an agricultural research program.
The hemp bill has also been referred to the House Committees on Finance and Judiciary, but no hearing dates have been scheduled.
The committee also cleared a bill that has been introduced during each session for “at least 12 years,” according to Rep. Cindy Evans. That bill creates a new standard for labeling geographic origin of beans in coffee blends.
Under the current standard, a blend can be labeled as being from a given region — for example, Kona — as long as it has a minimum of 10 percent beans from the area. The label must state percentage by weight.
The policy has led to an ongoing debate about whether the 10 percent standard lowers the Kona reputation for quality.
“There’s a pushback between the very small growers who have their own private label and sell it (at 100 percent) versus the very large commercialized sellers of coffee in the grocery store that use 10 percent,” Evans said.
House Bill 256 would change the minimum standard for blends to 51 percent. The new bill was authored by Creagan, who could not be reached by press time.
Testimony in opposition to HB 256 noted that the existing rules were enough to prevent consumer misinformation.
“The Legislature and the State Department of Agriculture did a good job years ago by providing this very clear way of disclosure,” wrote Daniel Dinell, president of the Hawaii Coffee Company.
The bill was also referred to the Consumer Protection and Commerce committee, but no hearing has been scheduled.
The Agriculture committee also passed a measure extending the sunset date for a program allowing coffee growers to access pesticide treatment to combat coffee berry borer, and a measure to provide funding to the University of Hawaii at Hilo for rat lungworm disease research. No dollar amount for the funding has been set.
Two bills were deferred: one that would allow sales of unpasteurized milk in certain circumstances, and one that would transfer some types of agricultural land to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or the Department of Hawaiian Homelands.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
