{"id":8131,"date":"2015-05-31T19:21:15","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T19:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=8131"},"modified":"2015-05-31T19:41:10","modified_gmt":"2015-05-31T19:41:10","slug":"quarantine-rule-for-ohia-fungus-not-likely-to-happen-anytime-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=8131","title":{"rendered":"Quarantine Rule for `Ohi`a Fungus\u00a0Not Likely to Happen Anytime Soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"June<\/a><\/p>\n

The rapid spread of the fungus <\/i>killing `ohi`a on the Big Island is scary enough. The prospect that it could take down `ohi`a on other islands is a nightmare.<\/p>\n

How to stop it at the shores of Hawai`i island was the question on the minds of most members of the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species when it met last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we have enough information to try to work on some sort of emergency rule?\u201d asked Christy Martin, CGAPS director. \u201cProbably not is my guess,\u201d she said, answering her own question.<\/p>\n

An emergency rule from the Plant Quarantine Branch of the state Department of Agriculture (DOA) could put a ban on the shipment of `ohi`a \u2013 seedlings for nursery stock, logs for firewood, and all other `ohi`a products \u2013 from Hawai`i island to other sites within the state.<\/p>\n

Amy Takahashi, the acting manager of Plant Quarantine, was asked to tell the group what kind of information would be needed before such an inter-island quarantine could be effected.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlant Quarantine is responsible for setting up emergency rules to place restrictions on the movement of `ohi`a as well as other known hosts,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we need to have the science to back it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, she said, \u201cwe have to have an option for treatment. We can\u2019t put a total ban on the transfer. \u2026 There needs to be a way for these commodities to move or of saying that certain items will be low risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to finding a treatment, knowing how the fungus, Ceratocystis fimbriata,<\/i> is spread, identifying its possible hosts (in addition to `ohi`a), and determining its longevity in dead wood were all mentioned as areas of research that would need to be addressed before an emergency rule could be put into place.<\/p>\n

Later in the meeting, however, Takahashi was challenged on her insistence that treatment options had to be available before a quarantine could be imposed.<\/p>\n

During the discussion of the coconut rhinocerous beetle, which so far has been found only on O`ahu, Springer Kaye of the Big Island Invasive Species Committee said that Neil Reimer, acting administrator of the DOA\u2019s Plant Industry Division, had promised that a rule addressing the beetle would be issued soon. In the meantime, she was concerned, she said, that a business on O`ahu was continuing to ship mulch to Lana`i \u2013 mulch that could easily be hiding beetle eggs or larvae.<\/p>\n

Chris Kishimoto, an entomologist with the DOA, responded. \u201cOne of the main reasons why it\u2019s not going through the interim rule process is because right now we have no treatments. We can\u2019t prohibit the movement of a commodity just because there\u2019s a pest. We have to have treatment options to allow those commodities to move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of a rule, he continued, \u201cwe\u2019re looking at doing compliance agreements and hope we\u2019ll have that ability in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaye was not satisfied. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no way to screen mulch in any that\u2019s at all effective. I want to state my strong protest on this idea that we\u2019re delaying something. I disagree with the decision to not quarantine what we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teya Penniman of the Maui Invasive Species Committee followed up with a challenge on the very claim that a treatment option has to be available before an emergency rule can be implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat statute says there has to be a treatment option?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Takahashi\u2019s reply took many in the room aback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no requirement that says you have to have it,\u201d she said. When the DOA takes a proposed rule to public hearings, she said, \u201cwhat we find out, even though there\u2019s good science that says we need to restrict the movement of pests, the other side is, we need to have businesses be able to move their items as needed. \u2026 Treatment with chemicals, fumigation, even heat treatment, to minimize infestation and allowing [goods] to move has always been a practice for us before we establish interim or permanent rules. So it\u2019s just a practice, not policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, `Ohi`a Rust Rule Waits<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It has been ten years and counting since Puccinia psidii<\/i> was first identified as a threat to `ohi`a. In February, the Board of Agriculture voted to allow a permanent ban on imports of potential carriers of this rust, meaning that the department could now take the rule to public hearings.<\/p>\n

At the CGAPS meeting, Takahashi updated the group on the timeline for adopting a final rule. \u201cWe need to go to the board in June, \u2026 do amendments, followed by governor approval. Then hearings, probably in the summertime, finalize it in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Patricia Tummons<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rapid spread of the fungus killing `ohi`a on the Big Island is scary enough. The prospect that it could take down `ohi`a on other islands is a nightmare. How to stop it at the shores of Hawai`i island was … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,386],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-8131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-invasives","category-june-2015","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}