HB 2497 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO BIOSECURITY.

Summary

Clarifies that the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and the counties, including officers, employees, and authorized agents of the Department and counties, shall not be liable for costs relating to the entering of private property to control or eradicate pests. Requires the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to establish a working group that comprises signatories of the biosecurity government-industry agreements for joint-decision making. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Feb 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2497 → HB2497_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to shift liability protections from private industry partners to the government agencies (Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and counties) entering private property to control pests. Additionally, the effective date of the law was changed from immediate approval to a distant future date of July 1, 3000.

Scope change

The scope of liability protection was expanded to explicitly cover government officers and employees entering private property, whereas the original version focused on protecting private industries from liability when performing response activities.

ENFORCEMENT

Replaced liability protection for private industries with liability protection for government departments and counties when entering private property to control pests.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new statutory section (141-3.6) detailing the notice requirements and legal procedures for government entry onto private property for pest control.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the Act from immediate approval to July 1, 3000.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 593-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Chun, Kusch, Kahaloa, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to AGR, JHA, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors