SB 2174 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Summary

Authorizes the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to quarantine any business or other area that is known or reasonably suspected to be infested or infected with any pest. Authorizes the Department to establish interim rules governing the transportation of any material into and within the State known to harbor or transport a high-impact invasive species or pest. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Mar 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB2174_SD1 → SB2174_SD2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill version updates administrative metadata, including the sponsor name, page numbers, and legislative session dates. It also refines the legal text regarding pest control, clarifying that quarantine rules must be adopted via formal chapter 91 procedures and adjusting the criteria for quarantining businesses and destroying infested materials to ensure stricter adherence to eradication standards.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope regarding pest control remains largely the same, but the legal requirements for establishing compensation mechanisms and quarantine rules have been clarified to mandate formal rulemaking processes.

TIMELINE

Updated the legislative session dates from February 2026 to March 2026 and changed the sponsor from Margaret McGary to Adam Weiss.

REQUIREMENT

Clarified that the department must adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to establish a compensation mechanism for farmers affected by emergency quarantines.

Adjusted the language for quarantining businesses to remove redundant phrasing regarding 'reports' and 'proximity' to streamline the criteria for restricting movement of pests.

Refined the destruction clause for infested articles to change 'of the nature' to 'a nature', ensuring consistent grammatical structure in the statute.

Updated the bill's summary description to reflect the new session version (SD2) instead of SD1.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 24, 2026

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1396-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Mar 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; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Matsumoto; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to AGR, JHA, referral sheet 17

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 187) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) DeCoite. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-27-26 10:30AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC.

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2490) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Richards ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) DeCoite.

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-13-26 3:10PM; CR 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to AEN, JDC.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 14, 2026

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

9 primary · 0 co-sponsors