WASHINGTON — The Senate Appropriations Committee today unanimously approved $602.3 million for Hawaii-related projects, with 94 percent of the funds – nearly $565.7 million – dedicated to military construction, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye announced.
The Appropriations panel also approved $22 million for the East-West Center, and nearly $14.7 million for local agriculture initiatives. The Hawaii-related programs are contained in three funding bills for Fiscal Year 2009 that the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced to the full Senate for consideration.
“I am especially pleased that the Military Construction Appropriations Bill dedicated $21.3 million for Phase 5 construction work of Saddle Road because this project involves both public safety and national defense preparation,” said Senator Inouye, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee since January 1971. “The defense-generated traffic on the portion of Saddle Road that cuts through the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area is significant. Furthermore, Army officials have determined that the roadway needed to be realigned outside of the training area to eliminate potential problems involving military vehicles and artillery firing positions with the general public.”
Therefore, a 13-mile stretch of Saddle Road, known as Military Access Road, is designated to be moved outside of the training area. Since 2001, $67 million in federal funds has been spent on the first four phases of the Saddle Road project.
The Senate Military Construction Appropriations Bill also includes $279 million for improvements and infrastructure expansion at Schofield Barracks that will be undertaken through five projects.
In the Agriculture Appropriations Bill, the Hilo-based U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center was awarded $2 million for continued construction work, and $1,254,000 to expand its research portfolio to include the development of new postharvest processing techniques and value-added products that can help the local agriculture industry grow.
The ongoing wildlife services and brown tree snake interdiction program was earmarked for $1.1 million.
Below are the Hawaii-related initiatives that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved today.
From the Fiscal Year 2009 Military Construction Appropriations Bill:
ARMY
Pohakuloa Training Area, Big Island
Military Access Road $21,300,000
This appropriation is for Phase 5 of the Military Access Road ( Saddle Road) project. Thirteen miles of the road will be relocated from outside to outside of the training area to ensure public safety.
Schofield Barracks
Infrastructure Expansion $76,000,000
Battalion Complex $69,000,000
Brigade Complex $65,000,000
Barracks $42,000,000
Battalion Complex $27,000,000
Wahiawa
Wideband SATCOM Operations Center $40,000,000
ARMY RESERVE
Fort Shafter
Army Reserve Center $19,199,000
NAVY
Barking Sands
Advanced Radar Detection Laboratory $28,900,000
Kaneohe Bay
BEQ - Marine Corps Base Kaneohe $28,200,000
Pearl Harbor
Fitness Center $45,000,000
Sub Drive-In Magnetic FAC (INC 2) $41,088,000
Child Development Center $29,300,000
Joint Forces Deployment Staging Area FISC $5,990,000
Defense Logistics Agency, Pearl Harbor
Replace Fuel Pipeline $27,700,000
From the Fiscal Year 2009 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill:
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
East-West Center $22,000,000
The Honolulu-based center is an internationally recognized education and research organization. Through its many programs that bring together academics, researchers, and journalists, it strives to promote understanding, peace, and prosperity in the Pacific Rim.
From the Fiscal Year 2009 Department of Agriculture Appropriations Bill:
U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (PBARC)
Construction $2,000,000
This appropriation is for the construction of the second phase of PBARC in Hilo. Plans are under way to construct the office adjacent to the completed Phase 1, and the screenhouse/headhouse complex. This construction is critical since valuable lab space is being used for offices. Moreover, the current research program requires screenhouse/headhouse space
Agricultural Postharvest, Value-added Products,
and Processing Program $1,254,000
This program expands the research portfolio of PBARC. Further expansion of Hawaii’s agriculture requires the development of new postharvest processing techniques and value-added products available for the Hawaii market and for export.
Agriculture Pre-clearance Quarantine Inspections $1,750,000
This appropriation funds a program, authorized by an amendment introduced by Senator Inouye to the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, that relieves the State of Hawaii of the cost of agriculture inspections at Neighbor Island airports. Those inspections are federally mandated, and would otherwise cost the State approximately $3 million annually.
Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions $1,598,000
This funding is part of a $3,196,000 appropriation for the Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions grant program. The purpose of this program is to strengthen educational activities, including applied research and community development projects, at universities and colleges with students of Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian ancestry. In the past, grants awarded to eligible Hawaii institutions focused on activities that lead to the development of value-added agricultural products, overseas markets, and Native Hawaiian-owned production and marketing businesses.
Tropical Aquaculture Feeds $1,541,561
This project provides an opportunity to support two emerging industries in Hawaii toward reducing the state’s and region’s dependence on imports while promoting environmental sustainability. Offshore aquaculture will need to reduce feed costs to remain competitive and manage better organic pollution from its operations, while bio-fuels production will need to find ways to manage and add value to its waste stream which can be utilized as feed ingredients.
Wildlife Services and Brown Tree Snake Interdiction $1,100,000
These funds will be used to continue the operation of a State Wildlife Services Office in Hawaii, which provides on-site coordination of activities to control pests and diseases in Hawaii and the American Pacific, including efforts to control the brown tree snake and the coqui frog.
Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research $800,000
This funding will be used to continue agriculture research programs that are applicable to growers in tropical and subtropical regions. The program specializes in methods to prevent and control invasive alien species, with the ultimate goal of lowering quarantine requirements. This goal is a priority for Pacific and Caribbean farmers because quarantine is one of their most significant trade barriers.
Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC) $677,000
HARC focuses on improving the efficiency of sugarcane production, developing new products from sugarcane, and supporting the expansion of diversified agriculture in Hawaii. HARC’s ongoing projects include completing the genetic fingerprinting for coffee, pineapple, macadamia nuts, and papaya; identifying the genes responsible for fungal resistance in papaya; and supporting a sugarcane breeding program.
Multi-species Fruit Fly Facility $500,000
The funds will be used for the design for a multi-species fruit fly breeding facility in Waimanalo , and to conduct an environmental impact statement. Fruit-fly rearing is crucial to any long-term control strategy imperative for a thriving agricultural industry.
Varroa Mite Suppression to Ensure National
and Global Pollination Capacity $500,000
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has devastated bee keepers on the mainland, and is severely limiting the supply of bees to those commercial crops requiring bee pollination. If CCD were to become established in Hawaii, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture estimates that the damage the commercial bee industry and subsequent impact on farmers requiring pollination bees would be more than $140 million. The varroa mite severely weakens bees, is widespread on the mainland, and may be an important contributing factor to CCD. In recent years, even more catastrophic damage has been averted because the Big Island is free of varroa mite, and is a major supplier of queen bees to mainland bee keepers. The largest U.S. supplier of queen bees is in Kona on Big Island. In April 2007, however, varroa mite was discovered in four abandoned bee hives on Oahu, and surveys have shown that the varroa mite is widespread on Oahu, but not yet detected on the Neighbor Islands. The appropriation will be used to initiate a plan that would: 1) suppress the varroa mite on Oahu; 2) trap honey bees at ports to prevent the spread of mite infested honey bees to neighboring islands; 3) monitor for early infestation of varroa mites on neighboring islands; 4) develop an eradication program should varroa mites be detected on the Neighbor Islands; and 5) establish a packaged bee program to replace infested and collapsed bee hives on Oahu.
Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations $412,000
This initiative will continue to assist approved projects designed to increase water storage capacity, efficiency of delivery systems, and water conservation in Hawaii. Lower Hamakua Ditch Watershed, and Upcountry Maui Watershed will each receive $206,000.
Agricultural Development and Resource Conservation $400,000
Funds would be used to continue this successful statewide agricultural development and resource conservation program. The program was initiated on Molokai and has been used to support agriculture development in the Molokai Hawaiian homestead community. It includes intensive training sessions to instill in new entrepreneurs the skills necessary for establishing and sustaining new agriculture-related businesses. This amount would be divided between the Counties of Kauai, Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii.
Agricultural Development in the American Pacific $372,000
This program addresses common Pacific island-based agriculture and community issues through cooperative research, extension, and instruction programs that are culturally appropriate, socially acceptable, economically viable, and environmentally compatible. The program’s objective is to help Pacific region residents live healthier and more productive lives by further developing their agricultural skills and knowledge.
Pineapple Nematode Control $284,000
The appropriation is for the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center to conduct research leading to nematode resistance, flowering control, and mealy bug wilt disease resistance in commercial pineapple varieties, and to expand the techniques and knowledge obtained from this program to create disease and pest resistance in other tropical crops.
Hawaii Floriculture Industry Development $259,000
These funds will be used to support industry-directed research projects to develop new varieties of tropical flowers with unique appearances, that are disease resistant, and have longer shelf lives. These characteristics are critical to the floriculture industry’s ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Papaya Ringspot Virus $252,000
There are other Hawaiian varieties of papaya, susceptible to Papaya Ringspot Virus, which would benefit from the insertion of the resistance gene into these fruit. To broaden the variety of resistant papaya, it is critical that continued research be conducted to identify new methods of securing disease resistance without compromising marketability. In addition, there are other threats on the horizon for the papaya industry such as the discovery of the papaya mealybug on Maui in 2004 and the impact of white peach scale on papaya that threaten the viability of the Hawaii papaya industry. Research is needed to continue to support both the expansion of the ringspot virus resistance and to address these new threats.
Minor Crop Pest Control $239,000
This research program focuses on Hawaii’s important horticultural crops, all of which are classified as minor crops. While the program has not been limited to pest and disease problems of fruit and nut crops, tropical fruits are viewed as offering considerable export potential as well as import replacement to Hawaii if management techniques can be developed for major pest and disease problems. The funds will be used by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources to continue developing environmentally compatible methods to control pests and diseases in small-scale tropical and subtropical crops.
Non-toxic Fruit Fly Control $211,000
The objective of this project is to develop and evaluate non-toxic, environmentally suitable, and publicly acceptable technologies and processes for fruit fly control to reduce pest impacts in Hawaii to allow the interstate and international movement of Hawaii agricultural products. Tephritid fruit flies in Hawaii, Mediterranean fruit fly, oriental fruit fly, melon fly and solanaceous fruit fly, spend their entire immature stages feeding and growing in one of more than 200 varieties of fruits. They are responsible for direct crop damage and economic losses as well as seriously hindering the expansion and diversification of tropical/subtropical agricultural systems. In Hawaii and other American affiliated islands of the Pacific, the presence of fruit flies is considered a major obstacle to the expansion of agriculture through export.
Rodent Control $172,000
This funding supports the continuing effort for rodent control and for developing control methods for the rapidly increasing vertebrate pest populations in Hawaii.
Women in Technology $150,000
This is a technical assistance and workforce training project designed to assist small businesses on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai in the recruitment of women and minorities, groups that are under represented in technology-related careers.
Hawaii Plant Material Center $113,000
These funds will enable the Hawaii Plant Materials Center to expand its seed production, continue seed production training in the community, and increase seed deliveries to the Island of Kahoolawe. The Center propagates native plants with the dual objective of supporting the federal cleanup and re-vegetation of Kahoolawe, and establishing economically competitive native plant nurseries. The Center’s achievements include developing a 20-acre nursery on Molokai.
Molokai Agriculture Development and Resource Conservation $71,000
This program has evolved from attention to individual enterprises into focusing projects designed to improve the agriculture infrastructure on Molokai, which is a predominantly Native Hawaiian community. The goal of this initiative is sustainable economic development through improvements in the natural resources infrastructure including, but not limited to, water, water reuse, and restoration of mono-cropped lands.
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