U.S. House Appropriation Committee Approves $3.3 Million in Hirono Requests in Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai’i) announces the approval of several of her highest priority requests in the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill by the House Appropriations Committee.
The $3.3 million worth of requests includes funding to implement a recovery plan for the critically endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal, a program to assist children of prisoners, a study of the effect of pollution from septic systems and cesspools on Maui’s coral reefs; and assistance from the University of Hawai’i’s Sea Grant Program to Hawai’i County for enhanced coastal protection and public safety. (Details of these requests are provided below)
“Funding these projects is crucial to the preservation and well-being of our fragile island environment. The Committee also addressed the special needs of children whose parents are in prison by supporting a Hawaii-based program that supports at-risk children while strengthening prisoners’ motivation to avoid criminal behavior in the future,” said Hirono. “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the members of the House Appropriations Committee for their careful consideration of my requests.”
On funding for Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan:
“The Appropriations Committee clearly recognized the Hawaiian Monk Seal is one of the world’s most endangered marine species. I am pleased the Committee also acknowledged that the National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t provided the kind of funding needed to properly protect the Hawaiian Monk Seal and set aside the necessary funds to help support recovery of the seal population.”
On funding for Supporting Keiki Incarcerated Parents (SKIP):
“SKIP is an example of an innovative program that gives offenders a real second chance at becoming productive citizens with the help of their own children. This appropriation boosts a project that strikes a balance between serving justice and the effort to keep offenders from repeating their crimes. This rehabilitation program will save taxpayer dollars in the long term.”
On funding for a Maui Coral Reef Preservation and Restoration Study:
“This is the International Year of the Reef. Three decades ago, the coral reefs at Ma’alaea were healthy with diverse and rare species. Today, the reefs are badly degraded after being overrun by algae and pollutants. Funding this preservation and restoration study will aid policymakers, researchers, and scientists in reversing the damage to the reefs.”
On funding for County of Hawai’i Coastal Land Use Extension Project:
“Growing development on the Big Island has put added pressure on its coastline. This funding will help answer the concerns by Big Island communities who are unsure how increased development will affect shoreline access and the pristine quality of their island’s coasts.”
Project Descriptions
$2.8 million for Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan Implementation
The Committee provided $9 million above the president’s request for the Hawaiian Monk Seal, the Hawaiian Sea Turtle, the Bottlenose Dolphin, and Section 6 Endangered Species Act grants to the States. Of this amount, it is expected that at least $2 million of these funds will be allocated to the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan, which is in addition to the $850,000 included in the president’s request. The Committee went on to note that, “The Hawaiian Monk Seal may be one of the world’s most endangered marine species and the Committee is concerned that the agency (National Marine Fisheries Service) has not provided adequate funding to reverse this decline.”
Congresswoman Hirono requested a specific earmark for this funding but was pleased when it was included instead as programmatic funding as that will help ensure ongoing support for this vital program.
The total population of critically endangered monk seals is between 900 and 1,200 individuals and the population is in rapid decline (4 percent a year over the past 20 years). The entire population of this seal species is within the United States, principally in the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Delay in implementation of the recovery plan, which focuses on improving the survival rate of pups and juveniles, will make stabilizing the population of this important species far more difficult.
Hawaiian monk seals, together with the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal, are the last surviving species of the subfamily of tropical seals. The Caribbean Monk Seal was recently declared extinct. Monk seals are also sometimes referred to as "living fossils" because as the oldest living members of the pinniped order they have remained virtually unchanged for 15 million years.
$200,000 for Supporting Keiki of Incarcerated Parents (SKIP)
SKIP is an effective re-entry program that creatively helps to establish vital relationships between offenders and their children. Research indicates that nurturing relationships are critical to an offender’s successful re-entry into the community. Successful re-entry reduces both criminality among offenders and prison overcrowding in the long term.
SKIP assists offenders in becoming real parents for their keiki. The program provides children with the opportunity to avoid the path that their parents took – a path that led to a life of crime and eventually, imprisonment. Children of incarcerated parents are six times more likely to commit crimes when they grow up. Moreover, the physical and emotional separation from their parents leads to depression, aggression, poor school performance, truancy, and economic deprivation.
SKIP was initially implemented at the Waiawa Correctional Facility in the fall of 2003. The program has since been implemented at the following facilities: Maui Community Correctional Center, the Women’s Community Correctional Center on Oahu, and the Kauai Community Correctional Center. The secured funding will be used to support the further expansion of the SKIP program at additional correctional facilities throughout our islands.
Congresswoman Hirono learned about this program from a newspaper article on the Kauai Community Correctional Center and had her staff follow up to see if the program was adequately funded.
$185,000 for Maui Coral Reef Preservation and Restoration
In 1972, Ma’alaea coral reefs were described as being “striking in their diversity and in the presence of rare coral species.” In just a few decades, the Ma’alaea reef has been transformed from a healthy and diverse coral reef ecosystem to a badly degraded habitat overgrown by algae and with little surviving coral. The Committee provided $185,000 to study the effect of pollution from septic and cesspool systems on the Ma’alaea reef system of the island of Maui.
The State of Hawaii spends some $100,000 a year in cleaning up the 20,000 pounds of algae that wash up on beaches in nearby Kihei every week. The study will result in a report describing and evaluating various sources of point and non-point pollution affecting the Ma’alaea reef region and recommendations on steps needed to reverse the degradation of the coral reef system.
Earlier this year, Congresswoman Hirono reached out to all elected officials in Hawai’i’s 2nd Congressional District (all Hawai’i, except for urban Honolulu) to ask about their priorities for federal funding in fiscal year 2009. Councilmember Michelle Anderson, who represents South Maui, asked Congresswoman Hirono to seek the funding for this project.
$115,000 for the County of Hawai’i Coastal Land Use Extension Project
The University of Hawai’i’s Sea Grant Program will assist the County of Hawai’i in devising strategies for improved protection of coastal natural resources and minimization of risks to human lives and safety on the Big Island. In recent years, development pressure on the coast of the Big Island has increased, bringing with it a growing concern by local communities that seek to ensure preservation of both shoreline access and the exceptional quality of the island’s coastal natural resources.
Effective management of the Big Island’s coastal resources requires a collaborative effort integrating the science of coastal processes and hazards, community input, public education, and a strong planning and management framework. The University of Hawai’i Sea Grant College Program will provide technical assistance to county officials and coastal homeowners to achieve project goals to (1) identify areas threatened by coastal and bluff erosion, sea-level rise, and other coastal hazards; (2) improve public and government agency awareness of coastal processes and promote protection of coastal resources in conjunction with county and state land use regulations and private property rights; (3) improve the safety of inhabitants of coastal structures and minimize impacts to coastal resources for new developments or redevelopments; (4) improve regional and community management of coastal resources and coastal hazards; and (5) work with government agencies and community groups to design and implement coastal system preservation projects and enhance stewardship of coastal ecosystems.
The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill will likely be considered on the House floor in July.
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