45 



pays approach to inspections, risk assessments and violations 

 would be appropriate here, and both are already starting to be im- 

 plemented by APHIS. 



It seems that a number of the other ways that they approach the 

 problem are possibilities, but are more Hkely to engender signifi- 

 cant disagreement m this country. For example, they have detailed 

 national standards for the introduction of animals, and they also 

 provide for bonding for having funds on hand in case those animals 

 escape and cause harm. In this country, the States are far more re- 

 sponsible for fish and wildlife and such animal introductions than 

 the Federal Government, so that might not be appropriate. 



New Zealand also intensively inspects arriving passengers and 

 cargo and baggage and conducts random checks to see how effec- 

 tively they are detecting things. I know that that is a subject that 

 is often considered here, and there is concern that we would be 

 slowing the arrival of passengers and slowing trade unacceptably 

 if we were to pursue that area as aggressively as New Zealand. 



Senator Akaka. The OTA report contains case studies on alien 

 pest problems in Hawaii and Florida. Both of these States have de- 

 veloped novel responses in an effort to combat exotic pests. In your 

 report on page 223, you State that the efforts of Hawaii and Flor- 

 ida are worthy of attention because they provide lessons for other 

 parts of the United States. Would you please highlight some of 

 these lessons? 



Ms. WiNDLE. Well, they certainly illustrate that what we lose 

 due to non-indigenous species is ofl;en uniqueness. Whether it is 

 the Florida Everglades or whether it is the unusual plant and ani- 

 mal hfe in Hawaii and nowhere else in the country, we lose things 

 that are unusual, unique and not available elsewhere. 



We have also seen in those states that the greatest threats are 

 to natural areas and that any place that is a transportation hub 

 and a tourist destination provides a major route for entry of orga- 

 nisms and a way that they can spread further within the country. 



The policy options that OTA suggested in many ways also reflect 

 the lessons that we have learned in those States. That includes the 

 need to coordinate Federal and State approaches, to make those 

 who are responsible for harm more likely to pay for it, and making 

 sure that agricultural and natural areas are better protected. Pub- 

 lic education, of course, has been a major effort in Hawaii and Flor- 

 ida, and we see some of the benefits of that that could be applied 

 elsewhere. 



Senator Akaka. APHIS is proposing comprehensive regulations 

 governing the introduction of non-indigenous plant pests. The agen- 

 cy will also propose to consolidate and streamline plant and animal 

 quarantine laws. After these changes are accomplished, what gaps 

 will remain that allow the entry of economically or environmentally 

 harmful non-indigenous species? 



Ms. WiNDLE. We have seen their proposed consolidation of a cou- 

 ple of years ago, but I haven't seen the most recent proposal, so I 

 can't be very specific. My concern, as we have expressed it in our 

 report, would be that there might be gaps that relate to areas in 

 which APHIS has not been very interested in pursuing efforts in 

 the past. These are the problems in natural arsas, places where ag- 

 ricultural pests are also human health pests, and it would behoove 



