\ f ~LE COPY DAVlDY.aGE PHVUJS SHJMASUKURO-GEISEi! Ga11emcr Chairper.an. Soar,d ofA_g liioultuf!! JOSHGRE.E.N MORR.IS !M. ATTA U Gwemor Oe,p!J!y to abe Chal!]person Stale .of Hawaii OE?ARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 'l42B Sw.h King Street .Hcr,Dlli.l!J, :Hawai; 95814-2512 \Rt"C!te (llOBJ ;73,9500 fA)( (803) 973-S613 December 13, 2019 Director Office of Environmental Quality Control Department of Health, State of Hawaii 235 S. Beretania Street, Room 702 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Dear Director: With this letter, the Hawaii Department Agriculture hereby transmits the Draft Environmental Assessment and Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact (DEA-AFONSI) for the Proposed Statewide Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens Prinsloo & Kelly (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) for publication in the next available edition of The Environmental Notice. Enclosed is a completed OEQC Publication Form, two copies of the DEA-AFONSI, an Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the same, and an eiectronic copy of the publication form in MS Word. Simultaneous with this letter, we have submitted the summary of the action in a text file by electronic mail to your office. If there are any questions, please contact Christopher Kishimoto, Plant Quarantine Branch Entomologist at: (808) 832-0581 or Christopher.M.Kishimoto@hawaii.gov. Sincerely, an Ho Manager uarantine Branch Enclosures: 1. OEQC Publication Form (Agency) 2. Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Statewide Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens Prinsloo & Kelly (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) 20-164 Office of Environmental Quality Control February 2016 Revision AGENCY PUBLICATION FORM Project Name: Proposed Statewide Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp (Quadrastichus erythrinae) Project Short Name: Erythrina Gall Wasp Biological Control DEA HRS §343-5 Trigger(s): (1) Propose the use of state or county lands or the use of state or county funds Island(s): Statewide Judicial District(s): N/A – Statewide TMK(s): N/A Permit(s)/Approval(s): USDA-APHIS-PPQ and Board of Agriculture (HDOA Plant Quarantine Branch) Proposing/Determining State of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture Agency: Contact Name, Email, Darcy Oishi; darcy.e.oishi@hawaii.gov; (808) 973-9524; 1428 South King Street Honolulu, Hawaiʻi Telephone, Address 96814 Accepting Authority: (for EIS submittals only) Contact Name, Email, Telephone, Address Consultant: SWCA Environmental Consultants Contact Name, Email, Danielle Frohlich; DFrohlich@swca.com; (808) 548-7922; 307a Kamani Street Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96813 Telephone, Address Status (select one) Submittal Requirements __X__ DEA-AFNSI Submit 1) the proposing agency notice of determination/transmittal letter on agency letterhead, 2) this completed OEQC publication form as a Word file, 3) a hard copy of the DEA, and 4) a searchable PDF of the DEA; a 30-day comment period follows from the date of publication in the Notice. ____ FEA-FONSI Submit 1) the proposing agency notice of determination/transmittal letter on agency letterhead, 2) this completed OEQC publication form as a Word file, 3) a hard copy of the FEA, and 4) a searchable PDF of the FEA; no comment period follows from publication in the Notice. ____ FEA-EISPN Submit 1) the proposing agency notice of determination/transmittal letter on agency letterhead, 2) this completed OEQC publication form as a Word file, 3) a hard copy of the FEA, and 4) a searchable PDF of the FEA; a 30-day comment period follows from the date of publication in the Notice. ____ Act 172-12 EISPN Submit 1) the proposing agency notice of determination letter on agency letterhead and 2) this (“Direct to EIS”) completed OEQC publication form as a Word file; no EA is required and a 30-day comment period follows from the date of publication in the Notice. ____ DEIS Submit 1) a transmittal letter to the OEQC and to the accepting authority, 2) this completed OEQC publication form as a Word file, 3) a hard copy of the DEIS, 4) a searchable PDF of the DEIS, and 5) a searchable PDF of the distribution list; a 45-day comment period follows from the date of publication in the Notice. ____ FEIS Submit 1) a transmittal letter to the OEQC and to the accepting authority, 2) this completed OEQC publication form as a Word file, 3) a hard copy of the FEIS, 4) a searchable PDF of the FEIS, and 5) a searchable PDF of the distribution list; no comment period follows from publication in the Notice. ____ FEIS Acceptance The accepting authority simultaneously transmits to both the OEQC and the proposing agency a letter Determination of its determination of acceptance or nonacceptance (pursuant to Section 11-200-23, HAR) of the FEIS; no comment period ensues upon publication in the Notice. FEIS Statutory Timely statutory acceptance of the FEIS under Section 343-5(c), HRS, is not applicable to agency Acceptance actions. ____ Supplemental EIS The accepting authority simultaneously transmits its notice to both the proposing agency and the Determination OEQC that it has reviewed (pursuant to Section 11-200-27, HAR) the previously accepted FEIS and determines that a supplemental EIS is or is not required; no EA is required and no comment period ensues upon publication in the Notice. Page 1 of 2 Office of Environmental Quality Control Agency Publication Form February 2016 Revision ____ Withdrawal Identify the specific document(s) to withdraw and explain in the project summary section. ____ Other Contact the OEQC if your action is not one of the above items. Project Summary Provide a description of the proposed action and purpose and need in 200 words or less. The HDOA with support from the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, proposes the release of a eulophid ectoparasitoid, Aprostocetus nitens, to complement Eurytoma erythrinae for biocontrol of the erythrina gall wasp (EGW), Quadrastichus erythrinae, an invasive pest species that has attacked and quickly killed hundreds of Erythrina spp. trees in Hawaiʻi including the native wiliwili, Erythrina sandwicensis. Eurytoma erythrinae, a natural enemy of EGW, was collected from Tanzania and released in Hawaiʻi in November 2008 following rigorous specificity testing. Eurytoma erythrinae is an ectoparasitoid that attacks EGW by feeding on it larvae. Six months after release, E. erythrinae established successfully and wiliwili trees began to recover, however, damage by EGW on flowers, seed pods, and seedlings of wiliwili persists. Galls formed by EGW on flowers and seedling are usually small and scattered but E. erythrinae fares well only on large galls. This Draft Environmental Assessment supports the release of a second biocontrol agent, Aprostocetus nitens, to complement E. erythrinae to control EGW. Collected in EGW’s native region of Africa, A. nitens can complete development on a single EGW and survives well on small and large galls. Testing has proven A. nitens to be host specific to EGW. Page 2 of 2 Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens Prinsloo & Kelly (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) Prepared by Hawaiʻi Department Agriculture 1428 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96814 December 2019 FIELD RELEASE OF APROSTOCETUS NITENS PRINSLOO & KELLY (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE: TETRASTICHINAE) FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE ERYTHRINA GALL WASP, QUADRASTICHUS ERYTHRINAE KIM (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE) DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2019 Prepared by Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture 1428 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96814 Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae ABSTRACT/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Erythrina gall wasp (Quadrastichus erythrinae) was first detected in Hawai‘i on the island of O‘ahu in 2005. This non-native species quickly spread to Erythrina species throughout the state, including wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis), a highly valued dominant species of Hawai‘i’s lowland dry forests (Figure 1). The infestation of Hawai‘i by Erythrina gall wasp has resulted in the defoliation and mortality of thousands of Erythrina trees throughout the state, and it was not until the approval and release in 2008 of Eurytoma erythrinae, a wasp parasitoid of Erythrina gall wasp, that wiliwili populations began to show signs of recovery. Ongoing monitoring of wiliwili has shown that inflorescences and seed pods are still being negatively affected by the gall wasp. A second biocontrol, Aprostocetus nitens, has been studied as a complementary biocontrol to E. erythrinae, and it is hoped that this species will further reduce the gall wasp’s negative impacts. The Hawaiʻi Department Agriculture (HDOA) is proposing to release A. nitens to reduce the impact of the gall wasp. This environmental assessment fulfills the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act by detailing the results of host specificity and biological studies of A. nitens. An environmental assessment is needed to acquire the necessary state and federal permits for the release of this insect. Figure 1. Flowering wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis); Photo by Forest & Kim Starr. i Field Release of Aprostocetus nitens for Biological Control of the Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae CONTENTS Abstract/Executive
Details
-
File Typepdf
-
Upload Time-
-
Content LanguagesEnglish
-
Upload UserAnonymous/Not logged-in
-
File Pages112 Page
-
File Size-