Customs Entry Officer –
Department: Department of Homeland Security –
Agency: Customs and Border Protection –
Hiring Organization: Office of Field Operations
Number of Job Opportunities & Location(s): Many vacancies – Multiple Locations
Salary: $43,683.00 to $69,462.00 / PA
Series and Grade: GS-1894-7/9
Open Period: 2021-07-26 to 2021-07-30
Position Information: Permanent – Full-time
Who May Apply: Open to the public
Hawaii Agriculture Posts
Congress Is Working To Protect All Legal Cannabis States
States With Legal Cannabis Are Finding Protection From Congressional Legislators
A revised measure has now surfaced to protect all states and tribal programs from federal penalties. This new bill has 15 cosponsors following its bipartisan advocates spreading a letter to develop support this week Yet a Republican who stands in opposition to cannabis reform, is pushing a dueling proposal. This push is to rid a more modest, longstanding rider that’s implemented defense for medical cannabis states alone.
The pro-reform amendment which may get a vote on the House floor next week is being managed by several political figures. These politicians are Earl Blumenauer, Tom McClintock, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Barbara Lee. The goal is to connect the proposal to 2022 fiscal year spending legislation for the Commerce. As well as the Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS).
Furthermore, Rep. Doug LaMalfa is taking the unprecedented move of filing a competing measure. This particular bill would stop federal protections for states with medical cannabis legalization. This also includes his own—that have been in place and renewed yearly on a bipartisan basis since 2014.
Now with the Democratic party in control of Congress and the increasingly cross-party nature of support for marijuana reform things may work out overall. With this many, advocates aren’t significantly concerned about LaMalfa’s amendment.
However, the GOP congressman has gained a reputation as a staunch reform opponent. This has gone to the extent of recently knocked down illegal cannabis cultivation sites in California alongside local police. His plan to stop protections for the state’s decades-old medical marijuana program has caused some concern.
What Is Next For Cannabis Reform In The United States
On a different end of the spectrum, legislators who support cannabis reform gave insight in a Dear Colleague letter that was released recently. They went on to say that the appropriations revision they’re proposing would add “language preventing the Department of Justice from using any funds appropriated by Congress to enforce federal laws regarding activities that are legal under state, territorial, or tribal law with regard to marijuana, regardless of whether the marijuana laws are recreational or medicinal.”
This language has been introduced in past sessions as well, passing the House back in 2020 and the year before that. However, it was not added to the final provisions of the bill that was sent to the president’s desk. Now that Democrats have a small bulk in the chamber, supporters are confident that it could finally be passed.
In addition to the four main sponsors of the bill, it’s now been cosponsored by many other political figures. For instances such as Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, David Joyce, Diana DeGette, Dina Titus. In addition to Donald Beyer, Jan Schakowsky, Mike Thompson, Pramila Jayapal, Ed Perlmutter, and Don Young.
As of right now, the spending bill rider that LaMalfa is working to offer protection only to states with medical cannabis programs. This new more comprehensive revision from reform advocates would expand that protection. This would be happening at a time when more and more states are trying to legalize marijuana for adult use. So far in 2021 four states have gone on to legalize the adult use of cannabis. These states are Connecticut, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia who have legalized cannabis for recreational purposes this year alone.
The Language Of The Suggested Amendment
1 SEC _. None of the funds made available by this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the United States Virgin Islands, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.
1 SEC __. None of the funds made available by this Act to the Department of Justice may be used to prevent any Indian tribe (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) from enacting or implementing tribal laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.
Will Congress Be Able To Pass Federal Cannabis Reform In 2021
LaMalfa also filed a second amendment to the CJS bill that’s aimed at “including marijuana grow sites in the eligible category for [Drug Enforcement Administration] reimbursement of state, units of local government, or tribal governments for expenses incurred to clean-up and safely dispose of substances which may present a danger to public health or the environment found at illegal marijuana grow sites.”
An added LaMalfa revision to a separate funding bill for the State Department is meant to “express the intent to direct the Department of State to issue a report on the connections between international criminal organizations and illegal marijuana grows within the United States.”
On the CJS bill, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) also filed an amendment intended to “support efforts to eliminate illegal marijuana grows in South Eastern California.”
Final Thoughts On Congress Passing Federal Cannabis Reform
The budgeting process this session has seen many drug policy reform provisions. This involved a bill text and associated reports including protecting banks that work with marijuana businesses. As well as supporting government agencies to rethink policies that terminate workers for cannabis use. Also being able to investigate research into the medical use of psychedelics and preventing immigrants from being deported for cannabis, alongside other matters.
Independently, the full House of Representatives could vote next week on revisions to large-scale minibus appropriations legislation. Which would make it so marijuana possession or consumption could not be used as the foundation or main reason for refusing people access to public housing.
For the CJS appropriations bill where the new marijuana state protection language could be attached. From this amendments were due to be submitted by Friday afternoon. The House Rules Committee is set to make a choice this upcoming week. This would come after the bill and any revisions that are considered and will head to the floor for votes.
Charter school receives $48,000 grant for farm-to-school program
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
By KELSEY WALLING
Connections Public Charter School in Hilo will grow its farm-to-school programs with the help of federal grant.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded $12 million in Farm to School grants to 176 recipients.
Connections Public Charter School and Community Based Education Support Services, the school’s board, received $48,253.
With the grant, Connections, whose main campus is in downtown Hilo, will develop learning and food production experiences for kindergarten through 12th-grade students on leased property located off Edita Street in Hilo’s Kaumana community.
“It is great to get that kind of support and recognition for the work we’ve been doing and the plans we have articulated,” said new Principal Romeo Garcia. “This gives us an opportunity to demonstrate what we can do with that support.”
Connections currently uses the Kaumana property to foster different class projects, usually involving upperclassmen. But with the grant, Garcia said he hopes to expand what the school can do on the land and involve students from every grade.
“Students, mostly juniors and seniors, this semester will continue foundational work with the gardens and keep on expanding on the land,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to have all grades up here with younger kids starting class gardens. Teachers will also be able to have their own class projects up here as much as possible.”
Although school is not in session, teachers and classes currently are running a number of projects, including experiments with hydroponics, growing plants in a nutrient solution rather than in soil, and catching beetles that have been perpetrating rapid ohia death.
“As a school, we’ve always been focused on project-based learning. Anyone can learn theory, but greater, long-lasting learning comes from applying knowledge,” Garcia said. “We’re focused on making sure information students are getting is relevant to their lives.”
Connections has designed career and technical courses based around the property, such as land management and planning, horticulture, and animal husbandry, he said. Students also will have opportunities to use different methods for growing food, to work with the horse and goats on the property, and learn land management.
“There are so many parts of farming that can be learned,” Garcia said. “There may be students who find they are naturally inclined to work outdoors and others may decide that’s not the route they want to take.”
Since the grant is for farm-to-school programs, Connections will be growing food that can be used in the school’s kitchen. Last week, property manager Danny McDaniel brought dozens of large eggplants down to the school that were grown on the Kaumana property.
“We want students to have that moment of pride and achievement after growing something that can be eaten,” Garcia said. “With the grant, we’ll be able to involve more students and show them that they can grow things here that we can use right away in our kitchen at school.”
Students also will have more chances learn about the history of the land and “canoe plants,” which were cultivated in ancient Hawaii.
“We have always taught students about how Hawaii used to be self-sustaining and now in the modern era, we have to import nearly everything,” Garcia said. “When COVID hit, things closed down and there was a fear that we wouldn’t get what we need.
“We want to teach students that when this happens again, instead of jumping into panic mode, we have processes and ways of living off the land.”
Why Capturing Renewable Natural Gas Has Legs in the Climate Conversation
RealClear Energy
By Mike Butler
When many people think of renewable energy, they think of modern wind, solar and hydropower resources. When they think of natural gas, they think of it as a traditional, finite source of energy – something that’s used and then gone.
But there’s another form of renewable energy that many have overlooked as an option to help meet some states’ emission reduction goals in regulatory actions like New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan and the Garden State’s larger climate conversation. It’s called Renewable Natural Gas or RNG inside the energy world.
RNG combines the strength and benefits of two forms of energy – renewable energy and natural gas – and it turns out it’s been around for as long as humans have been farming. Some might even refer to it as biogas, a byproduct of organic materials mixing with oxygen. RNG in this case comes from multiple sources of organic leftovers and waste.
Methane is the key molecule that makes up natural gas and found in the prolific energy basins across the country that we use to produce, transport and sell energy. Natural gas has many benefits, too. It’s clean, affordable and plentiful here in the U.S. Gas is able to be safely transported in pipelines and is used every day in our homes, businesses, transportation systems and power grid.
But traditional exploration for natural gas isn’t the only way to capture and harness methane – a chemical compound that occurs abundantly in nature does as well.
Besides being found underwater, in wetlands, and from naturally occurring seeps, methane is also released in landfills, water treatment plants, and in agriculture. The same methane that comes from oil and gas production also comes from four-legged creatures that dot the plains and fields of America’s farms and ranches – cows. There are an estimated 95 million cows in America and the small amounts of methane they release can really add up, and if uncaptured, that methane escapes into the atmosphere anyway where it has a significant impact on emissions.
If we effectively collect that waste, and process it, it can become a usable fuel that fits our existing infrastructure for power and home heating needs. And because this resource can be produced over and over, it makes for a great renewable source of energy from our livestock that also reduces harmful air emissions.
While the renewable gas utility market in Canada appears to have a more mature market, the U.S. is catching up quickly with California, New York, Colorado, Oregon and Hawaii all making strides to help utilities incorporate RNG into their energy mix.
For example, promising projects from agribusiness companies like Smithfield Foods will result in enough renewable natural gas to power more than 2,700 homes and business and brings the company closer to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25 percent by 2025.
The traditional natural gas industry is also committed to capturing more methane – after all, that’s the primary fuel source they are trying to sell, and every molecule going into the atmosphere is a dollar lost. Since 2000, the industry has invested more than $108 billion in technologies to help capture these “fugitive emissions” which can escape during production and operations.
That money is in addition to the $151 billion the federal government has invested in research and development programs primarily run though the Department of Energy and Argonne National Labs. On top of that, satellites, airplanes and helicopter sensor technology are all helping to detect and reduce methane from entering our atmosphere.
While RNG only makes a small percentage of our energy make-up today, the opportunities are tremendous and should be a part of the clean energy future New Jersey is pursuing. The more solutions we have to meet both our energy needs and environmental goals the better. Plus, consider the significant benefits that will be achieved by removing waste from our agriculture operations and the benefits for rural America. Over time our best minds will continue to advance and refine technology to help costs come down for RNG – just look at the cost of solar panels 10 years ago to today.
So while it may be early, the idea of capturing renewable natural gas definitely has legs for New Jersey’s energy future energy solutions.
Pesticide Rotation on Onion Thrips and Onion Variety Trial in Bulb and Green Onion Crops Webinar
House Panel Subpoenas Land Fund, Agriculture Agency
Civil Beat
By Blaze Lovell
Both agencies were the targets of recent critical examinations by State Auditor Les Kondo.
A Hawaii House of Representatives investigation of the Agribusiness Development Corp. and a state land and development fund is starting to ramp up on the heels of audits critical of the two state agencies.
On Tuesday, a House investigative committee issued subpoenas to the ADC, the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture. The committee plans to start hearings with witnesses in September and a final report with recommendations is due in December, one month ahead of the 2022 legislative session.
The committee is seeking “any and all records, documents, materials, things and other evidence” from those agencies submitted to the state auditor as part of inquiries that led to the two audits, according to Rep. Della Au Belatti, the chair of the committee.
The committee is seeking two batches of documents from each agency. The first batch is due Aug. 9 and should include all the documents provided to the state auditor, which conducted the audits. A second batch of documents is due Aug. 23 and should include materials indicating how the agencies are responding to recommendations made in the audits.
Belatti, the House majority leader, said the agencies have already tentatively agreed to turn over those records.
State Auditor Les Kondo found that the Special Land and Development Fund is hindered by a lack of transparency and accountability. Kondo also found that the ADC has not done enough to reinvigorate former sugar and pineapple land.
As part of the audit of the land fund, Kondo’s office “examined contracts, leases, permits, financial records, annual reports, public meeting minutes, and other relevant documents.”
Kondo attempted to get financial records from the ADC but found that “ADC’s record-keeping was inconsistent, incomplete, and in many cases, non-existent.” The record keeping was so bad that a financial audit had to be suspended, according to the report.
The office requested documents related to land management policies, land acquisition guidelines, an inventory of landholdings and files on tenants. Instead, it got a four-page memo offering only general guidance on land management.
Rep. Amy Perruso, a critic of the ADC, asked that the subpoenas be expanded to include all documents that Kondo asked for, instead of only what was provided to the auditor.
Belatti said she is not inclined to expand the scope for the first batch of documents because the committee wants a quick turnaround.
Rep. Dale Kobayashi questioned why the committee needed the first batch of documents since the auditor already used those documents to develop the two reports.
“I don’t really see the point of what we’re doing here asking for this,” Kobayashi said. “And it is quite an ask.”
The documents are intended to get the committee ready before witnesses are called, according to Belatti.
Those hearings are expected to be held during the weeks of Sept. 13 and Sept. 20.