H.R. 1780 — Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Act of 2025

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including— (1) eligible entity, meaning (A) the State of Hawaii; (B) a unit of local government in the State; (C) a Native Hawaiian organization (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 4352); (D) a nonprofit organization; (E) a business; or (F) an institution of higher education; (2) grant program, meaning the Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Grant Program established under section 3(a); (3) Native Hawaiian organization, having the meaning given the term in 25 U.S.C. 4352; (4) native species, meaning a plant, fungi, or animal species native to the State; (5) Secretary, meaning the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and (6) State, meaning the State of Hawaii.

This section establishes the Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Grant Program, to be administered by the Secretary not later than 180 days after appropriation of funds, to provide grants, microgrants, cooperative agreements, or other funding to eligible entities for evidence-based conservation and recovery projects for native species in Hawaii. The program addresses (1) preventing and mitigating invasive species, pests, and diseases; (2) climate change impacts; (3) habitat loss and degradation; (4) native species population management, maintenance, and restoration; (5) scientific capacity for planning, monitoring, and research; (6) information collection and ecological monitoring; and (7) public outreach, education, and community involvement. The Secretary must annually develop funding priorities and project ranking criteria in coordination with specified federal agency heads (including NOAA, EPA, and Agriculture), the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, and other stakeholders; publish a Federal Register request for proposals; provide technical assistance; and consult Native Hawaiian organizations on relevant projects. State and local representatives recuse from funding decisions on their applications; funds supplement, not supplant, other conservation funding. The federal share of project costs is capped at 75 percent generally but may reach 100 percent at the Secretary's discretion or for projects by Native Hawaiian organizations, those enhancing youth workforce readiness, or microgrants of $50,000 or less (with in-kind contributions allowed for non-federal share); at least 5 percent of annual funds must support such 100 percent federal share projects.

This section directs the Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress on implementation of the Act, including (1) a description of each project funded under the grant program and (2) the status of each such project that remains in progress as of the report date.

This section authorizes appropriations of $30 million annually to the Secretary for FY beginning in the first full fiscal year after enactment and for each of the next nine fiscal years to carry out the grant program established by the Act. Of these amounts, the Secretary may use not more than 5% for administrative expenses.