A lesser-known environmental measure in the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will focus on protecting native Hawaiian vegetation without affecting military operations, according to a Navy spokesperson.
The nearly $884 billion defense bill, approved by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, includes a provision to “manage, control, and interdict the coconut rhinoceros beetle”—an invasive insect species that damages palm trees—specifically on military installations in Hawaii.
According to the Navy, the initiative aims to preserve vegetation and is unrelated to the Department of Defense’s (DOD) primary mission “to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”
“While coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) don’t pose an operational threat to Navy installations in Hawaii, the invasive insects cause significant harm to the environment,” a spokesperson from Commander, Navy Region Hawaii told the DCNF. “CRB damage and kill palm trees, including the native loulou-hiwa palm (Pritchardia martii), and have the potential to significantly reduce coconut production and palm stands. It was important for the Navy to fund projects related to CRB control to protect the native vegetation on Oahu.”
The spokesperson emphasized the Navy’s responsibility as a “steward” of the environment, noting that “biosecurity has become an increasing priority and preventing new introductions of invasive species is critical.”
Biosecurity became a DOD priority during President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015 when the Regional Biosecurity Plan (RBP) was established to limit the spread of invasive species in the Pacific. This initiative stemmed from an environmental analysis tied to the potential relocation of military personnel from a base in Okinawa, Japan.
The Navy previously funded efforts to combat coconut rhinoceros beetles in fiscal year 2024, including creating a 2,500-foot containment zone around Navy ports and conducting bi-annual surveys and treatments of palm trees. However, the fiscal year 2025 NDAA does not specify the federal funding allocated to this initiative.
Beyond this effort, the fiscal year 2025 NDAA also allocates funding for minority-serving schools and authorizes cryogenic preservation of service members’ sperm.
In November, the Pentagon failed its seventh consecutive annual audit, unable to fully account for its budget of over $824 billion. The agency has yet to pass an audit since audits became legally mandated in 2018.
Additionally, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report revealed that the Navy wasted over $1.8 billion on a cruiser modernization initiative plagued by poor oversight. Meanwhile, the U.S. national debt exceeds $36 trillion, with the federal government running a deficit of approximately $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2024.
The Senate passed the 1,800-page fiscal year 2025 NDAA with an 85-14 vote. The legislation now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.
“There’s a half a billion dollars in there of foreign aid,” said Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who opposed the bill, in a statement on X. “We have to do better than this. This is not what you all voted for.”
