House panel OKs pesticide bill

Hawaii lawmakers advanced a measure on Wednesday that would require large agricultural companies to provide extensive public disclosure about their pesticide use and alert facilities serving children and the elderly before spraying chemicals in their vicinity or face potential fines.

House Bill 790 was passed over the objections of Hawaii’s biotech industry and the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the major lobbying group for local farmers, as well as the strong reservations of the state Department of Agriculture.

In moving to pass the measure, Rep. Angus McKelvey, chairman of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, noted that the measure was controversial, but said he wanted to “put a strong position on the table to protect all consumers in Hawaii.”

While none of his fellow committee members voted against the bill, about half of them cited reservations, a sign that the bill will face obstacles in gaining additional legislative approvals. The measure still needs to cross over to the Senate for further debate.

The vote came after about a dozen community advocates and two Maui County Council members flew from the Valley Isle to the state Capitol in Honolulu earlier in the day to hold a news conference urging passage of the measure before testifying on the bill at the afternoon hearing.

In 2014, Maui County voters approved a ballot initiative that banned testing and growing genetically altered crops until environmental and public health studies were conducted that indicated the agricultural practices were safe. However, that measure, as well as ordinances on Kauai and Hawaii island targeting GMO crops and pesticides, were later thrown out by a federal appeals court. The court ruled that federal and state laws pre-empted the counties’ authority to regulate the crops and pesticides.

Supporters of tightened restrictions on pesticides and GMOs subsequently vowed to take their fight to the Legislature.

However, many of the pesticide bills that local environmental advocates and anti-GMO groups have been backing in the Legislature this year already appear dead this session. House Bill 790 is one of the few remaining.

“I come to you today as west Maui County Council representative to ask that you do what I as a council member cannot do at this time and give our residents the information they deserve … so the rights of a chemical company to keep proprietary information is trumped by the rights of the community to access basic information that affects the health and the environment,” Elle Cochran told state lawmakers during public testimony on HB 790.

Cochran was joined by fellow Maui Council member Alika Atay.

Supporters of the bill argued that it was less far-reaching than other measures or county laws that had been shot down by the courts, merely requiring greater disclosure and community notification when pesticides are sprayed near sensitive areas.

“Pesticide disclosure should be the price these companies pay to do business here in Hawaii so the community has measures in place to protect itself,” Tiare Lawrence, a community advocate from Maui, told lawmakers.

But Scott Enright, director of the state Department of Agriculture, expressed “strong reservations” about the bill in written testimony.

He noted that the measure not only requires large agricultural users to disclose information about restricted-use pesticides, but also regular pesticides, which would exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s label requirements “without apparent scientific basis.”

Enright also said the bill’s data reporting requirements would strain existing state funds and divert limited staff resources away from primary enforcement responsibilities. He said some of the information on pesticides may be deemed confidential business information under Hawaii state law.

Bennette Misalucha, executive director of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, which represents the state’s biotech companies, also testified against the bill, saying pesticide disclosure requirements are best left up to the state Department of Agriculture and Department of Health, which have expertise in such matters.

“We believe that pesticide education and enforcement is the best means to reduce pesticide misuse,” she added. “Unfortunately, as we know, the majority cause of pesticide misuse is homeowner use.”