Kauai’s County Council has selected a venue to hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance pertaining to regulation of pesticide use by large agricultural farms.

The hearing on Bill 2491 will be held at the Kauai Community College’s Performing Arts Center in Lihue at 1:30 p.m. on July 31. A venue was selected due to high community interest on the controversial issue. Councilman Gary Hooser who introduced the bill said he anticipates a large turnout at the performing arts center, which has a maximum capacity of about 540 people.

The draft bill calls for commercial agricultural farms to disclose the type and amount of pesticides they use. Also, a buffer zone would be created to prohibit use of experimental and restricted use pesticides within 500 feet of any school, hospital, residential area, public roadway, stream, river or shoreline. 

The proposed ordinance also calls for a ban on open-air testing of experimental pesticides and a temporary moratorium on experimental use and commercial production of genetically modified organisms until the county conducts an environmental impact statement.