Kauai Council to hold special meeting following veto of pesticides bill

The Kauai County Council will hold a special meeting to acknowledge receipt of Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s veto of Bill 2491. 

The 9 a.m. meeting will be held on Nov. 7 at the historic county building. The date on a subsequent meeting to consider whether to accept or override the veto might be announced at the meeting. The council has 30 days to override the veto. 

On Thursday, Carvalho vetoed the bill that requires large agribusinesses to disclose the types of pesticides they spray in their fields and implement buffer zones near schools, dwellings, medical facilities, public roadways and waterways. It also requires agribusinesses to provide annual public reports of genetically modified crops grown on fields to the county Office of Economic Development and state Department of Agriculture. 

Carvalho said he vetoed the bill because it’s legally flawed. In a letter to the council, he said the state and federal government preempts local authority to regulate pesticides and GMOs.