A petition calling for the regulation of the use of pesticides and growth of genetically modified crops on Kauai could face its demise at an upcoming meeting.

The Kauai County Council will meet Wednesday to resume discussion on a revised petition submitted by Kauai Rising after the Council reached a 3-3 vote at a July 9 meeting on a motion to receive the petition. It calls for the regulation of pesticides sprayed on fields leased or owned by seed companies and the growth of GMOs.

The group submitted 3,030 signatures to be verified by the Office of the County Clerk, Elections Division.

Absent from the meeting was Councilman Mel Rapozo, who was attending the National Association of Counties’ annual conference in New Orleans. Rapozo’s vote in the upcoming meeting could mean the end of the petition process.

"If it’s up to my vote, it’s going to be rejected," he said last week.

At issue is whether the petition seeks a charter amendment or a new law by initiative, which would require four times as many signatures.

"It’s clear to me that it’s an initiative," Rapozo said. "It doesn’t address the structure of government."

In a written legal opinion, Deputy County Attorney Mona Clark called the petition "primarily local legislation as it pertains to the county’s relationship with third parties and not the form and structure of county government."

County spokeswoman Sarah Blane said if the Council votes against receiving the revised petition and no action is taken by Kauai Rising, then the petition process dies.

Under the proposal, agribusinesses would need to prove their operations are safe and do not pose a hazard to human health and the environment. It also would create an Office of Environmental Health.

Bob Yuhnke, a consultant for Kauai Rising, said the county’s legal opinion was more of a political statement.

"It doesn’t discuss and include any legal analysis of what is in the petition compared to what the Supreme Court said is appropriate for a charter amendment," he said.