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Tuesday, Jan. 28, was a cold, wet and windy day, but the heavy weather did not deter the more than 100 people who packed the Maui County Council chambers in Wailuku. Of that number, more than 60 had signed up to testify by mid-day. Council staff said an estimated 70 to 100 more stood by to testify remotely from Molokai.

On the agenda was “Pesticides and Genetically Modified Organisms” (PIA-58), introduced by Council member Elle Cochran. The proposed legislation was being heard for the first time in the council’s Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (PIA) chaired by Council member Riki Hokama.

Its language was taken almost verbatim from a similar, highly controversial measure recently passed on Kaua’i, which is now the subject of what promises to be protracted litigation.   

A number of speakers observed that the measure seemed well intentioned. Its provisions include notification of neighbors when pesticides are about to be sprayed, setting up buffer zones around sensitive areas, such as schools, parks, healthcare and senior facilities, and improved reporting of the type and quantity of pesticides being used.

One size does not fit all

But almost unanimously, those who testified from the farm community opposed the legislation as “heavy-handed,” “punitive,” “draconian,” “anti-farmer” and “anti-agriculture.” They also said that the use and testing of pesticides is already extensively regulated by a host of government agencies at the state and federal level. They questioned the county’s ability to enforce the measure if passed, and they further asserted that while it may have been suitable for Kaua’i, “one size does not fit all,” saying Maui regulations, if any, should be tailored to Maui conditions.

Further, those who testified in opposition repeatedly asked: If the intent was to have better communication between the residential population and the farming community, why was the legislation introduced without any input from the ranks of agriculture?

Multiple speakers also pointed out that farmers are only one class of pesticide users, and if the goal was to upgrade safety, then why did the regulations only apply to agricultural users and not, for example, to one of the largest sprayers of pesticides– the County of Maui itself–as well as golf course maintenance, pest control firms and a whole laundry list of other intensive users of chemical products.