BIL 079 Draft 01 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Niv or Mew COUNTY OF HAWAII •' STATE OF HAWAII �>f Of •M�'i' BILL NO. 79 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 14 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2005 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE RELATING TO PROHIBITION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. Findings and purpose. The Hawaii County Council, desiring to protect our agricultural heritage, our natural environment, our public health, and our inalienable constitutional rights, finds it necessary to prevent the introduction of transgenic, genetically modified crops, plants, seed, trees, fish, livestock, and other organisms into the County. The Council feels compelled to take such action for the following reasons: (1) The United States government has failed to establish adequate protocols and safeguards for the research, testing, and monitoring of genetically modified transgenic crops, fish, trees animals, and other organisms. None of the three federal agencies charged with protecting our agriculture, ecosystems, and public health - the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration - have required sufficient basic scientific review of transgenic technologies to assure no harm will occur. None of these agencies have required adequate public research or testing, peer review of industry claims of safety, or multi -generational studies of the impacts on public, environmental, or agricultural health from long-term exposure to transgenic organisms; (2) The State of Hawaii has no regulatory structure in place to monitor where or which transgenic crops are grown, or what their short- or long-term impacts on public, environmental or economic health might be; (3) While there are times when it is preferable that agricultural and environmental policy be controlled at the state and federal levels, in lieu of meaningful protections from either, the Council, with this ordinance, is implementing its responsibility of protecting the present and long-term health and welfare of our people, farms, environment, and economy. A decision to release transgenic organisms into our farms, ecosystems, and economy must not be made by just a few private biotechnology corporations, but instead must be a public decision, decided after rigorous public scientific review and extensive opportunity for public debate within the impacted communities;