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• <br /> COUNTY OF HAWAII ; :_..• STATE OF HAWAII <br /> • s_.Gf N'� <br /> RESOLUTION NO. 15G 13 <br /> A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE INCLUSION IN THE 2014 HAWAII STATE <br /> ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE A PROPOSED STATE <br /> BILL RELATING TO COUNTY AUTHORITY CONCERNING AGRICULTURE. <br /> WHEREAS, the counties' home rule statute, HRS 46-1.5 provides jurisdiction over <br /> matters affecting health and life; and <br /> WHEREAS,the counties are concerned that in 2013 biotech companies lobbied for state <br /> level legislation (Senate Bill 727)that would have eliminated all county level jurisdiction over <br /> agriculture and over any matter relating to the health and well being of residents; and <br /> WHEREAS,the counties concern was exacerbated when SB727, although finally <br /> defeated, initially passed through all three senate committees with minimal opposition; and <br /> WHEREAS at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on SB727 testifiers supporting <br /> the biotech industry indicated a desire to eliminate local government jurisdiction because it <br /> interferes with their corporate policies; and <br /> WHEREAS, customary and generally acceptable agricultural practices and technologies <br /> vary county by county; and <br /> WHEREAS, agricultural matters affect the health and well-being of residents and of the <br /> land, including the soil, and are clearly a matter of local concern in which local communities <br /> insist on having significant local say-so; now, therefore, <br />