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„,k <br /> -. `''''�A'- STATE OF HAWAI I <br /> COUNTY OF HAWAII ���=•.--r=• ` <br /> 4 Of•tier <br /> RESOLUTION NO. 272 14 <br /> (DRAFT 2) <br /> A RESOLUTION PROPOSING A STATE BILL RELATING TO THE COUNTIES' <br /> AUTHORITY TO REGULATE THE CULTIVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF <br /> GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS AND PLANTS AND ASSOCIATED <br /> PESTICIDES. <br /> WHEREAS, Hawai`i Revised Statute (HRS), Section 46-1.5, "General powers and <br /> limitation of the counties,”provides for county-level jurisdiction over matters affecting health, <br /> life, and property; and <br /> WHEREAS, the regulation of genetically engineered crops, plants, and associated <br /> pesticides—including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides—is well within the counties' <br /> authority pursuant to HRS, Section 46-1.5, as these matters affect the health, safety, and welfare <br /> of our residents, as well as private and public property; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Hawai`i County Council ("Council") supports sustainable, community- <br /> based agriculture, which is the growth of healthy and safe crops that are customarily consumed <br /> by the residents of Hawai`i Island by using agricultural practices that are, likewise, healthy and <br /> safe for the long-term health of the soil and environment; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Council is concerned about the adverse effects that the widespread <br /> cultivation of genetically engineered crops has had in other counties, as well as the harmful <br /> effects that many have experienced from cultivating these crops in other communities around the <br /> world; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Council is cognizant that the possible short-term advantages of <br /> cultivating genetically engineered crops need to be weighed against the long-term benefits of <br /> more ecofriendly agricultural policies and practices as is underscored in the County of Hawai`i <br /> General Plan, Section 2.2(h), Economic Goals: <br /> "Promote and develop the island of Hawaii into a unique scientific and cultural <br /> model, where economic gains are in balance with social and physical amenities. <br /> Development should be reviewed on the basis of total impact on the residents of <br /> the County, not only in terms of immediate short run economic benefits."; and <br /> WHEREAS, in 2013 multinational agrochemical corporations lobbied at the State <br /> Legislature for: (1) Senate Bill No. 727 that would have eliminated county-level jurisdiction <br /> over agriculture and all matters relating to the health and wellbeing of residents; and (2) Senate <br /> Bill No. 590 that would have largely insulated the agrochemical corporations from lawsuits <br /> relating to harms caused by their operations as well as from state-level regulation of the <br /> cultivation or development of genetically engineered organisms and use of associated pesticides; <br /> and <br />