HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0491.087 2020-2022 I
cound
bill qf
,, x
r r r ; r
. .. �`
V2 r
k.
. w
P.Q. Box 253, Kunia, Hawai'i 96759
Phone: (808) 848-2074; Fax: (808) 848-1921
e-mail infor7a hfbf.org; www.hfbf.org
Testimony submitted via email to:counciltestimony@hawaiicounty.gov
Wednesday, December 22, 2021, 9:00 AM
County Council
County of Hawaii
t
Hawai'i County Building
25 Aupuni St.
Hilo,Hawai'i 06720
Subject: Bill 91 (Draft 2)
Amends Chapter 15, Hawaii County Code 1983 by adding a new Article 12 prohibiting use of
CA
glyphosate-based pesticides in County parks and recreational facilities. -�
Aloha Chair Medeiros David,Vice Chair Chung,and Councilmembers,
The Hawaii Farm Bureau (HFB) is the state's largest nonprofit general farm organization
representing the interests of thousands of farm families,small to large,organic,conventional,and
modern,throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
HFB fully supports efforts to protect public health and the environment by reducing
potential risks through well-reasoned, evidence-based regulatory measures. However, Bill 91 sets
a basis for regulatory action on perception, rather than on science and evidence.
We have carefully reviewed the bill before you,and we are writing today to urge you to
consider facts rather than popular conjecture while deliberating upon the measure,as some of the
bill's proponents have expressed their desire to use passage of this bill as a first step in severely
limiting access to effective tools to control threats to public welfare,including agriculture,and our
environment.
The bill raises concerns for our farmer and rancher members who may need to use
glyphosate-based products to minimize the impact to their crops from noxious and invasive pest
species that threaten not only the viability of the islands'agricultural industry,but also the health
and welfare of Hawai'i's residents,visitors,watersheds,and native species,including many that
are endangered.
Health and safety
Since 1974,when it was first registered by EPA,glyphosate has been carefully scrutinized by
dozens of international regulatory bodies and independent academic scientists.
Comm. -
Ref. T :
Ref. Date DEC 2 2 2021
Glyphosate has been re-evaluated for health and safety on a regular,rolling basis to include
new data. In January of this year,the U.S. EPA concluded its regulatory review of
glyphosate and announced that there are no risks of concern to human health when the
product is used according to label directions. These findings are consistent with the
scientific reviews and conclusions by many other countries and federal agencies.
For example,after a transparent and rigorous independent re-evaluation of all of the
world's studies,the conclusion representing the regulatory consensus was summarized by
Health Canada its 2019,
"No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a
cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed."
In 2017, the Committee for Risk Assessment at the European Commission released the
14th major review of glyphosate,re-reviewing all of the available independent evidence and
addressing the IARC finding and, concluded:
"RAC concludes that based on the epidemiological data as well as the data from long-
term studies in rats and mice, taking a weight of evidence approach, no classification for
carcinogenicity is warranted."
The one assessment that varies from the regulatory consensus - the 2015 International
Agency for Research on Cancer (JARC) reclassification of glyphosate as a "probable
carcinogen" is extremely controversial because it was not based on actual risk and it failed
to consider the longest, largest and most meaningful study, which showed no association
between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Juries and judges are not scientific experts and cannot determine if a compound causes
cancer or other health effects. Such determinations are made scientifically through animal
studies, epidemiological assessments, and careful identification of the molecular j
mechanisms that connect chemicals to cancers.
Health and safety must be a priority and reducing risk is an important and necessary
function. However,without effective management of County and other lands to reduce pest
populations and their inevitable dispersal to surrounding properties, our farms and ranches will
experience a devasting impact. As you know, Hawaii farmers are working diligently to reach the
goal of doubling food production to help the state become more self-sufficient. We cannot
accomplish this if our lawmakers don't understand and take seriously the need to have access to
safe,effective,and scientifically vetted methods of pest control.
Thank you for your continuing support of Hawaii's farmers and ranchers.
Sincerely,
Randy Cabral
President
2