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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0721.001 2018-2020 S�SY`OF 0: y REBECCA VILLECAS c,° '�f +,, PHONE: (808)323-4267 Council Member '' FAX: (808)323-4786 District 7, Central Kona *: :* EMAIL:Rebecca.villegas@hawaiicounty.gov tri oF•µreti HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL West Hawai`i Civic Center, Bldg. A 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 Date: February 3, 2020 m= r To: Aaron S.Y. Chung, Chair And Members of the Hawaii County Council From: Rebecca Villegas, Council Member District 7 Re: Testimony Related to Resolution 475-20 May I request for the attached testimony to be distributed to the members of the Agriculture, Water, Energy, and Environmental Management Committee for the scheduled February 4, 2020 meeting. I thank you for your efforts and consideration of my request. Mahalo, RVllw i Comm. Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref.To: Ref, Date FEB - 4 2020 _ i BEYOND PESTICIDES : r 701 E Street, SE ■ Washington DC 20003 202-543-5450 phone . 202--543-4791 fox info@beyondpesticides.org ■ www.beyondpesticides.org i I Testimony to Hawaii County Council i Comments on Resolution 475 20 i Tuesday, February 0, 2020 i Dear Chair Richards, and Members of the Agriculture, Water, Energy, & Environmental 3 Management Committee, : 3 My name is Autumn Ness and I am the Director of the Hawaii Organic Land Management Program of Beyond Pesticides. Mahalo for the opportunity to submit comments on Resolution 475-20, regarding herbicide use by the County of Hawai'i. First, please understand that Beyond Pesticides remains committed to supporting the success of Hawaii County Departments and their staff in the elimination of the use of herbicides on county owned lands, in whatever capacity we are needed. We plan to continue with our { scheduled Pesticide Free Parks training to the Hawai'i County Parks Department, and to provide I continued support to them and the Department of Public Works road crews if/as needed into the future. That said, we cannot support Resolution 475-20 for the following reasons: • This resolution has no force and effect of law, no benchmarks, no enforcement, and no guarantees of continuity beyond the term of the current administration. Residents of Hawai'i county are asking for and deserve the protection of a clear county policy that will remain in place even when a new Mayor is elected and new Department Directors are appointed. Resolutions such as this one tend to create a false sense of security, and can actually be dangerous,as they tend to replace the kind of concrete policy needed to create real, long term protection. • The suggestion that the advisory commission could "draw on subject matter expertise" from sources which expressly include the U.S. EPA, and the Hawai'i Departments of Agriculture and Health is problematic. A local policy restricting herbicide use is needed because the above-mentioned state and federal agencies are failing in their duty to protect the public from toxic herbicide use. Hawai'i County residents deserve policy and subject matter expertise that comes from experts not beholden to these agencies or influenced by chemical industry interests. o A January 2020 report published by the Center for Biological Diversity found that the EPA approved 1,190 pesticide products and denied only 71 products in the 1 � 2n1J-2O18time period,giving ito9496approval percentage. "This indicates � that the EPA isnot only allowing some ofthe most harmful pesticides to � continue tmbeused but actively facilitating their further use byapproving new � � products with those same ingredients. Shockingly, this is even the case for � highly hazardous pesticides for which the EPA has mandated use reductions or � incentivized replacement, like organophosphates, methyl bromide and atrazine." � You can read the report infull here: | i�anUgover.pd� ( Havve7iDepartment mfAgriculture Failures u |n2814, Maui residents discovered that Monsanto was using ahighly toxic, banned nerve agent(Penncap K4, containing Methyl Parathion) as pesticide on it's Kihei and K8o|nko'ifields. VVetook this information tothe Head ofthe Hawai'i Department of Agriculture and were told that it must be a mistake. Numerous attempts were made to get the HDOA to take action, and only through the diligence of a few Maui volunteers,the case made its way to the U.S. Department of Justice where Monsanto pled guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges in 2019, 5 years later. Metabolites of Methyl Parathion were found by the Maui County wastewater treatment staff in our wastewater sludge and it was reported to the State Department of Heo|th, but no action was ever taken. Research on how it got there, how many residents ofMaui were exposed tothis nerve agent, and possible health affects to residents and Monsanto workers, is being done by people iDthe community like me, not our state,and county regulatory agencies. ba�ned-pesticide-findinn-nt-wn-qfp.w;;fpr-treat -2016/ * |nAugust of3O10. Eorthivaticeasked the U.8. Environmental Protection Agency to revoke the Havvai'i Department of Agriculture's primary authority to investigate and enforce violations of pesticide |aYV in Haxvai'i. HD[JA failed to enforce pesticide violations and o||ovved o large bnnNo0 of pesticide complaints and investigations to accumulate for years. EPA had warned HDOA repeatedly since at least 2012 that HDOA was failing to adequately enforce pesticide |avva and had allowed an unacceptable backlog of inspection files to 3cCV[DU|@te. Instead of increasing its staff, HDOA's enforcement staff steadily shrank, while the number of inspections and enforcement actions decreased. /\2O18 EPA annual review ofH[]<]A's performance noted there were about 7OOinspection files iOneed ofreview, some dating back to 2008. As u result, there were enforcement delays and cases that could nolonger be enforced because the statute oflimitations expired vvhi|a files sat on HO(]/\'s desk. At the same time, the number of 2 � � complaints about pesticide misuse were increasing, along with public � frustration and loss 0fconfidence. � � w Beyond Pesticides has been working with Council Member Villegas on drafting a new version ofaproposed herbicide policy for this body's consideration. The details ofthe herbicide policy are significantly different from Bill 101, but it is a clear policy proposal | with benchmarks, the force of law, and guarantees of continuity,which are necessary components nfany sound herbicide policy. Beyond Pesticides cannot support herbicide policies without these components. * While the resolution language suggesting a policy that would reduce herbicide use to the "minimum amount necessary" is positive, it is also very subjective and problematic in any policy regarding herbicide use. Beyond Pesticides objects tothis kind of subjective language inpolicy here inHavvai'i, and nationally. |nconversations with departments here and across the state, staff and leadership defend their current herbicide use asthe "minimum amount necessary." VVehave found that after education, priority setting and resource restructuring, agencies have been able to significantly reduce the "minimum amount" of necessary herbicide use to zero. In many cases, agencies took the initiative to radically change practices only because they were mandated todoxubyaclear policy. Maha|oagain for your attention tothis matter. | look forward |othe continued opportunity to be a resource for the County of Hawai'i, in setting policy and developing practices that accomplish our shared goal of keeping Hawai'i County's keiki, residents and environment safe from the effects of herbicide use in our public spaces. Please don't hesitate tocontact nnewith any questions orconcerns, Autumn Ness Havvai'iOrganic Land Management Program Director Beyond Pesticides 8082504200 aness@BeyondPeotiddey.org