Supporters of Kauai County Council Bill 2491 are striking back against recent testimony from Mayor Bernard Carvalho that the measure, which increases county oversight of pesticide use, is problematic.

The mayor and his staff testified at a Tuesday hearing on the bill that the measure carried hefty costs and required extensive training of new and existing personnel.

Supporters of the bill released a statement criticizing the mayor for not doing his homework. They argue that Bill 2491 really isn’t that complicated.

(UPDATE: The mayor’s office later issued a point-by-point response to the below statement which can be read here.)

The measure requires the county’s largest agricultural users of restricted use pesticides to disclose details of their pesticide use. It sets up buffer zones between public areas and fields sprayed by pesticides. And it requires environmental testing for pesticides.

The statement from Andrea Brower, a Kauai activist, states in part:

Ill-considered analysis of Bill 2491
Council Member Bynum asked the administration why enforcement of disclosure would be so complicated if the companies already keep very detailed records about what they do. He added, “Determining what they spray in a buffer will be simple because they are disclosing. Unless they went out and did it at night illegally, and then they would be lying not only to the County, but the State and EPA.”Andrea Brower, who has followed closely the details of this bill since its inception, said that the administration’s claims were outrageous. “To suggest that we will need at least three full-time staff people, several consultants and extensive technical training just to implement disclosure and buffer zones is simply illogical. The administration expressed overwhelm about dealing with health complaints, but there is nothing in this bill that is even about that! There were glaring inconsistencies between what the bill would actually mandate, and the administration’s fears and projections for needed resources.”

Brower added that to suggest that the County would need nearly $1.5 million before next July just to begin to implement the bill was “ill-considered, misleading and clearly not based on analysis of the bill’s provisions. The only part of this bill that might need such substantial funding is the health and environmental impact study, and that was granted only $100,000 in the Mayor’s proposed list of costs.”

In regards to funding concerns, Hooser reminded the administration that the County has the authority to charge companies for regulatory burden, and that as some of the largest multinationals in the world, the companies should have no problem paying to operate on Kauai.  Mr. Hooser also pointed out that the County Tax Department has found that the companies owe back taxes of $130,000 – an unbudgeted amount that the administration could use toward implementation and enforcement of Bill 2491.

Lack of knowledge and willingness to act on pesticide concerns
Fern Rosenstiel expressed concern about Mayor Carvalho’s push for a 2-month deferral. “All this rhetoric about ‘coming together to get educated and better understand what is going on’ … it just doesn’t make sense to those of us in the community who have been raising concerns for years, or to council members who have spent the past months working very hard to think through the technical details of the bill. The suggestion of a deferral alongside ‘more education’ sounds suspiciously like the industry’s remarks that the council needs to take a ‘time-out.’”

In response to questioning by Council Member Bynum, both the mayor and Mr. Hue stated that neither had looked at the information that has been made public about one of the seed companies spraying 240 days a year. Nor had they read testimony by agricultural specialists who submitted studies about the effects of pesticide spray on Kauai. There was no straight answer about whether their implementation concerns were influenced by conversations with the companies.

Council Member Hooser said that what was lacking was a “sense of urgency. Have you met with the doctors at KVMH? Have you talked to them about the potentially higher rates of birth defects they are witnessing? Many would say that the time for dialogue is long passed.”

Local attorney Elif Beall stated that instead of deferring a vote on the Bill, the administration might have asked for more time once the Bill is passed. “Currently, the amended Bill becomes effective 6 months after it is passed.  If the administration needs more time to implement the Bill, they could have asked for the effective date to be moved out a few months — instead of trying to stop the Council from even considering the matter during a 2 month deferral.”

The county’s response included this takeaway:

Photo: A recent rally on Kauai to support Bill 2491. Center, Gary Hooser, co-sponsor of the bill. (Credit, Civil Beat)

— Sophie Cocke