LIHUE — Bill 2491 has made its way to Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s desk. County Legislative Assistant Jenelle Hughes confirmed the Office of the County Clerk had completed its revisions of the final draft, which was transmitted to the mayor’s
LIHUE — Bill 2491 has made its way to Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s desk.
County Legislative Assistant Jenelle Hughes confirmed the Office of the County Clerk had completed its revisions of the final draft, which was transmitted to the mayor’s office Thursday afternoon.
Carvalho has until Halloween — 10 working days from today — to sign, not sign or veto the bill.
Kauai County Council Chair Jay Furfaro said that Bill 2491 has been a “true example of the democratic process.”
In total, the council convened for nearly 100 hours on the proposal, introduced in June by council members Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum.
More than 4,000 pieces of testimony — both verbal and written — were received.
“Numerous hours were spent considering public testimony and also receiving expert information from key resource people such as health care physicians, scientists, lawyers and stakeholders of the bill,” Furfaro said.
The bill passed 6-1 early Wednesday morning, with Councilman Mel Rapozo as the lone dissenting vote. Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura, who voiced her approval of a deferral during the meeting, voted silent.
Bill 2491, which affects Kauai’s five heaviest users of restricted use pesticides, will go into effect nine months after it becomes law.
In his statement, Furfaro said the work is not finished.
“The discussion on these issues need to continue,” he said. “They need to be addressed by the state, who is responsible for proper enforcement and inspection of pesticide use.”
In an effort to fund such assistance, Furfaro submitted an appropriation bill of $555,000 for inclusion in the 2014 Kauai County Legislative Package.
“It’s my hope that our state legislators will acknowledge the community’s plea for enforcement and move forward in consideration of this bill,” he said.
