State legislators have introduced a bill that – if passed – would overrule Hawaii County’s ban on new GMO crops.
House Bill 2506 would amend Hawaii’s Right to Farm Act “to ensure that counties cannot enact laws, ordinances, or resolutions to limit the rights of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices.”
The change to the Act reads:
The right of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this State. No law, ordinance, or resolution of any unit of local government shall be enacted that abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production, and ranching practices not prohibited by federal or state law, rules, or regulations.
Legislators apparently found the Act to be a good vehicle for over ruling the county’s GMO ban, since it already protects and preserves agricultural operations “by allowing farmers, who meet all legal requirements and use accepted farming management practices, protection from unreasonable controls on farming operations and from nuisance suits which might be brought against them.”
Read the full, original article: Change in Right to Farm Act will reverse Big Island GMO ban
