Kauai's mayor, who vetoed the bill in October, said: "We have been told repeatedly that such a legal challenge would be filed, even as early as last summer during the first public hearing on Bill 2491. So in that sense, this action is not surprising."
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit produce seeds for commercial agricultural products. Kauai County Councilmember Gary Hooser, who proposed the bill, believes the companies are only doing what's best for their bottom line. The council voted to override the mayor's veto in November.
"For them to sue us so they don't have to tell us how much pesticides they're spraying while they tell us it's safe, is just incredible," Hooser said.
The law would also affect local farmers, some of whom, are against it.
"You talk about sustainability, you want to grow agriculture out of one side of your mouth. And then you want to restrict these tools, you want to restrict anything that we can use to become more sustainable, it doesn't work that way," said Dean Okimoto of Nalo Farms.
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