The Hawaii state Department of Agriculture plans to expand statewide a voluntary program in which major agricultural companies such as Dow, Pioneer, Sygenta and BASF report the types and amounts of restricted-use pesticides that they use each month on Kauai, says Honolulu Civil Beat. Under the “Good Neighbor Program,” the companies put a 100-foot buffer zone around pesticide applications and, if requested, notify neighbors before spraying. State agriculture director Scott Enright “said he expects the program to be implemented statewide by the end of the year.”
“Enright said the expanded program is in response to widespread concerns from residents about what chemicals Monsanto and other seed companies use when they grow genetically modified crops,” said Civil Beat. Advocacy groups applauded the expansion but said disclosure should be mandatory. The Good Neighbor program does not include general-use pesticides such as glyphosate.
Civil Beat said “the program’s expansion statewide would provide a significant increase in information about what restricted-use pesticides are being used in Hawaii and in what amounts. That’s because the state only makes public information about what pesticides are sold, not how they’re actually used.”