U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ruled that a Kauai County ordinance that restricted plantings of biotech crops is pre-empted by state law, says KHON-TV in Honolulu. The ordinance was approved last year and slated to take effect this month. Under it, large-scale farming operations would have been required to report the presence and use of pesticides and genetically engineered crops and to create buffer zones between them and schools, homes, roads, medical facilities and waterways. Agribusiness giants Pioneer, Syngenta, Agrigenetics and BASF Plant Sciences filed the lawsuit that led to the ruling.
Lawyers for Kauai County were reviewing the rulilng, said KHON. Environmental groups said they were considering whether to appeal. “The ruling will have a ripple effect across the state,” said KHON. Maui County has a referendum in November to ban GMO crops until a health and environmental study is completed. The Big Island has banned GMO crops except papayas.