Bill Text: HI HCR129 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Atrazine Task Force

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-2)

Status: (Passed) 2013-05-01 - Received notice of Agreement and Adoption in House (Hse. Com. No. 759). [HCR129 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-HCR129-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	129
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the director of health to establish a task force to study the effects of atrazine on human health.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, more than sixty million pounds of atrazine, a weed-killing pesticide, is used annually in the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, the toxicity of atrazine is well documented and has been shown to have adverse endocrine effects in amphibians, mammals, and humans; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is evidence that atrazine exposure is associated with low sperm counts and poor motility in exposed adult men, and that pre-birth atrazine exposure is associated with low birth weight and abnormal development of the gut wall in infants; and

 

     WHEREAS, in laboratory mammals, exposure to atrazine is associated with abnormal reproductive system development, impaired prostate gland formation, and abnormal breast tissue development; and

 

     WHEREAS, in aquatic life, exposure to atrazine is associated with abnormal reproductive system development, impaired reproduction, and impaired immune system function; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledges that atrazine may have potential adverse effects on fish, including organ tissue disease, disruption to the endocrine and olfactory systems, and reduced reproductive function; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency Atrazine Monitoring Program, high levels of atrazine are also evident in drinking water systems and more than ninety per cent of the samples taken in 139 water systems had measurable levels of atrazine in both 2003 and 2004; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1991, Germany and Italy banned the use of atrazine; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2003, European regulators announced a ban on the pesticide throughout the European Union; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that a ban on atrazine would result in crop losses of only 1.19 per cent and decrease corn acreage by only 2.3 per cent; and

 

     WHEREAS, since banning atrazine nearly twenty years ago, Italy and Germany have not experienced a reduction of corn productivity or total acreage of land in production; and

 

WHEREAS, atrazine has been used for decades in Hawaii to treat sugarcane, pineapple, and more recently seed corn; and

 

WHEREAS, rainfall sweeps atrazine into rivers and streams, threatening plant and aquatic life; and

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Agriculture does not test for atrazine because of the lack of inspectors, and atrazine users are largely left to police themselves with regard to compliance with atrazine guidelines promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency that limit spraying and require setbacks from water resources; and

 

WHEREAS, tests run by the Department of Health repeatedly show that drinking water in the State, and mostly in the County of Hawaii, is contaminated with low levels of atrazine; and

 

WHEREAS, a report by the Soil/Water/Air Protection Enterprise shows that Hawaii is ranked tenth among the states for the percentage of its population exposed to atrazine in drinking water; and

 

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the State to be at the forefront of a monitoring and regulatory effort to protect Hawaii residents from the potential adverse effects of chronic atrazine exposure; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the Director of Health is requested to establish a task force to study the effects of atrazine on human health; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to serve as the chairperson of the task force and invite the following persons, or their respective designees, to serve as members of the task force:

 

     (1)  The Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture;

 

     (2)  The Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

     (3)  Two members, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

     (4)  Two members, to be appointed by the Senate President; and

 

     (5)  A representative of a community environmental group; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to provide all administrative, technical, professional, and clerical support required by the task force for matters pertaining to this measure; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to report to the Legislature its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than October 31, 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force cease to exist on June 30, 2014; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Atrazine Task Force