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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH AN
    INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT POLICY THAT FOCUSES ON THE
    LONG-TERM HEALTH OF TEACHERS, STAFF, AND STUDENTS AND
    PRIORITIZES THE USE OF NONCHEMICAL METHODS OF PEST CONTROL
    AND REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT
    A STUDY OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF PEST CONTROL FOR COMMON
    AREAS FREQUENTED BY THE PUBLIC.



 1        WHEREAS, pests such as ants, mosquitoes, termites,
 2   centipedes, spiders, scorpions, wasps, bees, cockroaches,
 3   beetles, and rodents, as well as weeds, fungi, bacteria, and
 4   viruses threaten our health, safety, and property and must be
 5   controlled or exterminated; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the use of pesticides to control these pests is
 8   an effective and common practice, but the use of pesticides in
 9   or near schools is a serious problem with the potential to
10   cause adverse and long-lasting effects to teachers, staff, and
11   especially children who, because of their age, are at greater
12   risk than adults; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, it is recognized that pesticides cause a
15   multitude of adverse health effects such as cancer,
16   neurological disruption, birth defects, genetic alteration,
17   reproductive harm, immune system dysfunction, endocrine
18   disruption, and acute poisoning; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, in response to this problem, the Los Angeles
21   Unified School District (District) has created an Integrated
22   Pest Management Policy (Policy) that recognizes the safety and
23   health of students, teachers, staff, and the environment as
24   paramount to the use of pesticides; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, the Policy is a sustainable approach to managing
27   pests by combining biological, chemical, cultural, manual, or
28   mechanical tools or techniques, or any combination thereof to
29   minimize health, environmental, and economic risks; and

 
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 1   
 2        WHEREAS, the objective of the District is to provide for
 3   the safest and lowest risk approach to controlling pests while
 4   protecting people, the environment, and property; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the Policy focuses on long-term prevention and
 7   prioritizes the use of nonchemical methods to ultimately
 8   eliminate the use of all chemical treatments; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the District adopted the Precautionary Principle,
11   which recognizes that:
12   
13        (1)  No pesticide product is free from risk or threat to
14             human health; and
15   
16        (2)  Industrial pesticide producers should be required to
17             prove that their pesticide products demonstrate an
18             absence of the risks enumerated in third WHEREAS
19             clause above, rather than requiring that the
20             government or the public prove than human health is
21             being harmed; now, therefore,
22   
23        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
24   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
25   Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is
26   urged to establish an Integrated Pest Management Policy, based
27   on the Los Angeles model and the Precautionary Principle, that
28   focuses on the long-term health of teachers, staff, and
29   students and prioritizes the use of nonchemical methods of pest
30   control; and
31   
32        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in establishing a policy, the
33   Department is requested to consider requiring the posting of
34   large-print signs whenever the use of pesticides or herbicides
35   is used, twenty-four hours before and after such use, at all
36   entrances to treated areas that include information warning of
37   the intent to use a pesticide or herbicide, its application
38   date, the type of pesticide or herbicide used, and any other
39   pertinent health hazard information; and
40   
41        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education,
42   in developing its policy, is urged to utilize students to
43   assist in researching and proposing models using tools such as
44   the internet; and
45   
46        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
47   Bureau is requested to conduct a study of alternative methods
48   of pest control using non-chemical means for common areas

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   frequented by the public such as schools, playgrounds,
 2   pedestrian-bikeways, roadsides, riparian zones along channels
 3   adjacent to bridges; and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Legislative Reference Bureau
 6   is requested to study other municipalities worldwide on this
 7   issue to provide the Legislature with reference material for
 8   future decision-making needs and policy development; and
 9   
10        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
11   Bureau is requested to report its findings and recommendations
12   to the Legislature twenty days before the convening of the
13   Regular Session of 2001; and
14   
15        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
16   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of
17   Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the
18   Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.
19   
20 
21 
22 
23                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________