Kauaʻi Good Neighbor Program – Participate in Our Survey!
Do you know about the Kauaʻi Agricultural Good Neighbor Program? Do you have an opinion about its value, effectiveness, or ways it could be improved? We want to hear from agricultural businesses, Kauaʻi residents, and organizations who are familiar with the Good Neighbor Program and have a stake in its future.
Click here to take the survey.
This survey should take less than 10 minutes. Responses will be aggregated. No responses will be attributed to specific individuals, businesses or organizations.
Background: In December 2013, the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (HDOA) launched the Kauaʻi Good Neighbor Program (GNP) in response to the debate concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and pesticides. The voluntary program includes standards and guidelines for restricted use pesticides (RUPs), including:
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- pre-notification before application
- reporting usage after application by participating farms
- buffer zones near certain types of properties
- access to information about RUP applications via an HDOA database
Act 45: In 2018, the Hawaiʻi Legislature passed Act 45, which requires those who use restricted use pesticides to report their use to HDOA at the end of each calendar year. HDOA must produce a summary, by county, of RUP usage and make that information available for public review.
Evaluation: The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture has contracted with the Environmental Mediation Center to re-evaluate the Kauaʻi Good Neighbor Program. The purpose of this survey is to gather input from residents, businesses, and organizations about the value of the GNP and to understand the relevance of this program in light of the requirements established by Act 45. We want to hear what worked with the GNP, gather suggestions for improvement, and assess whether best management practices could be incorporated into the Good Neighbor Program. If you have a stake in the GNP, please help us by taking this survey.
To learn more about the Kauaʻi Good Neighbor Program, please see the letter from HDOA Chair Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser requesting participation in the re-evaluation, our summary below, and the previous report from 2015.