Syngenta Seeds, Inc. v. County of Kauai

MEMORANDUM

In this action, Plaintiffs-Appellees challenge Kauai County Ordinance 960, which regulates pesticides and genetically engineered (GE) plants. The district court granted summary judgment in Plaintiffs’ favor, finding that Ordinance 960 is impliedly preempted by Hawaii laws addressing pesticides and potentially harmful plants. Defendant the County of Kauai (County) and Intervenors Ka Makani Ho’opono, Center for Food Safety, Pesticide Action Network North America, and Surfrider Foundation (collectively, Defendants) appealed.

Our concurrently filed opinion in Syngenta v. County of Kauai, Nos. 14-16833, 14-16848, addresses and decides all issues on appeal except for one: whether Ordinance 960’s genetically modified organism (GMO) reporting provision is impliedly preempted by state law. The district court held that it was. We affirm.

I.

The purpose of Ordinance 960 “is to establish provisions to inform the public, and protect the public from any direct, indirect, or cumulative negative impacts on the health and natural environment of the people and place of the County ... by governing the use of pesticides and genetically modified organisms.” Kauai County Code (KCC) §…