WAILUKU (AP) — A state lawmaker from south Maui plans to draft a bill for the next legislative session to appease both residents who oppose the burning of cane fields and the company that burns them.
The Maui News reports (http://bit.ly/1JOjNeJ ) that Rep. Kaniela Ing says he will propose a bill that will provide incentives for Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., the state’s last sugar plantation, to reduce the effects of cane burning smoke and to use its lands for alternative crops
Ing says he was prompted to act by a lawsuit filed last week by the group “Stop Cane Burning” and three Maui residents that challenges the constitutionality of the cane burning permits issued to HC&S. The state Department of Health is the sole defendant in the suit.