Thanks to a year-round growing season, the Hawaiian island of Kauai is a popular place for biotech companies to work on developing genetically modified (GM) crops. At least some of those crops, however, are grown to test the effectiveness of their pesticide-resistant genes — a fact that has led to numerous protests by islanders in recent months. On Wednesday, the Kauai County Council voted 6 to 1 to require agricultural companies to disclose the types of chemicals they use. The bill would establish distance restrictions to keep pesticides from being sprayed too close to schools, hospitals, waterways and residential areas. The bill originally also would have limited GM crop planting, but were removed from the bill after companies said they would challenge the rules in court, Ag Professional reports. The law will take effect in nine months, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. It will impact the island’s heaviest users of restricted-use pesticides, including Kauai Coffee Co., and four biotech companies with operations there: Syngenta, DuPont-Pioneer, Dow and BASF.