Legislators on the island of Kauai in Hawaii have approved a bill that would restrict the use of pesticides by companies developing genetically modified crops there.

The 6-to-1 vote by the Kauai County Council came just after 3:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, at the end of an emotion-filled hearing that had started at 9 a.m. the day before.

Because its warm weather allows for three corn harvests a year, Hawaii has become a hub for the breeding of new varieties of corn and other genetically modified crops, and for the production of seeds that are shipped to the mainland. DuPont Pioneer, Syngenta, Dow and BASF grow corn on Kauai on land abandoned by sugar growers.

But the operations have aroused opposition from critics of genetically modified crops and from residents who say they have been bothered by dust and dangerous pesticides.