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Home My WebLink AboutCC Resolution 12228 (Pest Management Policy)RESOLUTION NO. 12228 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ADOPTING AN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT POLICY BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Rafael as follows: WHEREAS, the San Rafael City Council desires to manage the use of pesticides used by the Department of Public Works in the maintenance of parks, landscaped areas and essential public lands; and WHEREAS, all reasonable steps should be taken to maintain the health of our community, to the benefit of all residents and guests; and WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael is committed to closely evaluating the impact of its operations upon our environment, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of San Rafael does hereby adopt the attached Integrated Pest Management Policy, labeled Exhibit `A'. I, JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of said City on the 2°a day of April, 2007, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None /1, JE NE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk 12 u �— �a� Exhibit A CITY OF SAN RAFAEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Policy No. Subject: Inteqrated Pest Manaqement Policy Resolution No. Issue Date: Revision Date: March 2007 Prepared By: Art Gibney Approved By: Ken Nordhoff, City Manaqer Integrated Pest Management Program The City of San Rafael Public Works Department is committed to a comprehensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program guiding the management of its parks, landscaped areas, and other essential public lands. The purpose of this IPM program is to ensure and enhance the health, safety and welfare of citizens, visitors, and City staff by clearly defining the City's pest management strategy, the priorities for administering this strategy, and the various means by which these priorities may be realized. Public access to records and information relating to the City's pesticide use is an essential component of a successful IPM program, and San Rafael is fully committed to providing all pertinent information to the public in a timely, comprehensive, and understandable manner. The Public Works Department realizes that some pesticides are potentially hazardous to human health and the environment, and shall administer this IPM program with a focus on long term suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health, non -target organisms, and the environment. Least toxic pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates such a need, pursuant to the provisions of this policy. Scope of IPM Policy This policy governs not only Department of Public Works employees, but also landscape contractors hired by the Department and persons acting under the authority or on behalf of the Department in the care and maintenance of City parks, landscaped areas, and other essential public lands. Although it is understood that the term "pesticide" is a general term that includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, & etc., the primary focus of this policy is to address the City's use of herbicides. The City's use of other types of pesticides is extremely infrequent and limited, making their inclusion in the primary focus of this policy less essential. However, this policy does define the use of non -herbicidal pesticides by the Public Works Department. It is entirely possible that in the future, this policy may be broadened to specifically include the use of all pesticides by all departments within the City of San Rafael, and may also include all pesticide use inside public buildings within the Corporate Limit. Page 1 of 6 As the City plans for the development of new parks and landscaped areas, or the rehabilitation of existing areas, specific attention will be directed toward including specifications that eliminate or reduce the need for chemical pesticides (e.g., mow strips next to fencing, covering all new planting areas with mulch, etc.). Integrated Pest Management Coordinator The Parks Superintendent shall be designated as the IPM Coordinator. The IPM Coordinator is primarily responsible for implementing the IPM Policy and coordinating efforts to implement IPM techniques within the Public Works Department. The Coordinator is responsible for communicating goals and policy decisions to appropriate City staff and contractors, as well as ensuring proper training of all employees involved with the IPM program, and all contractors who perform landscape maintenance on the City's behalf. Only individuals specifically designated by the IPM Coordinator as Pesticide Applicators shall be permitted to apply pesticides on City parks, landscaped areas, and other essential public lands. Applicators shall possess a Qualified Applicator Certificate or Qualified Applicator License, issued by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The IPM Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that pesticide use is recorded and made available for public review pursuant to the provisions of this policy. Education and Training of Staff Education and training of personnel is critical to the success of this IPM program. Employees involved in the maintenance of the City's parks, landscaped areas, and other essential public lands, or with the purchasing, storage, handling, and application of pesticides shall receive all the mandated, necessary, and reasonable training required to perform such work in an efficient and safe manner, consistent with the provisions and intent of this policy. Continuing Education Unit (CEU) training in IPM and training in the use of non -chemical methods of pest control are important to a successful program. In addition to formal training, the City shall provide "Safe Handlers" training to all staff assisting in the application, storage or handling of pesticides or pesticide -related equipment. To the greatest extent practicable, City staff will ensure that all contractors hired to perform IPM related work on the City's behalf have received appropriate education and training. The Public Works Department is dedicated to providing adequate funding and budget planning to maintain training and educational opportunities for all employees. Use of Alternatives to Herbicides The City is fully committed to the use of pesticide alternatives whenever practicable. Currently, the Parks Division utilizes the application of mulch materials to discourage weed growth and encourage plant health. An agreement between the City and its contract arborist specifies the provision of mulch material generated in the course of the Page 2 of 6 tree maintenance contract. This mulch material is utilized by the Parks Division as a first line of defense against the proliferation of weeds. The Parks Division also uses a weed torch as a post -emergent weed control. In City playgrounds and picnic table areas, where the use of traditional herbicides is not permitted pursuant to this policy as well as past practice, landscape maintenance crews utilize propane weed torches to burn and discourage weed growth. Extreme care must be exercised with the use of weed torches to avoid touching off unwanted conflagrations, so their use is limited by site and environmental conditions. Exempt Herbicides The Public Works Department is currently exploring the feasibility of using alternative herbicides such as FIFRA exempt products (herbicides exempted from regulation by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act), especially in parks, picnic areas, and other areas with high pedestrian interface. These exempt herbicides are usually also approved for organic food production by the National Organic Program (NOP). For educational purposes only, the City will display informational signs during application of environmentally safer, exempt herbicides. The City of San Rafael shall strive to keep informed about new developments in pesticide alternatives and implement them whenever possible. Criteria for Selection and Use of Herbicides There shall be no non-exempt herbicide applications permitted within City playgrounds, picnic table areas, and on the grounds of City Hall and the Library. No herbicide applications shall be permitted on turf areas except in the maintenance of tree wells (a weed free zone around each tree), and certain landscape facilities (irrigation controllers, valve boxes, light fixture poles, & etc.). It is understood that a completely weed free landscape environment is not a goal to which the City shall aspire. The Public Works Department shall maintain landscaped areas reasonably weed free, to preserve the function, and reasonable aesthetic appearance of public areas and City facilities. With this goal in mind, and considering the Parks Division staffing levels and the division's ability to provide fundamental services, the Public Works Department shall select herbicides of the least toxic formulation from the list of Approved Use Products included in this policy. Herbicides shall be used only after all other non -pesticide means of weed control have been utilized or have been determined to be not feasible in a particular application due to site factors, ability of staff to provide a particular function or service, or other pertinent factors. Application of herbicides shall comply with the provisions of this policy. As with the criteria for selection and use of all pesticides, the selection and use criteria for herbicides shall conform to standard IPM principles. No product from the Approved Use list shall contain any of the following: • Pesticides classified as Toxicity Category I and Category II by the USEPA Page 3 of 6 • Carbonate and organophosphate pesticides • Type A or B (known or probable) carcinogens, as well as mutagens and reproductive toxins • Persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals (PBT) Approved Use Products 1. All FIFRA Exempt and NOP approved herbicides 2. Glyphosate (e.g., Roundup Pro, Aquamaster) 3. Isoxaben (e.g., Gallery 75 DF) 4. Oryzalin (e.g., Surflan WDG) 5. Other Toxicity Category III (Caution) herbicides, if approved by the Operations and Maintenance Manager at the request of the IPM Coordinator, providing that the requested herbicide complies with the provisions of this policy Exemption Process If the IPM Coordinator accepts a recommendation from the Pest Control Advisor that a pesticide outside of the Approved Use list should be utilized, the IPM Coordinator shall submit a written request to the Operations and Maintenance Manager for approval. The Manager shall approve such requests only if the IPM Coordinator has documented in writing: 1) a compelling need to use the pesticide, 2) a good faith effort to find alternatives to the particular pesticide, 3) that effective, economic alternatives to the particular pesticide do not exist for the proposed use, and 4) that the recommended pesticide is the least toxic pesticide available to control the target pest. Exemptions shall be granted on a case by case basis and shall apply to a specific pest problem for a specific and limited time, with the selection and application of such pesticides conforming to the spirit and intent of this policy. Notification of Pesticide Applications The Department of Public Works shall notify the public of pesticide applications at specific locations. The locations requiring notification shall be maintained on a list (as Attachment A to this policy) and updated as necessary. Notification locations shall be those places where there is a high level of public contact with the landscape. Notification shall be required at those sites listed in Attachment A. Notification shall be accomplished by posted signs at reasonable entry point locations. Notices shall include the product name, EPA Registration # (if applicable), and contact phone number for more information. Notices shall be posted prior to pesticide application and shall remain in place for at least 24 hours. FIFRA Exempt, NOP approved, or other such non-toxic or botanical pesticides shall be exempt from these notification requirements. Record Keeping of Pesticide Applications The IPM Coordinator shall be responsible for maintaining records of all pesticide applications on City property performed by the Department of Public Works, or by contractors or persons authorized to apply pesticides on behalf of the Department of Public Works. The City shall maintain these records for a period of four (4) years, and shall make the information available to the public, upon request. Application records Page 4 of 6 shall include at least the following information: site of application, date of application, target pest, name of the product and active ingredient of the pesticide(s) applied and EPA registration number, amount of product applied, and the pesticide signal word. In addition, IPM records shall include a list of all exemptions granted, as well as the written justifications developed for the consideration of those exemptions. The Public Works Department shall strive to make this information available in a prompt and efficient manner with the understanding that its provision is not only the legal right of any member of the public, but also a critical component of a successful IPM program. Non -herbicidal Pesticide Use The City of San Rafael's use of non -herbicidal pesticides is extremely infrequent. As the Public Works Department's use of regulated non -herbicidal pesticides is limited only to insecticides, and as the Public Works Department routinely opts for alternative control of insects thereby contracting for the application of chemical pesticides only two times in the past three years with both applications being direct soil applications rather than foliar spray, therefore, the Public Works Department shall likewise continue to limit its use of non -herbicidal pesticides. When the IPM Coordinator determines a need for applying a non -herbicidal pesticide, a recommendation and request shall be made to the Operations and Maintenance Manager for approval. The Manager shall approve such requests only if the IPM Coordinator has documented in writing: 1) a compelling need to use the pesticide, 2) a good faith effort to find alternatives to the particular pesticide, and 3) that effective, economic alternatives to the particular pesticide do not exist for the proposed use, and 4) that the recommended pesticide is the least toxic pesticide available to control the target pest. The public notification provisions of this policy shall also govern the application of non - herbicidal pesticides. Exemption To This Policy An exemption to this pesticide policy will be made in order to control the proliferation of biting or stinging insects such as yellow jackets, wasps, mosquitoes, and other similar pests. Generally, the control of these insects is administered by the Marin -Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District. In addition, the City will exempt any governmental entity from the provisions of this policy whose authority pre-empts that of the City. Page 5 of 6 Attachment A Locations requiring public notification for pesticide applications: 1. Albert Park & San Rafael Community Center 2. Bernard Hoffman Field 3. Boyd Park 4. Falkirk Cultural Center 5. Freitas Park 6. Gerstle Park 7. Munson Park 8. Oleander Park 9. Peacock Gap Park 10. Pickleweed Park & Community Center 11. Ranchitos Park 12. Russom Park 13. Santa Margarita Park 14. Shoreline Park 15. Spinnaker Point I, II, III, IV 16. Sun Valley Park 17. Terra Linda Recreation Center 18. Victor Jones Park Page 6 of 6