TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: December 9, 2024
Subject: Integrated Pest Management Program Update
Submitted For: Nicole Health | Hazardous Materials Programs Director
Department: Contra Costa Health-Hazardous Materials Programs
Referral No: 9
Referral Name: Monitor the implementation of the Integrated Pest Management Policy
Presenter: Nicole Heath - Program Director | Dr. Andrew Sutherland - Urban IPM Advisor
Contact: Nicole Heath | (925) 655-3200
Referral History:
The Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee (TWIC) annually reviews the County’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program and monitors the implementation of the IPM Policy.
Referral Update:
The Integrated Pest Management Advisory Committee (IPMAC) approved an addendum to decision documentation regarding vegetation management along roads, rights-of way, and Flood Control properties on July 18, 2024. IPMAC developed decision-making documents that focused on vegetation management along County roads and Flood Control properties in 2017. The documents were revised in 2018. A subcommittee of IPMAC recently worked to revise the documents in order to accurately depict current operations. The first revisionary drafts included extensive deletions to account for the disparity in operational realities between 2018 and the present.
The Subcommittee wished to retain the values noted in the 2018 versions, even though current
conditions may not reflect them. A suggestion was made to produce an addendum to the 2018
versions instead of revising them at this time. The addendum is intended to capture specific
challenges which are assumed to be temporary. Once vegetation management operations have
stabilized, a full revision of Public Works Maintenance Division decision documentation should resume in order to transparently depict how decisions are made in these operations.
The addendum describes complex challenges and makes several recommendations to the Public Works Maintenance Division. IPMAC also recommends that the Board of Supervisors “Direct the Public Works Department to prepare a report on recruitment & retention issues within the vegetation management function of the Maintenance Division. The report should address the problems and impacts identified by the Integrated Pest Management Advisory Committee and include additional context as appropriate.”
The addendum is included in the packet and provides background information that produced the recommendations. IPMAC defers to TWIC’s discretion on the format of the recommended report and to whom it should be given.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE an update about the Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) and recent recommendations from the IPM Advisory Committee and DIRECT staff accordingly.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
None.