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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA REPORT 2013 1106 CCSA REG ITEM 10T ITEM 10.T. CITY OF MOORPARK,CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting of it-4-070 i3 - ACTION: 449/ - Q `00 MOORPARK CITY COUNC „ . '' ` . AGENDA REPORT ' "'' ' ' °i3-.3a�{o �: Sri, . e--a• TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Jeremy Laurentowski, Parks and Recre -tion Director BY: Jessica Sandifer, Management Anal - y' DATE: October 21, 2013 (CC Meeting of No -mber 6, 2013) SUBJECT: Consider Resolution Opposing the Sale, Purchase and Use of Anticoagulant Rodenticides in the City of Moorpark BACKGROUND At the City Council meeting of October 2, 2013, Mayor Parvin requested that the City Council consider an item regarding the sale and use of anticoagulant rodenticides in the City of Moorpark. Anticoagulant rodenticides are products used to combat infestations of rodents in residential and commercial properties. The most common types of rodents found in communities throughout Ventura County are the house mouse, Norway rat and roof rat. There are three types of rodenticides used to control these aboveground rodents: First Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (FGARs), Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) and acute toxicant (nonanticoagulant) rodenticides. DISCUSSION FGARs and SGARs both work by inhibiting blood clotting factors, causing the poisoned rodent to die from internal bleeding. The main difference between FGAR's and SGAR's is that FGAR's require multiple feedings by a rodent over time to obtain a lethal dose. SGAR's were developed in response to a resistance by the rodents to FGAR's. SGAR's are more toxic because they are designed to be lethal after a single feeding. The problem is that it still takes several days for a rodent to die after feeding on an SGAR, which means the rodent may revisit the bait station several times before they expire. As a result, rodent carcasses may contain residues of SGAR's many times over the lethal dose. If a non-target predator (hawks, owls, scavenging birds, foxes, coyotes, bobcats etc.) consumes the rodent carcass, they can become impacted by the rodenticide. Due to the impact on non-target predators and wildlife, in 1999 the California Department of 354 Honorable City Council November 6, 2013 Page 2 Fish and Wildlife (DFW) requested that SGARs be reevaluated by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also began reevaluating SGARs. The process is still on-going. The DPR is currently recommending that SGAR's become restricted materials which would mean they can only be applied by certified pesticide applicators and removed from the general public's use with certain agricultural exceptions. The DPR has just finished its comment period. It is uncertain when the new regulations will be put in to effect and whether or not it will be challenged. The largest producer and seller of SGAR's, Reckitt Benckiser, has been fighting the regulations. Given the amount of time it has taken for the DPR and EPA to issue new regulations regarding the use and application of SGAR's, several California cities have opted to adopt resolutions urging businesses and property owners to cease purchasing or using the poisons on their properties and to commit City staff to not using anticoagulant rodenticides as part of its maintenance program for City-owned parks and facilities. The City Council policies resolution Policy 6.12, already bans the use of anticoagulant rodenticides for City landscape maintenance agreements. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution opposing the sale and purchase of anticoagulant rodenticides in order to show support for the DPR regulations and try to effect a change while waiting for DPR to pass the new regulations. The resolution would urge Moorpark residents and businesses to cease purchasing, using or selling anticoagulant rodenticides in the City of Moorpark. In addition, the resolution would further expand the direction of Policy 6.12, by banning the use of anticoagulant rodenticides at City facilities and by City staff, in addition to the ban on use by landscape maintenance contractors. If approved, the expansion of the direction in Policy 6.12 will be included in the next update of the City Council policies resolution. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Adopt Resolution No. 2013- Attachments: Resolution No. 2013- 355 ATTACHMENT 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2013- A RESOLUTION OF CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, OPPOSING THE SALE, PURCHASE AND USE OF ANTICOAGULANT RODENTICIDES IN THE CITY OF MOORPARK WHEREAS, anticoagulant rodenticides are poisonous bait products available to the public and used to combat the infestation of rodents in business and residential properties; and WHEREAS, anticoagulant rodenticides are used as bait which the rodents ingest, causing lethal internal hemorrhaging; and WHEREAS, pets and wildlife may also become sick or die from ingesting rodenticides directly or due to secondary exposure after consuming the dead or dying rodents. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City Council urges businesses in the City of Moorpark to no longer use or sell anticoagulant rodenticides, urges all property owners to cease purchasing or using anticoagulant rodenticides on their properties, and solidifies the City's commitment to not using anticoagulant rodenticides as part of its maintenance program for City-owned parks, open space and facilities. SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause a certified resolution to be filed in the book of original resolutions. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of November, 2013. Janice S. Parvin, Mayor ATTEST: Maureen Benson, City Clerk 356