To: Local Vector Control Agencies
Attached (click here) please find “California Zika Response Activities and Resources”. This document is a ready reference and aid for local public health, vector control agencies, and health care providers in California, and serves as a supplement to “Guidance for Surveillance of and Response to Invasive Aedes Mosquitoes and Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika in California”.
Both documents are posted at: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Zika.aspx
The Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California to hold “Fight the Bite” public education event urging prevention and protection methods against mosquitos and vectors as summer months approach
Click here for more information
West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week educates California residents on preventing mosquito-borne viruses.
SACRAMENTO, APRIL 18, 2016 – Mosquitoes and warm weather go hand in hand. With summer rapidly approaching, Californians need to be aware of the serious risk West Nile virus (WNV) presents to their health.
To raise awareness and educate Californians about the threat mosquitoes and vectors pose to our communities, the California Legislature declared April 17 – 23, 2016 as West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week.
“While a lot of attention has been given to Zika virus, West Nile virus killed more Californians in 2015 than any other year before,” said Senator Bob Wieckowski, chair of the Environmental Quality Committee and author of Senate Concurrent Resolution 121. “Properly funded local mosquito abatement programs are vital to protecting public health and saving lives.”
SACRAMENTO, March 10, 2016 – A new bill introduced in the California state senate poses a significant threat to the health of residents and visitors. SB 1246 (Nguyen) would require local mosquito control agencies to provide notice to governmental agencies, school districts, chambers of commerce, and elected officials at least seven days before administering pesticides by aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles over a residential area. The proposed requirement would impair mosquito control agencies’ ability to manage mosquito populations and protect public health.
The Arrival of the Zika Virus in the U.S. Reminds Us That the First Line of Defense Is Our Own Backyards
“We need you to come take a look at something.” Ecologist Angela Brisco and technician Marc Mitchell, employees of the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, peered over the short wall of my cubicle. Whenever our staff neglected to use my “front door,” I knew something was wrong.
They showed me a single female mosquito under the microscope. It didn’t look good: I focused up and down, trying desperately to make the black and white stripes on her legs and the white “ax mark” on her thorax disappear.
“Where did you find her?” I asked.
“El Monte,” Marc said sadly. “A woman complained about being bitten during the day by mosquitoes, and I caught this one at her home.”
A recent article by MVCAC Member Joseph Wakoli Wekesa that appeared in the Winter issue of the AMCA Wingbeats.
“It was no accident that the first “service request” for relief from mosquito bites in 1904 by the Chair of the San Rafael Improvement Association was delivered to Professor Charles W Woodworth of University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley). The previous year Woodworth surveyed mosquitoes in the San Rafael salt marsh with his entomology class, which attracted the attention of local residents…”
To help answer the public’s questions and concerns about the Zika virus, UC Davis Health System is hosting a community forum on Saturday, featuring a panel of leading experts on the transmission, treatment and prevention of the disease.
One of the panelists, epidemiologist Chris Barker, BS, MS, PhD, who specializes in the surveillance and control of mosquito-borne viruses, joins Insight to explain more about mosquito transmission.
Read more and listen to MVCAC Member Chris Barker’s interview with Capital Public Radio here.
The San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District’s most tenured Board Member, Chester (Chet) Miller, passed away on February 3, 2016 at his home following a short illness with Leukemia. Chet served on the District’s Board for 28 years as the city of Tracy representative and served as the Northern San Joaquin Valley Region Trustee representative on the MVCAC Trustee Council. He was very active in District affairs and the Association, and was instrumental in initiating the District’s public outreach campaign starting in 1997, which created the District’s full time position of Community Education Specialist and now Public Information Officer. He will be sorely missed.
– Eddie Lucchesi, Manager, San Joaquin County MVCD
Click here to view Chet’s obituary
Local mosquito control agencies will continue to employ protection and prevention methods to ensure lowest level of public health threat.
SACRAMENTO, FEBRUARY 8, 2016 – As Zika virus spreads through the Americas, it is important to understand the reality of California’s exposure to the virus and the measures state and local vector control districts take to shield more than 38 million residents from this and other mosquito transmitted diseases.
Zika virus has federal, state, and local health agencies at an increased level of alertness as they inform U.S. residents about how the virus spreads and the risk of disease, areas where Zika virus is being transmitted, symptoms to look out for, and how to protect oneself from being bitten by mosquitoes.
It has the makings of a science-fiction film: the threat of deadly disease, a metropolis oblivious to the impending danger and, of course, extraordinarily hostile insects.
That’s the scenario California health officials say they’re facing as they track the arrival of nonnative mosquitoes that can carry infectious diseases.
The insects are quickly spreading across Southern California — aided by the statewide drought — and have the potential to transmit dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, all of which kill thousands of people around the world each year.
MVCAC needs your district photos!
We’re looking for MVCAC member districts to submit 1-5 pictures that exemplify something that you’ve done as part of your 2015 mosquito control efforts. This could be surveillance, control, outreach, media interviews, etc. Please supply a brief caption with each photo you submit.
Photos will be put together in a MVCAC Legislative Day slide show to give legislators a picture of mosquito control. If every agency submits just one photo we will have over 60 slides!
Please send your photo(s) to Sarah Spencer: sspencer@amgroup.us
National Mosquito Control and Awareness Week Puts Californians on High Alert
SACRAMENTO, June 19, 2015 – By now, it comes as no surprise to most Californians that the driest year in the state’s history has had a number of implications for its residents and communities. However, it may come as a surprise that as a result of these conditions, mosquitoes are prolific and their ability to spread disease is at an all-time high.
Click here to view the full article
By: Robert Ferris, CNBC News
The state’s Department of Public Health recently announced that 2014 was a record year for potentially dangerous mosquito-borne West Nile virus cases, and some mosquito-control experts are concerned about the effect that warm weather and drought will have on mosquitos in 2015.
Given that the parasitic insects like to lay their eggs in water, it may be tempting to assume that California’s severe, 4-year-old drought would make the mosquito problem better, not worse. But there are many aspects to the drought that are seen exacerbating the problem.
California’s largest city, Los Angeles, has a vast network of storm drains that carry rainwater out to the ocean via the Los Angeles River. Over time, earthquakes have damaged some of these waterways, creating small interruptions where stagnant water collects.
The mosquito that lives there, Culex quinquefasciatus, remains active all year round, laying eggs in the pools. Wetter years produce regular storms that wash out the waterways. The last few years, which have been very dry, have not provided that safeguard.
Then there’s the fact that people throughout California have taken steps to conserve or catch water. Other homeowners have stopped filling or maintaining their pools. Both cases can result in small pools of stagnant water, which in turn become an excellent home for mosquitoes.
Susanne Kluh of the Los Angeles County Vector Control District, which combats mosquitoes in order to prevent disease, said her group is trying to work with cities to strike a balance between water conservation efforts and mosquito control.
Predicting epidemics is impossible to do precisely—factors include the health of mosquito and bird populations, climate and water availability, and others—but people who work in the state’s disease control groups are already seeing insects in the air.
Kluh said she and her colleagues are already observing population numbers slightly higher than their five-year average, even though the group had been chemically treating nests all winter.
“Right now, we are closer to what our numbers would be like during the summer,” Kluh said.
Vector control agencies like Kluh’s test samples of mosquito populations for viruses. They’ve already seen one sample test positive for West Nile this year. That’s unusual for this early in the year, and it’s not a guarantee of an outbreak in the same area, Kluh told CNBC.
Aside from the dry conditions, hotter summers and milder winters are also making the problem worse lately.
“We have a lot more infected mosquitoes in the area during some of these years that have very mild winters,” said Joel Buettner, president of the Mosquito & Vector Control Association of California, an association of public agencies given the task of reducing mosquito populations and testing for viruses in animal and insect populations.
Data from other states show a similar correlation between warm winters and West Nile epidemics, including a recent study of epidemics in Dallas.
California had a mild winter, so vector control technicians had to start tackling active mosquito populations early in the season, Buettner said.
Hotter summers also make a difference. The warmer weather speeds up the lifecycles of the insects. They feed more, they metabolize the blood they feed on faster, and the viruses they carry replicate faster in their bodies. All of those factors can spread the disease more quickly.
A hot summer also can extend the mosquito season from two or three months to five months, which heightens chances of a human case. Two outbreaks in Saskatchewan, Canada, both occurred toward the tail end of a long and hot season.
Other factors may limit dangers, of course.
West Nile virus is a disease that mostly affects birds, not humans. Mosquitos become carriers of the virus when they bite an infected bird. The insect can then transmit the disease to any human it bites after that. But mosquitos can pass the disease only from bird to bird or bird to human. Biting an infected human won’t by itself make a mosquito into a carrier; only contact with an infected bird will.
That’s why a sufficient number of susceptible birds is necessary to produce fast-spreading West Nile virus epidemics, according to Dr. Bill Reisen, a professor of veterinary medicine at UC Davis. But many of the affected birds have died off, and immunity has built up among those that remain.
“What we have found is that when you have epidemics that go to fruition, such as they did in Los Angeles or Orange County, usually the following year is a pretty light year, regardless of the heat and the drought or any everything else.”
The areas most likely to suffer an outbreak in the coming years are those that went mostly untouched in recent years, and since Los Angeles was hit hard in 2014, it may have an easier go of it this year.
“Areas like Bakersfield and some other Central Valley cities didn’t have a huge year, so they might be at risk,” Reisen said.
But West Nile is only one of the mosquito-borne diseases worrying some health and disease prevention groups. More recent invasive mosquito species, such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, transmit Dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya. Those mosquito species are already in California cities, though they have not yet contributed to epidemics. But most people who watch disease-carrying insects are keeping eyes on outbreaks elsewhere, especially in areas where Californians travel.
While West Nile virus requires birds to spread, chikungunya and Dengue fever can be transferred by mosquitoes that are only biting the human population. Fighting those mosquitoes will require a different set of strategies, Kluh said. And, unlike West Nile-carrying Culex mosquitoes, Aedes mosquitoes can lay eggs individually, in spaces as small as a bottlecap.
“Everyone in the mosquito-control business in California is pretty worried about this as an inevitability,” Reisen said.
In most people, West Nile virus produces only mild symptoms, if any, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is roughly a one in five chance of developing a fever or other flulike symptoms (with fatigue and weakness that could last for months), and, usually, a less-than-1 percent chance of contracting a serious brain infection, such as meningitis or encephalitis. There are no vaccines, and no treatment other than managing symptoms at home or in a hospital, if needed.
There were 801 cases of West Nile virus in California last year, according to the California Department of Public Health. A highly unusual 561 of them were severe cases of brain infection, and 31 patients died. Health officials are unable to explain the spike in brain infections, but it’s possible that a large number of cases with milder symptoms went unreported or unrecognized by doctors.
The biggest number of cases occurred in Orange County, and the highest per-capita number was in Glenn County, where a large number of flooded rice fields provide an ideal breeding ground for the insect.
West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week educates California residents on preventing viruses transmitted by mosquitoes
SACRAMENTO, APRIL 17, 2015 – With California’s unusually warm weather and the driest year in the state’s history, Californians may see an unprecedented number of mosquito transmitted diseases in 2015.
To raise awareness and educate Californians about the public health threats mosquitoes and vectors can have on our local communities, the California Legislature declared April 19 – 25, 2015 as West Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week in California.
With 2015 marking the 100-year anniversary of California’s Mosquito Abatement Districts Act (AB 1590 enacted in 1915), local mosquito and vector control agencies need to be more diligent than ever. California experienced record-breaking West Nile virus (WNV) activity in 2014 and several exotic mosquito species capable of transmitting deadly diseases have been discovered in the last couple of years and are now permanently established in some California communities.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported 801 human cases of WNV, 561 of which were the serious neurological form of the disease, and 31 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in California since the disease was first detected in 2003. A contributing factor for the staggering number of WNV cases could be a result of the ongoing drought, which reduced the number of sources of water for birds and mosquitoes.
Invasive species capable of transmitting a number of life-threatening diseases including chikungunya, dengue, and yellow fever, are posing an increasing threat to Californians. While these diseases have not been transmitted locally in California at this point, efforts to control these mosquitoes are adding increasing challenges to vector control agencies statewide.
Predicting the level of WNV in any given year is not possible as WNV activity depends on a number of factors including climate, number and species of birds and mosquitoes in an area, as well as the level of immunity in birds to WNV. However, if California continues to experience warm temperatures, we can count on an early start to mosquito and WNV season, extending the number of months local communities and residents are at risk of contracting potential deadly diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.
“It is critical that public agencies do their job to protect nearly 38 million Californians that are at risk and exposed to mosquitoes on a nearly daily basis. Education is key to protection and prevention,” said Joel Buettner, President of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC). “It is our job to increase awareness about the severe public health threats mosquitoes pose to our state and residents. Equally as important is communicating prevention methods that can be employed to protect yourself and your local communities,” added Buettner.
To minimize exposure to mosquito bites and WNV, practice the “3 Ds:”
To increase awareness and enforce prevention and control programs statewide, the MVCAC provides support to more than 65 districts throughout California. As a result, approximately half the land area and 85 percent of California’s population are within the boundaries of a mosquito control program.
MVCAC represents special districts, other subdivisions of local government, and the state of California which are responsible for mosquito and vector control, surveillance of WNV and other vector-borne diseases, as well as public education programs to help Californians protect themselves from disease. MVCAC advocates safe, effective, and environmentally friendly methods of mosquito and vector control.
The MVCAC will be participating in a public education effort, “Fight the Bite 2015,” at the State Capitol on Thursday, April 23rd from 9:30 am – 1:00 pm.
West Nile and Mosquito-Borne Illness: An Increasing Threat
In 2014 California experienced the greatest incidence in its history of invasive mosquito activity and West Nile virus.
The Changing Environment and Climate Create a Perfect Ecosystem for New Invasive Mosquitoes in California
A 2014 UCLA study that focused on tropical and African climates indicated that higher temperatures and lower precipitation will lead to more West Nile virus infections, and that it will spread to areas that were previously unaffected.
Using Data to Fight Mosquito-Borne Illness
California has historically provided funding for mosquito research, but that eroded in 2008 due to the state’s budget crisis.
Human and Economic Impacts of Mosquito-Borne Disease
A single mosquito bite can change a life dramatically. In spite of education campaigns and admonitions to wear mosquito repellent, it is extremely difficult to change human behavior and stop mosquitoes from biting.
California Can Be an International Leader
While these past programs produced reports, plans, tools, and techniques which have helped to curb outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses, the dearth of opportunities for new research tools has left the state stagnant when it comes to developing preemptory responses to new mosquito issues.
Click here to read more
On behalf of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California NPDES Permit Coalition (Coalition), please find below the 2014 Annual Report for the Coalition, as required under the Statewide NPDES Permit for Biological and Residual Pesticide Discharges to Waters of the United States from Vector Control Applications (Water Quality Order No. 2011-0002-DWQ, as amended).
MEMORANDUM
February 9, 2014
To: MVCAC Member Agencies
Fr: Joel Buettner
Re: Data Collection on mosquito control expenditures on state lands
At our recent MVCAC Board meeting in Monterrey, we discussed next steps for implementation of AB 896 (Eggman). As you will recall, AB 896 requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to consult with local vector control districts on best management practices (BMPs) for state wildlife management areas. We will soon be meeting with the Department to discuss next steps but need your help to compile critical data beforehand.
Please click here to read the memo
Please click here to view the State Lands Report Template
83rd Annual MVCAC Conference from MVCAC on Vimeo.
Please click here to download the 2015 Chicken Order Form. Chickens are being supplied by Haley Farms in Modesto for both Northern California and Southern California. The form due dates and chicken pick-up dates are as follows:
Southern: Please return form by February 10, 2015
Northern: Please return form by April 1, 2015
Southern Region: (Haley’s)
Pick-up date: March 10th, 2015 in Modesto
Northern Region: (Haley’s)
Pick-up date: April 21st, 2015 in Modesto
While many local governments have done a good job improvising from existing CEQA guidelines and other planning tools to begin to address this issue, a significant gap exists between state regulations and the resources that most local planning agencies need to address vector issues in the planning process. To address this concern, MVCAC has developed the enclosed white paper, “How Better Planning and Use of the California Environmental Quality Act Can Prevent Mosquitoes and Vector-Borne Disease,” that discusses the benefits for developers, natural resources and public health when adding vector control considerations to local government project planning and design.
MVCAC’s White Paper presents a number of case studies that identify problems and recommended solutions specific to the local planning and CEQA review process and is intended to be a tool for local governments and other lead agencies to manage, analyze, and address the impacts of mosquito and vector breeding inherent in certain types of projects.
To view the entire White paper, “How Better Planning and Use of the California Environmental Quality Act Can Prevent Mosquitoes and Vector-Borne Disease” please click here.
View the site here
Listen here
Mosquito monitoring can prevent West Nile outbreaks, study says
By Melissa Pandika
July 17, 2013
About 100 cases of West Nile virus infection — and a dozen deaths — could have been prevented last year if public health officials in Dallas had kept track of the proportion of infected mosquitoes caught in traps, a new study says.
A detailed analysis of the 2012 outbreak in Dallas gave researchers the perfect opportunity to test a long-held theory that monitoring mosquitoes, rather than human cases, could predict epidemics and allow for early intervention. Keeping tabs on mosquitoes allows public health officials to estimate the rate of infection in the local mosquito population, as well as the mosquito population size; multiplying the two numbers produces a figure called the “vector index.” Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention thought the vector index would make it easier to see where the virus was spreading and take early action to slow or halt that spread.
West Nile virus, which is most commonly transmitted by mosquitoes, can cause fever, encephalitis and meningitis, according to the CDC. Although most people who are infected won’t display symptoms, about 1 in 5 will develop a fever with other symptoms. Less than 1% of patients will develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurologic illness. Currently, no medications or vaccines for the virus exist.
The virus first emerged in New York City in 1999. It then spread across the U.S, with the first outbreak in Dallas occurring in 2006. After a five-year lull, the virus came roaring back in 2012, infecting 7.3 out of every 100,000 residents and killing 19 people.
Dr. Robert Haley, an epidemiologist with UT Southwestern in Dallas, and his colleagues calculated the vector index for each week during the 2012 epidemic. Frequent monitoring is crucial, because symptoms normally take a week to appear and subsequent lab tests can take another two to three weeks to produce results. By then, the epidemic would have almost finished running its course.
“It can take three or four weeks before you know about people who are infected,” said William Reisen, an epidemiologist at UC Davis who was not part of the study. “By that time, there are that many more infected, and you’re far, far behind.”
Based on those figures, they used statistical models to determine that Dallas public health officials could have prevented 100 cases and 12 deaths had they intervened a week after the vector index hit its threshold. Instead, they took action only after several patients had been hospitalized.
Weather conditions in 2006 and 2012 created “a perfect storm” for a West Nile epidemic, Haley said. Within the 11-year period studied, both years had the fewest hard freeze days — when the temperature low measured less than 28 degrees Fahrenheit — and the warmest spring temperatures. Both years also saw drought punctuated by rainstorms “so there was always a little standing water around,” Haley explained.
Experts say that global warming trends forecast more epidemics. “Diseases that typically only occurred in the tropics are starting to creep northward,” Haley said. “West Nile is one of them.”
Merging surveillance with Census tract data, the researchers also found that, in both the 2006 and 2012 epidemics, cases tended to cluster around affluent, housing-dense areas with a higher percentage of unoccupied homes — not in low socioeconomic neighborhoods, as often occurs with other urban epidemics.
Haley explained that the abundance of housing in these hotspots might have provided a more hospitable environment for the common house mosquito, which carries the West Nile virus, than poorer Dallas neighborhoods, which attract less development.
“The Dallas study is a very cogent reminder that the virus is certainly still here and it’s still capable of causing a very significant public health problem,” said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, an epidemiologist at the Pennsylvania Department of Health who wrote the editorial that accompanies Haley’s study. “You don’t want to take your eye off the ball.”
Ostroff added that preventing and controlling the virus requires “an integrated vector management approach” that involves identifying potential breeding sites in the winter and spring, well before mosquito season hits. Regularly cleaning clogged gutters and maintaining swimming pools would eliminate many breeding sites, he said. Mosquito monitoring and targeted pesticide use are also key. “It’s the proverbial ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ ” he said.
Haley cautioned that his group’s findings may not apply to regions outside of Dallas, adding that the CDC recommends that each region conduct a similar study to begin developing their own prevention program. “This paper gives them ideas,” Haley said. “They can follow along and do some of the same types of things.”
In the editorial accompanying the study, Ostroff warned against complacency among policymakers and the public, which he partly blamed for the delayed response to the Dallas epidemic in 2012. Federal funding for the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity program, which distributes funds to states and some large cities for mosquito surveillance and disease prevention efforts, peaked at $35 million with the emergence of West Nile in 2000, but dropped to less than $10 million by 2012, he wrote.
But policymakers should also “invigorate” treatment options, Ostroff said, adding that almost 15 years after the first West Nile outbreak, no human virus vaccine, specific treatment, or method to disrupt the transmission cycle has been developed.
melissa.pandika@latimes.com
Twitter: @mmpandika
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just issued the following report:
The 2013-14 Budget: California’s Fiscal Outlook
The 18th annual edition of the LAO’s Fiscal Outlook—a forecast of the state’s budget condition over the next five years—shows that California’s budget situation has improved sharply. The state’s economic recovery, prior budget cuts, and the additional, temporary taxes provided by Proposition 30 have combined to bring California to a promising moment: the possible end of a decade of acute state budget challenges. Our economic and budgetary forecast indicates that California’s leaders face a dramatically smaller budget problem in 2013-14 compared to recent years. Furthermore, assuming steady economic growth and restraint in augmenting current program funding levels, there is a strong possibility of multibillion-dollar operating surpluses within a few years.
This report (52 pages) is available using the following link: http://lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2668.
Phil Isorena of the SWRCB has requested a few formatting changes to the monthly visual monitoring report. Please use the attached updated format for all future reports.
Calls and letters helped! Discussions continue in Washington, D.C.!
Special thanks to all who contacted Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer this week reiterating your strong support of H.R. 872, as well as inclusion of similar language in the FY12 Agriculture Appropriations bill. Discussion on this issue is continuing in Washington, D.C. It is still possible that there may be some legislative intervention to requirements included in the current permit. MVCAC will continue to update its members with any further developments on a possible legislative response to the NPDES permit scheduled to go into effect on November 1, 2011.
NOA Requirement
If your agency needs to receive its NOA from the SWRCB by October 31, 2011 as you may be making applications on/around waters of the U.S. immediately, please alert the MVCAC office. SWRCB staff indicated that they will expedite NOA’s for agencies that need to have the permit in place to cover their applications. Some districts know that they won’t be making any applications until spring. If your agency is going to need to receive its NOA by October 31, 2011, please e-mail MVCAC Executive Director Catherine Smith (casmith@mvcac.org) so we can provide a list to SWRCB staff to ensure the necessary NOAs are received.
NPDES Coalition Monitoring Webinar
If your agency registered individuals for Monday’s MVCAC NPDES Coalition Monitoring Webinar, you should have received information on how to sign-in from URS. The sign-in information you received can be shared with any other employees who you may want to attend. There is no cost or limit to the number of participants in the webinar. Don’t forget to complete and return the CEU sign-in sheet that has been provided. The CDPH has approved the webinar for 1.5 CEU credits. The program number is 13-00030.
SWRCB Responds to MVCAC Inquiry on 303(d) Listed Waterways
In mid-May, MVCAC sent a letter to the SWRCB for clarification on a few issues but mainly, to have clarification on applications to 303(d) or listed impaired water bodies. MVCAC received a response this week following a meeting between MVCAC representatives and SWRCB Chair Charlie Hoppin. Although the letter did not appear to give a definitive response to our question, MVCAC Legal Counsel Dick Shanahan has interpreted the letter as follows:
MVCAC has the option of formally petitioning the SWRCB (i.e., the Board members) to amend the permit, but that would likely be an unsuccessful endeavor before completion of the toxicity study. Individual districts need to develop their own plans to comply with the permit and evaluate any potential risks of permit violation in regards to 303(d) waterways. MVCAC will continue to seek more clarification but at this time, the 303(d) listed waterway provision stands as written and each individual district must determine how to proceed and evaluate its own risk and make the determination if application will be within permit requirements or no application can be made.
These issues will be discussed at the upcoming MVCAC Fall Meeting.
It is our understanding that H.R. 872 is going to be filed as an amendment to the FY12 Agriculture Appropriations legislation. It is anticipated that the Senate leadership plans to conclude action on this bill today. It is essential that all MVCAC agencies contact the local offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer this morning to share your support for H.R. 872 and its inclusion in the Agriculture Appropriations.
Senator Feinstein’s California office contacts:
Senator Boxer’s California office contacts:
If you or your employees plan on participating in the NPDES Training Webinar scheduled for Monday, October 24, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., please submit the names and e-mail addresses of all attendees to casmith@mvcac.org no later than tomorrow, Wednesday, October 19. You may have as many as employees participate as you’d like. Once we receive the names and e-mail addresses, URS will be contacting all participants with information to access the webinar.
Larvicide Sign-Up Sheet
Please download the form to indicate the larvicide products and environmental settings for which your district can perform physical monitoring of water quality parameters. Please note that only the active ingredient, not individual products, must be monitored. If you have any questions about the sign-up sheet, please feel free to contact URS staff members JR Flanders at 510-393-8136 or Bonnie DeBerry at 510-874-3053. Please forward your completed sign-up sheet to casmith@mvcac.org.
Continuing Education Units
Please note that CDPH has approved the webinar for 1.5 A CEU credits. The program number is 13-00030. The sign-in sheet will need to be completed at each site and returned to the MVCAC headquarters.
NPDES Training Moved to a Webinar!
MVCAC had originally scheduled training for visual and physical monitoring in the field in conjunction with the MVCAC Quarterly Meeting scheduled for November 2-4, 2011 in Lake Tahoe. After discussion, it was decided that to allow the training to reach more agency employees, as well as have a greater shelf life for our members’ future training needs, the training will now be held as a webinar hosted by URS. There will not be an in-person training at the Fall Quarterly meeting.
In an effort to avoid any overlap with regional meetings, the webinar is scheduled for Monday, October 24, 2011 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Please forward the name and e-mail addresses of all individuals who you would like to have access to the webinar. Once we receive the names and e-mails, URS will be contacting them with information to access the webinar. You can have as many employees as you would like to have access to the webinar.
The webinar will be hosted through AT&T Connect Meeting. Attendees will receive an e-mail with a url that is specific to the training. AT&T Connect Meeting can save an AT&T audio/video file (.vcr) that can be downloaded from its website for future playback. It should be available within a couple days after the webinar. We will also be working with AT&T Connect Meeting to convert the .vcr file to an .avi file that can be saved and played back using Windows Media Player or any other program that plays .avi files.
Please forward all names and e-mails to the MVCAC office at casmith@mvcac.org by Wednesday, October 19, 2011 so we can make sure everyone gets the sign-in information prior to Monday’s training.
Larvicide Sign-Up Sheet
URS has prepared the larvicide sign-up sheet to assist with the MVCAC NPDES monitoring program. Please use the attached form to indicate the larvicide products and environmental settings for which your district can perform physical monitoring of water quality parameters. Please note that only the active ingredient, not individual products, must be monitored. If you have any questions about the sign-up sheet, please feel free to contact URS staff members JR Flanders at 510-393-8136 or Bonnie DeBerry at 510-874-3053. Please forward your completed sign-up sheet to casmith@mvcac.org.
Manual Available
Just a reminder that the HOW-TO MANUAL FOR VISUAL AND PHYSICAL MONITORING IN THE FIELD prepared by MVCAC and URS Corporation is available for review. The How-To Manual will be used as part of the training webinar.
Updated Rules and Policies
MVCAC Board of Directors recently voted to approve a minor date change to the Association Rules and Policies Governing NPDES Permit Coalition Monitoring Program. The sole change is as follows: (2) apply for coverage under the General Permit (by filing the Notice of Intent, approving and submitting a Pesticide Application Plan, submitting other required paperwork, and paying applicable State Board fees) and be approved by the State Board for coverage under the General Permit no later than June 30, 2012. The earlier version had required an agency have their NPDES permit by November 1, 2011.
The How-To Manual for Visual and Physical Monitory in the Field, prepared by MVCAC and URS Corporation, is now available to MVCAC members.
Remember, if you have not notified the MVCAC office that you have filed your permit documents to SWRCB, please do so immediately.
Visual Monitoring Manual Now Available
The HOW-TO MANUAL FOR VISUAL AND PHYSICAL MONITORING IN THE FIELD prepared by MVCAC and URS Corporation is now available to MVCAC members.
Remember, if you have not notified the MVCAC office that you have filed your permit documents to SWRCB please do so immediately.
MVCAC delivered the following packages to Secretary Matthew Rodriquez, CalEPA and Secretary Diana Dooley, California Department of Health and Human Services Agency asking for their review of H.R. 872 and requested they take whatever appropriate steps they can within their position to seek support of H.R. 872.
NPDES REMINDER
If your agency is part of the MVCAC NPDES Coalition, please be sure to confirm with MVCAC office –casmith@mvcac.org– when your agency has completed filing its paperwork for the NPDES permit. We are keeping track of the progress!
Thank you and have a wonderful Labor Day holiday!
At yesterday’s MVCAC Summer Quarterly meeting, NPDES Committee Chair Gary Goodman referenced a website where agencies can search for impaired or assessed waterways; please see the link below:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/tmdl/integrated2010.shtml
As you know, H.R. 872 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011” has passed out of the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and is currently being “held” on the Senate Floor at the request of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) and U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (MD). H.R. 872 would eliminate the need for MVCAC members to comply with the Clean Water Act NPDES permit scheduled to go into effect November 1, 2011. MVCAC has contacted Governor Jerry Brown and Secretary Karen Ross (CA Department of Food and Agriculture) asking them to support H.R. 872 and relay that support to U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.
We need each MVCAC members to contact Governor Brown and ask him to support H.R. 872 and communicate that support immediately to Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein.
Attached is a letter for use in drafting your request.
We must communicate the importance of the passage of H.R. 872 to protect California public health and the environment, and allow mosquito and vector control agencies to continue to provide their essential services to their constituents without the unnecessary regulatory burden of complying with the NPDES permit.
This is our last chance to make this happen! If the hold on H.R. 872 is not lifted on the Senate floor by Senator Boxer and Cardin, H.R. 872 may die on the Senate floor and the NPDES permit will become a reality for all MVCAC members.
Please place the letter to Governor Brown on your agency’s letterhead and email a PDF version to Brian Turner in Brown’s Washington, D.C. office at Brian.Turner@WDC.CA.GOV; copy the MVCAC office at ataylor@mvcac.org. The MVCAC office will compile all of the letters and deliver them directly to Governor Brown’s Sacramento office.
Thank you for your support!
Request forwarded from AMCA for response from all MVCAC members.
The attachment for your guidance is located here.
As you probably know, the National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a Biological Opinion that requires EPA to institute a monitoring program for Waters of The United States that may involve listed or endangered species. EPA has requested comments from stakeholders as to the feasibility of this monitoring mandate. AMCA has submitted comments as of 20 July. Unfortunately, EPA has stated that the Agency has only received 160 comments thus far and almost all of them are from activist groups with an antipesticide agenda. This lopsided response tells the Agency that stakeholders do not consider this to be a problem. AMCA most certainly does – and so should you.
We apologize for the extremely short fuse on this, but our community needs to make it clear that a monitoring program required of EPA would eventually affect to our community badly and should not be instituted. Click here to view a copy of the AMCA comments as guidance. Revamp as you wish and submit yours to:
Again, we apologize for the short notice. Please submit comments no later than close of business Monday, July 25.
http://www.regulations.gov/
Docket Number: EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0257
SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. announced today that he has signed the following budget trailer bills:
ABx1 19 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) which contains necessary statutory changes to achieve savings assumed in the 2011 Budget Act for the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
ABx1 26 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) which eliminates redevelopment agencies and directs the resolution of their activities.
ABx1 27 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) which creates an alternative voluntary redevelopment program.
ABx1 28 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) which clarifies the obligations under existing law for out-of-state retailers to collect and remit use tax on sales of tangible personal property to California residents.
AB 102 by the Assembly Budget Committee which contains necessary statutory changes to achieve savings assumed in the 2011 Budget Act for the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), Department of Mental Health (DMH), Department of Public Health (DPH), and the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB).
AB 106 by the Assembly Budget Committee which makes statutory changes necessary to implement human services-related portions of the 2011 Budget Act.
AB 112 by the Assembly Budget Committee which contains necessary statutory and technical changes in the area of state government in order to enact modifications to the 2010 Budget Act.
AB 119 by the Assembly Budget Committee which contains necessary statutory and technical changes to implement changes to the 2011 Budget Act.
These are some of the trailer bills passed by the Legislature earlier this month. The Governor has not yet acted on the bills passed yesterday, which include the main budget bill (SB 87) and other trailer bills (AB 114, AB 117, AB 118, AB 121, SB 73, SB 89 and SB 92).
For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON PESTICIDE PERMIT TOXICITY STUDY DESIGN
Yesterday, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) staff held a public hearing on the proposed Pesticide Permits Toxicity Study Design that the Board approved earlier this year. MVCAC and URS representatives were both in attendance. Download the handout. In addition to the presentation, there was an active Q & A on the study design. The staff reported that their timeline was to begin gathering samples in the summer/fall of 2011 and into spring/summer of 2012. The attendees requested the SWRCB staff consider sharing regular updates on how the study was proceeding to allow for input prior to staff’s report out to the SWRCB in late 2012.
CDFA ANNOUNCES NOTICE OF PREPARATION
Today, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, in accordance with CEQA guidelines, announced its Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the Statewide Plan Prevention and Management Program Environmental Impact Report. Download the news release for the schedule of scoping meetings.
MVCAC just received news that H.R. 872, “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011,” today, passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on a voice vote with only two Senators opposing the bill.
H.R. 872 will now go to the full Senate floor for a vote. Discussions are already taking place with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) on when this vote will take place. MVCAC will continue to update our members on the status of this bill.
Thank you for all of your support to date on H.R. 872 – we may need you to make one last effort to secure passage out of the Senate.
This morning, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the State Budget that was passed by both houses yesterday afternoon. His veto message has been posted on the MVCAC website.
More to follow!
MVCAC Legislative Advocate Ralph Heim shared that the Assembly has passed the State Budget and trailer bills and has adjourned.
One item which may be of interest is that both the Senate and Assembly have passed the two-bill package on redevelopment agencies, ABX1 26 with a 51 to 23 vote, and ABX1 27 with a 47 to 28 vote. ABX1 26 abolishes redevelopment agencies; ABX1 27 allows redevelopment agencies to remain in existence under specific circumstances, the details of which will follow tomorrow.
MVCAC will continue to update its members on State Budget related matters as they unfold after adjournment.