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4C - Update on the Integrated Pest Management ProgramAttachment B ,,,~ CITY OF BOULDER CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM NIEETING DATE: June 4, 2002 (Agenda Item Preparation Date: May 29, 2002) DO NOT REMOVE - PRAB File Material AGENDA TITLE: Update on the Integrated Pest Management Program REQUESTING DEPARTMENT: Christine Andersen, Deputy City Manager for Environmental Services Office of Environmental Affairs Open Space/Mountain Parks Department Parks and Recreation Department Public Works Department FISCAL IMPACT: None at this time. ~ ,,,,, PURPOSE: Staff will update City Council on the status of the cuy's Integrated Pest Management Program, progress made on the recommendahons of the Envuonmental Management Audit, Apnl 2001, and discuss the outcome of the May 20, 2002, Pazks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) discussion of the City Council pesticide moratonum BACKGROUND: The City of Boulder established an Integrated Pest Management Pohcy m 1993. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision malung process wtuch selects, mtegrates, and implements pest controi strategies to prevent or control pest populations Integrated Pest Management uses a "whole systems approach," looking at the target species as rt relates to the enure ecosystem In choosing control strategies, mminuzmg impacts to human health, the environment, and non- target orgamsms are considered Through the Environmental Management Audit process, City Council supported the approach laid out m the September 19, 2001 WIP memo, which is to conhnue usmg an mtegrated approach to pest management and reduce pesucide usage where possible City staff follows the IPM hierarchy of prevenhon, monitormg pest populations and treanng when threshold populanon5 are reached When treatment is warranted, mechamcal, cultural and biological options are tned first, wrth pesncides bemg the treatment of last resort ~ IY -C AGENDA ITEM # PAGE ~ ~ ~.. ~ A cntical component of the city IPM program is puhhc outreach and education Less than 14% ,Y of the land wuhm Area I is owned by the city of Boulder Staff recogmzes that m order for sigmficant c6anges m pesticide use m laodscape mamtenance to occur m the urban area, pnvate landowners must also be willmg to follow mtegrated maoagement pract~ces City staff has commumcated with City Council regardmg the ciry's IPM program and pesticide use regularly, as demonstrated by the followmg t~melme Feb 13, 2001 - City Council Study Session on Env~ronmental Management Audit Apnl 2001 - Envuonmental Management Audit Completed May 16, 2001 - WIP memo to Ciry Council on results of Enviro Mgmt Audrt June 13, 2001 - Open House on Enviro Mgmt Audit recommendaaons & city IPM program September 19, 2001 - WIP memo to City Council, update on staff use of pesticides Apnl 2002 - City Council passes motion declazmg moratonum on peshcide use (see text below) Apri124, 2002 - WIP memo to City Council on impacts of moratonum and approval for specific treatments On Apnl 16`h, 2002, City Council passed a motion establishmg a moratonum on the ground apphcahon of pesucides and herbicides withm 50 ft. of creek comdors and m the Civic Complex (bounded by 9th and 13th and Arapahoe and Canyon) until the IPM update comes back to Council on June 4th Staff provided mformauon to City Council on pest control actrvities planned withm the areas of °"~ the moratonum m the Apn125 WIP memo Staff has no more ground-apphed chemical treatments planned for turf or shrubs m the Civic Center Complex area for the remamder of the season If necessary for control of ash sawfly, staff would spray ash trees with tnsecticidal soap (EPA Toxicity Category N) The area does contam a populauon of Norway rats and staff is concemed about the potential health hazards posed by the rats Staff does not mterpret the moratorium to apply to rat control in the Civic Center Complex Other pests of possible co~cern mclude yellow ~ackets, hornets and wasps which may occur be present m this azea Staff does have concems about the moratonum on herbicide apphcauon around waterways and how to proceed Noxious weeds and tree pests aze a ma~or concern m these areas Staff will present examples of azeas where noxious weeds and tree msects are a problem, mformahon on the ma~or weeds and msects and control techmques that are available and effechve ANALYSIS: Integrated pest management is a complex program Several city departments aze mvolved m the pract~ce of IPM, mcludmg • Downtown and Umversiry Hill Manageme~t D~vision (mcludmg Parkmg Services) • Fire • Housmg and Human Sernces • Open Space/Mountam Parks -V- G ~ AGENDA ITEM # PAGE I 9 • Parks and Recreation (includmg Athletics, Boulder Reservoir, Environmental f°"° Resources, Flaurons Golf Course, Forestry, Recreation Centers and Urban Parks) `•° • Public Works (mcluding Airport, Facilities and Asset Management (FAM), Greenways, Transportation & Utilities Mamtenance and Water & Waste Water Treatment Plants) IPM efforts m the ciry are managed through the IPM Interdepartmental Coordmation Group representmg all affected departme~ts so that policy implementation and resoarce mformatioo can be effecuvely shared The city of Boulder refece~ces pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) categones for peshcide toxicity which aze based on acute oral, dermal, mhalation, eye and skm irntation studies and use a signal word for classification (Danger, Warnmg, Cautron) The signal word is determmed by the most severe toxicity category assigned to tbe five acute toxicity studies or by the presence of special msert mgredients as related to apphcator exposure The different toxicity categones are based on the LD50, the dose (in milligrams of substance per kilogram of body weight) that kills 50% of the test ammals m a standard assay Acute toxiciry refers to the immediate effects (0-7 days) of exposure to a pestrcide The city has hmited use of EPA Toxicity Category I and II products to spec~fic apphcations that mclude Spectro 90, a Category I fungicide used on the golf course greens to combat anthacnose leaf spot, brown patch and dollaz spot, which impair the playabihty of the greens In addition, staff is mvesugatmg through pilot application the use of biopesticides NEEM and Burn-Up NEEM is a Category II substance derrved from the NEEM tree and is hoped to be effecuve ,~ against hlac/ash borer Burn-Up is a horticultural vmegar, with eye hazazd consistent with EPA .,,,, Category I designahon, which is bemg tested for effecuveness agamst weeds m park azeas The updated IPM pohcy requires department head approval for use of products m EPA Category I and II. There is a difference m overall pesucide use m developed urban azeas versus natural areas As demonstrated m the followmg graph, peshcide use can vary from year to year as noxious weed mfestauons are idenhfied and as addihonal property is acquired Where Pesticides are used 400 350 y 300 ~ 250 -° 200 f6 150 ~ 100 50 0 Year ~ -~ Natural Lands -t Other city property - 1v-C '"A AGENDA ITEM # PAGE ~ 8 ~ 1999 2000 2001 Between urban and natural lands owned by the city, there are at least 37 plant species that are ~ considered noxious weeds and listed on the State of Colorado Noxious Weed List The city has a legal responsibility to controi these weeds ~ Update on Implementation of Environmental Management Audit Recommendations The En~ironmental Management Audit mcluded a hst of recommendations to improve and strengthen the ctty's Integrated Pest Management Program Implementmg the recommendations is a multi-year mitiahve Through the 2002 Budget Process, staff recerved approval for some items with budgetary impacts Recommendations with no budgetary impact have been mcluded m workplans The items hsted below aze bemg implemented m 2002 • Pazks Division staff is upgradmg the imgahon system to a Motorola Master Computenzed Controller System Over $350,000 is bemg spent m 2002 and addihonal $19Q000 is pro~ected m the 2003 budget This impacts the IPM program for Parks by providm~ the basis for overall plant health • Parks Mazntenance, Forestry and Plamm~g staffs aze mcludmg reviews for soil amendments, imgation systems and IPM m all new park pro~ects, such as Valmont City Park, Foothilis Commumty Pazk, Eaton Park, Lover's Hill Pazk and the North Boulder Recreation Center • Pazks Staff has drafted Mamtenance Standards for urban pazks that address turf, irngation, horticultural, trash and snow removal for at least three classifications of parks Finai Mamtenance Standards will be developed through a public meehng process m the summer of 2002 Inciuded m the standazds will be treatment thresholds for weed and pest populations and whether or not herbicides would be considered as a control treatment • A consultant has been retazned to develop landscape and water use guidehnes and standards ''"'' for medians and pubhc nghts of way • Staff inihated a"median crack sealmg" pro~ect, sealmg cracks between curb and stamped concrete to lower mamtenance needs and reduce the need for herbicide treatments Medians m the south part of the ciry have been sealed to date • The position of Crty IPM Coordmator was established to coordmate all city IPM pracuces, establish goals and asstst m developmg and implemenung departmental IPM • The city-wide IPM Policy update was completed m Apnl 2002. • A city IPM hodme, hstiog pesticide apphcations on city property, was mitiated m Apnl • A staff traimng sess~on was held m March 2002 on Best Management Practices for pnority weeds • A session on IPM will be mcluded m the Parks seasonal staff trammg, June 2002 Ongoing Integrated Pest Management Practices The followmg rtems aze only some of the ongomg IPM practices Plarit Health Care-City Forestry considers proper species selechon and species diversity proper tree placement and systematic prunmg that helps avoid potenhal msect and disease problems In urban parks plant selection, soil prepazation for ~ood fertility and attention to soil compaction problems are the focus through use of soil amendments, topdressmg and aeraaon to improve turf health ~V-C ..u AGENDA ITEM # PAGE o~l f f"' GIS-City Forestry is completmg a GIS mventory of the 10,000 trees on urban parklands to a~d `~ in momtonng and t~mely response to threats to the urban forest Open Space/Mountam Pazks and Pazk staff are usm~ GPS umts to accurately map weed mfestations and the treatments apphed to those azeas Educatio~City Forestry provides mformation on tree pests on the Internet to aid homeowners m recognizmg and treatmg problems as they develop Open Space/Nlountam Pazks staff provides educaaon to the publ~c at the Farmer's Market and at trailhead displays Rarige of Control Strate i~es-Parks uses mechamcal, cultural, biological, and chenucal treatments to treat and limit the spread of noxious weeds and eradicate small populaUOns Greenways hued a seasonal crew of mterns to manage nox~ous weeds along the Greenways trails Methods used th~s year are mowmg timely for tazget weeds, hand-pullmg, weed wrenchmg, removal and stump gnndmg of Russian olives, and revegetatio^ Transportation Mamtenance utilizes mowmg and strmg trimmmg as the mam weed control method m medians Staff makes spot herbicide apphcauons when needed Open Space/Mountam Parks staff uses a vanety of IPM strategies to control noxious weeds, mcludmg hand-pulling, mowmg grazmg and herbicide apphcations Herbicides are apphed the manner most suitable to the weed mfestahon (wick, spot or broadcast) Staff is conhnually lookmg for add~tional tools to 5ght weeds and pests This yeaz two small "flame weeders" are bemg tned m urban parks Staff will be usmg horticultural vmegaz ("Bum-Up") to Cest its effectiveness Staff conducted a demonstration of a steam weed killer on several weed species ~ ~ Research Projects Staff is cooperahng with the Umversity of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Namral Resources Conservaaon Service and the Bureau of Reclamat~on on mtegrated weed control techniques Staff expenments with prescribed fire, flame-throwers, goats and biological control, and will contmue to implement every av:ulable alternahve to chemical control of noxious weeds Board Recommendations: On April 11, 2002, the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) passed a resoluhon askmg the Parks and Recreahon Advisory Boazd to consider imposmg a moratonum on the use of pesticides m the Civic Center Complex, defined here as the area bounded by Arapahoe Avenue, Canyon Boulevard, 9`h Street and 13`h Street, as soon as possible. May 20, 2002 PRAB passed a motion • Supportmg continuahon of the IPM program for Parks Recommendmg a study session m August or September to review the draft IPM plan for Pazks, Best Management Practices and Maintenance Standards Endorsmg a conhnuation of the City Council moratonum on ground spraymg m Civic Center Pazk and the 50 ft buffer azound waterways until the study session m August or Sep[ember and expandmg the moratormm to mclude aerial spraymg of trees m ~ 1V-G AGENDA TI'EM # PAGE a.,1 ~ Civic Center Park and withm the waterway buffer, except with EPA Toxicity ,,,~ Category IV compounds PUBLIC COMMENT AND PROCESS The IPM program and pesticide use have been reviewed and discussed m numerous forums m the city of Boulder, mcludmg the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) and Parks and Recreauon Advisory Board meetings as referenced above A study session with the PRAB, EAB and other appropr~ate boards is scheduled for August or September 2002 This ~tem is bem~ heard at this public meetmg and advertised in the Daaly Camera STAFF RECOMMENDATION: 1 Contmue implementation of the Environmental Management Audit workplan 2 Staff supports the City Council moratonum on ground spraymg m the Civic Center Complex pendmg the outcome of the study session m the fall 3 Staff does not recommend continuation of the moratonum in the creek corndors Instead, staff recommends allowmg treatments m the creek comdors with established IPM critena for pest management of nox~ous weeds and tree pests Approved By Ronald A Secrist City Manager ATTACHMENTS: A Updated Environmental Audit Recommendauons ,~.., I V - ~. .~w, AGENDA ITEM # PAGE ~ ~