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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0489.340 2018-2020 County of Hawai`i c°•'�� ,+,, Phone: (808)961-8564 Council District 9- ��% (808)887-2069 North and South Kohala Email lirn.ric hards'lhcz�xiicauaztv. v Chair: Committee on Agriculture, •+;;`rte t�� Vice Chair: Committee on Finance f OF•1{i Water, Energy, &Environmental Management HERBERT M. "TIM" RICHARDS, III HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL District 9 25 Aupuni Street, Ste. 1402, Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 DATE: November 13, 2019 TO: Aaron S.Y. Chung, Council Chair and Members of the Hawaii County Council FROM: Herbert M. "Tim"Richards, III, Council Member m. Council District 9 -North and South Kohala SUBJECT: Bill 101 Aloha! Attached please find the following for your review and consideration in relation to Bill 101: • August 31, 2019 letter from California Invasive Plant Council to County of Ventura Comm. NVI Ref. To: Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Ref. Date NOV 2 0 2019 1442-A Walnut St.,4462 Berkeley,CA 94709 P a (510)843-3902 �. fax:(510)217-3500 A L www.cal-pc.crg CALIFORNIA INVASIVE FLAW COUNCIL Board of Directors August 31,2019 Gina Darin,President California Dept.of Water Resources Board of Supervisors Doug Gibson,Vice President County of Ventura San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy 625 West Hillcrest Drive Steve Schoenig,Treasurer Thousand Oaks,CA 41360 Col.Dept:offish&Wildlife(retired) Laura Pavliscak,Secretary Dear Supervisors, Freelance Ecological Consultant Valerie Cook-Fletcher I am writing on behalf of the California Invasive Plant Council to comment on the California Dept of Fish&Wildlife importance of herbicides as a tool for controlling invasive plants in natural areas. Jason Giessow This is in response to the County of Ventura and other jurisdictions reevaluating Dendra,Inc their use of glyphosate,the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide,due to Bill Hoyer concerns over environmental impact,public health and liability.Cal-IPC would USNavy,Son Nicolas Island like to share our view from the perspective of land management. Drew Kerr Invasive plants have significant impact on California,as they do across the globe. San Francisco Estuarylnvasive The state's BiodlversityInitiative and WildlifeAction Plan both spell out the impacts Spartina Project Ed King of invasive plants to our unique natural heritage and urge action to reduce these Placer County Agriculture Department impacts.Recent catastrophic wildfires highlight the role of invasive plants as fuels Maria Knight that increase risk.Damage to agriculture(including grazing and timber lands), Klamath National Forest(retired) recreation,and water resources is also of major concern.Interactions with climate Tanya Meyer change are making matters worse. Yolo County Resource Conservation District Cal-IPC is a science-based nonprofit organization formed by land managers and Julia Parish research ecologists in 1992 to protect the state's environment and economy from American Conservation Experience invasive plants.We maintain a statewide list of invasive plants and the online Heather Schneider CalWeeclMapper database.We have produced reference volumes including Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands(2000,UC Press)and the Wildland Weed Baldeo Singh Worker's Handbook(2004)and we distribute more recent publications such as Sacramento Conservation Corps Weed Control in Natural Areas in the Western United States(2013,UC Dept.of Lynn Sweet Agriculture and Natural Resources).Our work is funded by public agencies UC Riverside Center for Conservation Biology including the California Wildlife Conservation Board,the National Fish&Wildlife Marcos Trinidad Foundation,the US Fish&Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service as well as by Audubon CenteratDebs Park,LosAngeles private conservation foundations. Cal-IPC promotes Integrated Pest Management(IPM)as a holistic approach to Student Liaisons controlling invasive plants.(The California Dept.of Pesticide Regulation presented Marlee Antill,Cal Poly Pomona Cal-IPC with an"IPM Achievement"Award in 2015.)An IPM approach uses a range Guy Gabriel Hernandez,Col Poly Pomona of strategies,including prevention(preventing pests from being introduced in the Marina LaForgia,UC Davis first place)and early detection(so that management actions can be taken before Noah Teller,UC Riverside a pest is widespread).An IPM approach also uses a range of tools for managing pests,including physical tools(like mowing),biological tools(like grazing), (Affiliations for identification only] cultural tools(like fire),and chemical tools(herbicides).For any given management situation,these tools are used in combination as determined to be most effective and safe. Herbicides are an essential tool in the IPM toolbox. We are currently working with the University of California to develop best practices for controlling invasive plants using non-chemical methods.This aims to help land managers and decision makers assess all management options,choosing appropriate non-chemical approaches where they will be effective and safe (and affordable),while recognizing that not all invasive plant management can be implemented effectively with a fully non-chemical approach. Each tool used to control invasive plants has advantages and disadvantages.Herbicides have unique j advantages in many situations and are used responsibly as part of an IPM approach by many land management agencies.The preponderance of agencies and land managers—knowledgeable professionals dedicating their careers to environmental protection—employ herbicides for restoration as an effective and low-risk tool.in many instances,herbicides are determined to be the approach that is least harmful to the environment and those doing the work. Applications of herbicides to control invasive plants in natural areas are(1)very small in scale relative to applications for agricultural crops and landscaping,(2)performed by trained applicators under direction of supervisors who are professionally licensed by the state's Dept.of Pesticide Regulation,part of the California Environmental Protection Agency,and(3)chiefly conducted away from areas frequented by the public. Regarding glyphosate,regulatory agencies continue to register it for use because extensive research has not shown significant health risk.Though the World Health Organization has classified it as a probable carcinogen, WHO has also stated that dietary exposure is unlikely to pose a public health concern.The American Cancer Society's website describes how to interpret classifications of carcinogenicity,which is important given that many aspects of everyday life–sunlight,alcoholic beverages,processed meat,pumping gas–are listed as having the potential for increasing our risk for cancer.This is valuable knowledge,but of course actual exposure is a major part of the equation.Under real-world conditions,exposure can be limited to levels that are extremely low risk.This is the case with glyphosate used for invasive plant management in natural areas. The current climate of public concern and institutional liability regarding glyphosate makes it important for entities like county Boards of Supervisors to consider potential actions.These entities are responsible for protecting natural areas and communities under their jurisdiction from the impacts of invasive plants.This is an opportunity for decision-makers and the public to engage in discussions around local land management. Given the importance of addressing invasive plants and the unique role that herbicides play in this effort,we recommend that all jurisdictions retain the option of using registered herbicides—including glyphosate—for sites and situations where professional land managers determine them to be an appropriate part of an integrated management strategy. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.Thank you for your consideration of our perspective on this important topic. Sincerely, P^V Doug Johnson Executive Director