Local Environmental Services

The City of Berkeley Public Health Division has an  Environmental Health Division which is a part of the Health, Housing & Community Services Department. The services provided under the Environment Health Division are split up into 4 categories: General Environmental Health, Environmental Health Programs, Food Programs and Vector Control Programs. Across the entire Environmental Health Division, a lot of services are offered and seem to cover a variety of issues. Many of the services are ones that I would have expected to see such as waste management, sewage discharge, pest management, wildlife management, food safety information, and community noise.

Some of the services I was surprised to see were:

- Arthropod Control & Identifications: This includes cockroaches, fleas, yellow jackets, ticks, mites, and spiders that infest homes and businesses. I was surprised to see this because there is already a service for pest management and rodent control. But these "pests" are very important for the environment even if we think they are gross and don't want them around. I think it's important to have a separate service for arthropods to ensure that they are being handled appropriately. 

- Ask an Environmental Health Specialist: The service is a new one offered by the City and information about the service had not yet been posted, but I thought this was a really great feature. If there are important topics that the division does not currently cover, hopefully this service could help to address them and maybe even could lead to additional services being offered.

- Waste Tire Enforcement Program: This program informs Berkeley businesses about laws that affect them and helps monitor and ensure compliance with State waste tire regulations. The goal of the program is to reduce illegal dumping of waste tires and improve the quality of life in Berkeley. This wasn't something I would have thought about but now that I know about it seems so important!


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