Legislative/Regulatory News
June 8th, 2010
The American Mosquito Control Association recently presented the Florida Mosquito
Control Association a letter of appreciation for FMCA's recent financial contribution
toward the AMCA's legislative efforts.
See the letter...
June 3rd, 2010
Below is the link to the EPA’s website and comment area for the NPDES permitting.
AMCA will have their comments on-line on June 25th. All comments are due
to the EPA by July 19th. Please DO NOT WAIT for AMCA’s comments!
Draft your comments and post them as soon as possible. Also, please follow
AMCA’s guidelines below to submit your comments if you want to make sure
that your comments are read and posted. If you have any questions please
contact Doug Carlson or Dennis Moore. The EPA will hold a webcast on June 17th from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm to provide
information on the draft permit.
EPA has at last posted its proposed NPDES Federal Register Notice, Fact Sheet,
and Draft Pesticide General Permit at the EPA website at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=410.
The formal publication via the Federal Register is slated on 4 June 2010. The FR Notice provides an overview
of the permit contents, accompanying documents and means by which the public can submit comments to the Agency.
Be advised that the Fact Sheet provides an extensive rationale for the permit contents and should be thoroughly
reviewed before posting any comments. Comments should be submitted via the Government portal at Regulations.gov
(Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0257). Comments are due 19 July, 2010. AMCA is currently drafting comments and
will make them available for member viewing on the AMCA website on 25 June, 2010. In the meantime, please review
the requisite documents and draft your comments. Do not wait and merely copy AMCA comments. The EPA needs and
wants to hear from individual mosquito control programs in their own words.
Please pay particular attention to pp 32-40 of the proposed Federal Register Notice.
EPA is specifically seeking public comment on the issues raised in these pages. These represent problems
that the Agency has acknowledged and that they are most likely to amend based upon comment input. Page 28
of the FR Notice also mentions that the EPA is requesting comment on appropriate measures to protect endangered
and threatened species, including the possible measures discussed in the draft Permit Fact Sheet.
June 1st, 2010
Below is a legislative summary from FMCA’s Legislative Committee Co-Chairs Dennis
Moore & Doug Carlson:
To FMCA members:
If you are not already aware, we have some very good news to share. On May 28th
Governor Crist signed the General Appropriations Bill establishing the budget for
the next fiscal year and vetoed over $371 million in projects. The funding for the
Florida mosquito control programs ($2.16 M) survived. We thank those that took the
time, energy and resources to help us succeed in these efforts. Congratulations!
We are currently working on issues related to NPDES, the PHEREC lab, etc, and we’ll
keep you updated on any significant changes that affect mosquito control. Your Government
Sustaining Dues are hard at work.
May 24th, 2010
Governor’s veto of HB 981 and HB 7103 on May 15,
2010.
The vetoed bills dealt with uniform regulation of pesticides applied to waters of
Florida. More information can be found here
Arboviral News
Apri 27th, 2010
CDC Health Advisory
Potential for Dengue Infection Among Relief Workers Returning from Haiti
Summary: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received
reports of dengue fever among relief workers returning from Haiti, where the disease
is endemic. Health-care providers in the United States should consider dengue in
the differential diagnosis of febrile illness in any person who has recently been
in Haiti or other countries where dengue is being transmitted, and are encouraged
to submit samples to state health departments (available from AZ, CA, CT, FL, NY,
PR, and TX) or the CDC for proper laboratory testing. In US areas with Aedes mosquitoes
present, infected travelers may also present a risk for local spread of dengue virus(es).
Apri 20th, 2010
Health department confirms dengue case in Key West, restates health advisory
The Monroe County Health Department restated its mosquito-borne health advisory
on Monday, shortly after receiving confirmation of a new case of dengue in Key West.
This is the first reported case since the initial occurrence last summer. The last
confirmed cases were in mid-October. "We had hoped we’d be able to eliminate the
disease from Key West and took every effort to do so," Administrator Bob Eadie said.
"However, the confirmed case is not totally unexpected in that once dengue fever
has been established in an area, it is truly almost impossible to completely eradicate
it. In cooperation with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, all actions
that can be taken locally are being continued and expanded."
The confirmed case was in a 41-year-old Key West man who was initially seen at local
military medical facilities on April 6. He was referred to Lower Keys Medical Center,
which then referred him to a hospital in Miami. Dengue was diagnosed based on symptoms
and later confirmed through lab tests. The man, who has since fully recovered, reported
no out-of-country travel within the past year. The Monroe County Health Department
has followed up with an investigation, the results of which strongly indicate that
the infection was acquired locally.