Marin County Integrated Pest Management Ordinance

Requiring less-toxic pest management in county buildings and landscapes (Integrated Pest Management Ordinance)

Marin County, CA

How IT can benefit you

Pesticides can induce asthma.

Integrated pest management (IPM) effectively reduces pests while minimizing human health and environmental hazards by:

  • Asking when pest management is needed (e.g., it may not be necessary to remove clover from your lawn).
  • Designing landscapes and buildings to prevent pests.
  • Using the least-toxic pesticides as a last resort.

Like San Francisco, Marin requires the following to be updated annually and presented to the Board of Supervisors:

  • Pesticide use reports that are collected monthly.
  • Updated lists of allowed pesticides.

Why this is a leading policy

Marin's IPM ordinance is different from San Francisco's because it:

  • Bans pesticides in playgrounds, turf grass and picnic areas.
  • Does not allow pesticides with ingredients such as those known to cause cancer or reproductive or developmental toxicity (California's Proposition 65 list).
  • Has an IPM Commission that advises the IPM Coordinator on implementation of the ordinance.
  • Notifies the public 4 days before and after pesticide use on their website and via signs at entrances to the treated area. Signs must be posted 7 days before and after if volatile pesticides are sprayed indoors. (By comparison, San Francisco requires signs three days before and after).

Goal

To eliminate all pesticide use.

Who can take action

Applies to all property owned, leased or managed property by the County.

Outcome

Marin has not used rodenticides since 2012, and decreased pesticide use from 81.5 gallons in 1998 to 12.7 gallons in 2008.

Contact

Chris Chamberlain, Parks and Open Space Superintendent, Marin County Parks, (415) 473-5085, CChamberlain@marincounty.org,

Last Updated

November 14, 2015