Provides retail food service permits and inspection; temporary food service permits; surveillance over recreation shellfish and beach water quality; permits and inspections of solid waste and hazardous waste handling; consultation to private and public water supplies; insect and animal borne diseases; school, youth camp and permits. Permits and inspections of onsite septic systems.

Environmental Health Services offered at Environmental Public Health Division

Programs that inspect homes, apartments, commercial structures and/or other buildings for compliance with structural building code requirements and which may issue certificates of occupancy for those structures that meet the standards. Regulations regarding occupancy inspections vary by jurisdiction, but inspections are generally required when construction of a building is complete and ready to be occupied and may be required when a single family dwelling, duplex or condominium is sold or there is a change in occupancy. Some programs may investigate complaints about neglected, dilapidated and vandalized buildings when the structural integrity of the building is in question or conduct other voluntary inspections upon request. Residential dwellings are exempt from occupancy requirements in some jurisdictions.

Occupancy Inspection

Programs that enforce food handling and dispensing laws and regulations by regularly inspecting restaurants, food stands, mobile food vehicles and carts (e.g., lunch trucks, ice cream trucks, produce carts), summer food service sites, congregate meal sites, employee on-site feeding operations, catering services, food sampling booths, wholesale food processing and manufacturing plants, markets, bakeries and food vending machines for health hazards; consulting with food facilities regarding improved food handling practices; and issuing citations and fines to establishments that have failed to comply with prescribed health practices and regulations. The program also provides information about requirements for retail food establishments, restaurant ratings and a list of establishments that have been closed because of health violations.

Restaurant/Food Sanitation

Programs that investigate complaints from the public regarding rat infestations, inspect affected property and structures to determine the extent of the problem and provide eradication services or advice and necessary poisons for eradication.

Rat Control

Programs that protect the public from unhealthy living conditions by enforcing laws which require that dwellings meet minimum maintenance, occupancy, use, sanitation, lighting and ventilation requirements. Health inspectors evaluate homes and apartments to ensure that hot and cold water are available; that toilets and sewage disposal systems are functioning; that the roof and exterior walls provide adequate protection from the elements; that interior walls, partitions, floors and ceilings are in safe repair; that the premises are free of rodents, vermin, insects or rubbish; and that other basic necessities are adequately available to residents. Services include inspection to ensure compliance with regulations and the issuance of citations to landlords who are out of compliance.

Home Sanitation

Programs that offer permits which authorize the holder to work in the kitchens of food establishments such as restaurants and cafeterias preparing and serving food.

Food Handling Permits

Programs that control the occurrence of West Nile Virus by monitoring the incidence of the disease in local bird and mammal populations using mechanisms like dead bird reporting hotlines, and promoting preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of mosquito bites such as the removal of standing water in homes and gardens, encourage people to wear long sleeved clothing and long pants when walking outside in the morning and evening in places where mosquitoes are prevalent, and the application of insect repellent containing DEET.

West Nile Virus Control

Programs that attempt to control the occurrence of rabies by monitoring the incidence of the disease in bats, coyotes, skunks and other wild animal populations that are susceptible; locating and isolating animals who are suspected of having rabies; and locating and treating people who have been bitten by an animal who may have been rabid.

Rabies Control

Programs that establish and enforce health and safety standards for restaurants and other facilities that prepare and serve food to the public, review applications for licenses, issue or deny licenses, inspect facilities for compliance with standards and/or revoke licenses or take disciplinary action for noncompliance.

Food Facility Licensing

Programs that issue bulletins or otherwise inform the public of conditions which are conducive to the development and spread of a specific communicable disease or which advise the public of an outbreak that puts them at risk.

Disease Control Advisories

Programs that provide information, guidance and problem solving assistance for people whose property has been cited for building code violations. Assistance may include an explanation of the violation, steps for remediation, help in working with local government to negotiate a manageable schedule for correcting violations and referrals to sources of financial help if the remediation costs are beyond their means.

Building Code Violations Consultation

Programs that provide a hotline, website or other mechanisms that the public can use to report information about buildings, swimming pools, fences, walls or other structures that are believed to be in violation of building or housing codes or related local ordinances. Building codes set requirements for sanitary facilities, electrical, lighting, ventilation, building construction, building materials, fire safety, plumbing and energy conservation as well as standards for swimming pools, swimming pool enclosures, fences, walls, retaining walls and other structures.

Building Code Violations Reporting

Programs that accept and, where possible, attempt to resolve complaints regarding licensing or accreditation, quality of education or other practices of public and private schools, vocational/trade schools, correspondence schools, colleges, universities or other educational institutions.

School Complaints

Programs that issue permits which provide written authorization for individuals to develop facilities in salt or freshwater environments and their associated tidelands for the private, commercial culture and harvesting of aquatic plant, fish and shellfish products such as oysters, clams, mussels, salmon trout and nori (algae); and which sanction necessary alterations in the natural environment including structures floating in the water, netting, changes in beach terrain and chemicals utilized to control animals that may prey upon the cultured stock.

Aquatic Farming Permits

Programs that conduct regular inspections of manufactured housing and mobile home parks and evaluate spacing of homes, flooding and drainage provisions, sewage disposal, solid waste disposal, electrical safety, streets and walkways, pest control, general maintenance and/or other health and safety issues. Manufactured homes are building units or assemblies of closed construction that are manufactured in an off-site facility and constructed in conformance with safety standards established by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Mobile homes are manufactured homes built prior to June 15, 1976 and the advent of the HUD standards.

Manufactured/Mobile Home Park Inspection

Programs that issue bulletins which warn the public to avoid purchasing or eating food, pet food or animal feed that is contaminated, contains high levels of mercury or other hazardous substances or otherwise constitutes a public health problem.

Food Safety Warnings

Programs that conduct tests of the drinking water that is available to people in their homes or other buildings to detect the presence of hazardous chemicals or other pollutants, and to analyze water composition in terms of softness, odor, color and contaminants (including chemicals such as magnesium sulphate, sodium sulphate and sodium chloride) that, while harmless, affect taste. Tests may be conducted by the authority responsible for the water system or by independent companies. Also available are test kits which can be used in the home for this purpose.

Tap Water Testing

Programs that accept and, where possible, attempt to resolve complaints regarding the licensing, cleanliness, truth in menu, unethical or improper conduct of personnel or other inappropriate business practices of eating establishments.

Restaurant Complaints

Programs that issue bulletins to inform the public when problems with the community water supply require that residents boil or add bleach to their water to ensure that it is safe to drink.

Water Purification Bulletins

Programs that investigate reported cases of food poisoning from commercial sources (restaurants, vending machines, manufacturers, markets), ensure that the diagnosis is confirmed, identify the source of the problem, and work with the establishment in which the outbreak originated to prevent further transmission of the illness by disposing of the contaminated food and correcting the food handling practices that caused the problem.