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AGENDA BILL Agenda Item No. 5(L) Date: May 19, 2015 To: El Cerrito City Council From: Stephen Prée, Environmental Programs Manager/ City Arborist Maria Sanders, Interim Manager, Operations + Environmental Services Division Yvetteh Ortiz, Public Work Director/City Engineer Subject: Declare El Cerrito a Honey Bee Haven ACTION REQUESTED Adopt a resolution declaring the City of El Cerrito to be a Honey Bee Haven and authorizing the City of El Cerrito to be added to the honeybeehaven.org map. BACKGROUND Bees pollinate a significant amount of the food we grow and eat. According to a recent U.N. report, over 70 of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world's foods are pollinated by bees. Bees are responsible for pollinating one in every three bites of food we eat, including vegetables, tree fruits, and the grains that feed livestock. Our diets and agricultural economy hinge on a healthy bee population. In addition to their agricultural value as pollinators, honey bees are a keystone, indicator species. Their decline points to, and will likely accelerate, broader environmental degradation. Since 2006, with the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), commercial beekeepers have reported honey bee losses averaging about 30% per year, double of what is considered normal. Most scientists agree that there is no single cause of CCD. Rather, recent population declines are likely caused by a combination of factors acting in concert to weaken bee colonies to the point of collapse. Emerging science points specifically to impaired immunity. Lead suspects in this causal complex include, nutritional stress, pathogens (including parasites) and pesticides, particularly a new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids (neonics). Neonics (such as imidacloprid, clothiandin and dinotefuran) are common active ingredients in certain products used on food crops, lawns, flowers, trees and pets (to control fleas and ticks). A review of recent research on the effects of neonics’ environmental impact reveals that 94% (31/34) of methodologically sound, published ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(L) Page 2 studies since 2009 found that these pesticides were even more toxic than had been previously known.1 At its July 2014 meeting, the Environmental Quality Committee (EQC) hosted a discussion on pollinator safe communities. This included a presentation by staff from the non-profit organization Pesticide Action Network on their Honey Bee Haven program. This program is a partnership between the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and Beyond Pesticides and is designed to protect honey bees by promoting the principles of pollinator safe habitats. As a way of increasing public awareness, PAN and Beyond Pesticides host the website and on-line map www.honeybeehavens.org. ANALYSIS At its November 2014 meeting, the EQC unanimously passed a motion requesting Council to consider adoption of a resolution declaring El Cerrito as a Honey Bee Haven. Other communities that have adopted a Honey Bee Haven resolution include the City of Sacramento, which passed theirs in March 2015. The goals of the Honey Bee Haven program are: To protect bees from pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids and to encourage organic ways to grow healthy plants; To provide a variety of food for bees, which includes clusters of native plantings with staggered blooming times; To provide year round sources of clean water for bees in creeks, re-circulating water fountains, irrigation systems, backyard birdbaths, etc.; and To provide shelter for bees with undisturbed, unmulched ground and with the retention of some dead plant materials for wild bees to nest-in. Public Works Department staff has reviewed the principles of the Honey Bee Haven program and has determined that existing City policies and practices are aligned with these principles. Such policies and practices include: The City’s Integrated Pest Management Policy, which minimizes the use of pesticides to protect environmental quality and to comply with the Clean Water Program. Through this policy, the City does not procure or use neonicotinoid pesticide products. Use of native plants, shrubs, and pollinator friendly plants in such City projects as the San Pablo Avenue medians and the Ohlone Greenway Natural Area and Rain Garden. Preservation of native open spaces for pollinators in such natural areas as the Hillside Nature Area, Baxter Gateway Park, and Canyon Trail Park; and 1 Pesticide Action Network North America. “Pesticides and Honey Bees: State of the Science.” May 2012. http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Bees&Pesticides_SOS_FINAL_May2012.pdf ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(L) • Education and outreach to El Cerrito households to adopt bee friendly practices through such events as the 2013 Integrated Pest Management Workshop (held in conjunction with EQC). In addition, the Draft Urban Greening Plan (currently being circulated for public comment) includes several strategies and projects that promote "pollinator pathways" and pollinator safe maintenance practices. If adopted, the Urban Greening Plan would further reinforce these Honey Bee Haven principles. STRATEGIC PLAN CONSIDERATIONS Adopting the Honey Bee Haven resolution is consistent with El Cerrito Strategic Plan Goal F - Foster Environmental Sustainability Citywide. Specifically, by pursuing the goals of a Honey Bee Haven the City will be improving habitat for bees and will help sustain bee populations and the crops and ecosystems that depend on them. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS Adopting the Bee Haven resolution has no financial impact. The resolution is consistent with City practices and therefore will not require any additional City resources to comply with its principles. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS There are no legal considerations associated with adopting the Honey Bee Haven resolution. Reviewed by: ~Li- Scott Hanin, City Manage;---:== Attachments: 1. Accompanying -Resolution Page 3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(L) Attachment 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2015–XX RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL CERRITO DECLARING THE CITY OF EL CERRITO AS A HONEY BEE HAVEN WHEREAS, bees and other pollinators are essential to the majority of flowering plants on earth; and WHEREAS, each year since 2006, commercial beekeepers in the United States have reported annual losses in excess of what would be considered normal; and WHEREAS, honey bees are a keystone indicator species and their decline points to broader environmental degradation; and WHEREAS, threats to pollinators concern the entire food system, where pollination services provided by honey bees and other essential pollinators account for one in every three bites of food, are responsible for the pollination of key crops including almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries and many others, and contribute over $19 billion worth of services; and WHEREAS, multiple and interacting causes that are likely contributors to the decline of pollinator populations include pathogens, habitat loss and exposure to pesticides; and WHEREAS, scientific evidence about the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides is especially compelling and warrants action; and WHEREAS, the Pesticide Action Network and Beyond Pesticides have implemented the Honey Bee Haven Project to increase awareness about honey bee health and to protect honey bees from pesticides; and WHEREAS, in order to support healthy bee populations, Honey Bee Havens promote healthy environments for bees by providing food sources, clean water and shelter for pollinators, not procuring or using neonicotinoidal products or products containing neonicotinoidal active ingredients, and supporting efforts to educate the broader community about protecting bee populations. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of El Cerrito officially recognizes the critical importance of pollinators to our food supply and to our environment and declares the City of El Cerrito a Honey Bee Haven, authorizing the inclusion of the City on the honeybeehaven.org map. ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(L) Attachment 1 I CERTIFY that at a regular meeting on May 19, 2015 the City Council of the City of El Cerrito passed this Resolution by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSTAIN:COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: IN WITNESS of this action, I sign this document and affix the corporate seal of the City of El Cerrito on May XX, 2015. Cheryl Morse, City Clerk APPROVED: Mark Friedman, Mayor