Florida Mosquito Control Association

PESTICIDE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM

"PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY DOCUMENT"

FOR THE FLORIDA MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION

SUBMITTED TO: The American Mosquito Control Association

BY: The Florida Mosquito Control Association

c/o Shelly Redovan, Executive Director

Lee County Mosquito Control District

P.O. Box 60005

Ft. Myers, FL 33906-0005

Phone: 239-694-2174

FAX: 239-693-5011

FMCA's PESP Contact Person:

Douglas Carlson

Indian River Mosquito Control District

P.O. Box 670, Vero Beach, FL 32961-0670

PHONE: 561-562-2393

FAX: 561-562-9619

This FMCA Strategy Document was developed by:

Douglas Carlson

Indian River Mosquito Control District

P.O. Box 670, Vero Beach, FL 32961-0670

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE FLORIDA MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION'S (FMCA) STRATEGY DOCUMENT. The FMCA recognizes the importance and benefits of the EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) and is interested in becoming a "PESP Partner under the American Mosquito Control Association's (AMCA) Auspices". This FMCA Strategy Document describes the FMCA's current policies and organizational structure and presents an overview of its members' general control practices. This document will also describe how the FMCA intends to continue and improve its current efforts of encouraging Florida mosquito control agencies to undertake mosquito control management with a keen appreciation of the environment. This goal will be accomplished through programs of encouraging environmentally sound source reduction projects and reducing pesticide risk through the responsible use of mosquito control chemicals.

II. OBJECTIVES, PRINCIPLES AND ACCEPTED PRACTICES OF THE FMCA. The FMCA is a non-profit association made up of approx. 300 mosquito control workers, entomologists, scientists, industry representatives and laypersons interested in the biology and control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance.

A. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE FMCA ARE:

1. To assist in promoting control of disease transmitting and pestiferous mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance;

2. To provide for the scientific advancement of members; and

3. To develop and extend public interest and support for the control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance.

B. THE FMCA'S GUIDING PRINCIPLES INCLUDE:

1. Protecting the environment. Because the FMCA recognizes that some methods and materials used in the control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance can have adverse effects on the environment, the FMCA has adopted the principle that effective control of disease vectors and pestiferous mosquitoes should be accomplished by methods that pose the least possible hazard to man and the environment.

2. Responsibility for control. The FMCA has taken the position that every citizen has the responsibility to eliminate conditions on their premises that are capable of breeding mosquitoes. The control of mosquitoes originating on non-residential areas is a public responsibility; moreover, it is the responsibility of the State to promote surveillance of arthropod-borne disease by counties and districts, and to give scientific training, certification and guidance to individuals involved in the control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance.

3. Guidelines for control. As a general principle, the FMCA recognizes that the prevention of breeding is the preferred procedure for control of mosquitoes and similarly important arthropods. However, in order to protect Florida's public health and economy, it is recognized that temporary control measures using pesticides are often necessary for control of disease vectors and pestiferous arthropods. In fact, in some circumstances, temporary measures may be the only effective control means that can be utilized. In order to conduct control operations to not only offer maximum protection to the environment but also protect the best interest of neighboring counties and districts, the FMCA encourages using recommendations of the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Bureau of Entomology and Pest Control in all control programs.

4. Inspections. All insect control programs should be based upon results of properly conducted surveillance programs which serve to define the problem, justify the control operations, and evaluate the results. Haphazard or routine control operations, which are not based on adequate evidence of need for control, are not condoned by the FMCA.

C. THE FMCA'S ACCEPTED PRACTICES ARE:

1. Control by insecticides. It is the FMCA's policy to use only those approved insecticides that scientific data show are effective and safest for humans and wildlife, as approved by the EPA and FDACS. As a routine practice, larviciding is preferred to adulticiding where feasible; however, it is recognized that local circumstances might make this procedure impractical. In order to avoid or delay insecticide resistance, synthetic organic pesticides used as adulticides shall not be used as larvicides. For the same reason, every effort must be made to avoid the use of organic pesticides for the destruction of newly emerged adults over extensive areas at the breeding site when these chemicals normally are used for adulticiding.

2. Source reduction. Typically, water management is the preferred method of source reduction for control of freshwater and salt marsh mosquitoes. However, federal and state regulations must be followed before any water management activity is initiated in any wetland.

3. Other methods. When biological or other methods that might be more compatible with the environment are shown to be effective and economically feasible for the control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance, these shall be used as the principal control agents or integrated control options.

The above-mentioned FMCA goals, principles and accepted practices are consistent with those of the PESP program by encouraging non-chemical control measures when possible and reducing pesticide use/risk where practicable.

III. OVERVIEW OF A "TYPICAL" FLORIDA MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAM. As is common throughout the U.S., it is not possible to provide a concise overview which is representative of all mosquito control programs in a State such as Florida. However, certain program components are common to most of Florida's 51 governmental mosquito control programs which receive limited State funding through FDACS. These agencies are either independent districts or part of local county government. During 1997-98, their combined budgets totaled $64.3 million. Program budgets range in size from approx. $24,000 to $11.2 million. Florida mosquito control agencies typically use an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach combining source reduction, larviciding and adulticiding with control decisions being based on various types of surveillance. Biological control is also used but to a limited extent. An integrated control approach is necessary during routine pest/nuisance mosquito outbreaks and the occasional situation of an outbreak of a mosquito-transmitted pathogen such as St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) or Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). Most programs receive some limited funding from the Fla. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Office of Entomology and Pest Control, thus consequently regularly report to them on budgetary and chemical use matters.

Continuing education for employees is handled by local mosquito control offices, and regionally and statewide, through the FMCA's Dodd Short Courses. Periodically, courses are offered at the John A. Mulrennan Sr. Research Laboratory (Fla. A&M University/Panama City) and the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (University of Fla./Vero Beach).

The Dodd Short Courses are nationally recognized as an excellent training forum for mosquito control workers and provide the training and opportunity for employees to take the FDACS' examination to become certified in Public Health Pest Control, a certification achievement obtained by many Florida mosquito control workers. FDACS also provides training for this examination around the state on a need basis. Regional programs concerning aerial chemical equipment and applications (a.k.a. fly-ins) are periodically held around the state and sponsored by the FMCA's Education Coordination Committee (ECC). In regard to keeping the public informed, local mosquito control office programs vary, from some which provide presentations to service organizations, church groups and schools when requested, to others which support full-time personnel dedicated to education. These various educational initiatives are providing for both an increased professionalism among mosquito control workers and a better informed public thus providing significant progress in attempting to reduce pesticide use and risk.

A. SOURCE REDUCTION. As stated above, the FMCA supports source reduction where possible as the primary mosquito control method. Since the early 1900's source reduction projects have been used in Florida in attempts to control the horrendous mosquito populations occurring both in coastal and inland counties. Source reduction efforts in Florida include sanitation (in fact, a Statewide tire removal program), Impoundment Management along east-central Florida's Indian River Lagoon, Open Marsh Water Management (OMWM) on both coasts of Florida and ditch maintenance programs in both freshwater and salt marsh habitats.

1. SANITATION. In Florida, containers and tires are major producers of Aedes albopictus. Many local mosquito control agencies through public education stress the importance of removal of such containers and tires. Since 1992, FDACS has administered a Statewide program (of approx. $1.5 million annually) supporting the collection and discarding of waste tires whereby mosquito control agencies who choose to participate, receive yearly financial assistance. The total tire weight collected by Florida mosquito control programs between 1994-96 totaled 9010 tons.

2. IMPOUNDMENT MANAGEMENT. Impoundments are salt-marsh mosquito-producing marshes around which dikes were constructed during the 1950's and 1960's, thus allowing water to be pumped onto the marsh surface from the adjacent estuary. This eliminates salt-marsh mosquito ovipositional opportunities on the impounded salt marsh and effectively reduces their populations. 40,000 acres of salt marsh impoundments were constructed along Florida's east-central Indian River Lagoon. Over the past 15 years a concerted, interagency effort has been made to manage these marshes for both mosquito control and natural resource interests. Rotational Impoundment Management (RIM) is one of the techniques developed to minimally flood the marsh during the summer months and then use flapgated culverts to reintegrate impoundments to the estuary for the reminder of the year thus allowing the marsh to provide many of its natural functions.

3. OPEN MARSH WATER MANAGEMENT (OMWM). Ditching as a source reduction mosquito control technique has been used in Florida since the 1920's. A salt marsh source reduction technique which originated in the Northeast U.S. and is being applied in some Florida salt marshes is Open Marsh Water Management (OMWM). OMWM is a technique whereby mosquito producing locations on the marsh surface are connected to deep water habitat (e.g., tidal creeks, deep ditches) with shallow ditches. Mosquito broods are thus controlled without pesticide use by allowing larvivorous fish access to mosquito-producing depressions or conversely the draining of these locations occurs before adult mosquitoes can emerge. OMWM can also be a technique whereby hydrological connection between an impoundment and the estuary is improved allowing the impoundment to remain open to the estuary longer thus improving its natural resource benefits. The use of shallow ditching (ditches approx. 3 ft. or less in depth rather than the deep ditching used in years past) is considered more environmentally acceptable because with shallow ditches, less unnatural hydrological impacts occur to the marsh.

B. LARVICIDING. Larviciding is an important component of most Florida mosquito control programs. Several materials in various labeled formulations are currently used. These include the organophosphate temephos (Abate), several "biorational" larvicides - Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti, a bacterial larvicide), methoprene (Altosid, an insect growth regulator), and several oils (Golden Bear-petroleum based and Bonide-mineral based).

Larviciding is conducted both from the ground via hand sprayers, 4WD vehicle-mounted sprayers and all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) mounted sprayers and from the air using both fixed wing and rotary aircraft. Of the above-listed larvicides, in various Florida locations, all are applied both from the ground and air.

While historical insecticide use information is difficult to interpret because of changing chemical formulations, a recent summary documented the use of mosquito larvicides in Florida from 1975 to 1995. It demonstrated that in 1995, Bti use was at almost 1500 lbs of active ingredient (AI) per year, Altosid (=methoprene) use was at 1335 lbs AI per year and Abate (=temephos) use totaled approx. 7000 lbs. AI. Contrasting these 1995 larvicide use figures with 20 years earlier, demonstrates that in 1975, Altosid had just come on the market, Bti was non-existent as a commercial product and Abate use was reported at 3776 lbs AI per year.

C. ADULTICIDING. Adulticides currently used in Florida include several organophosphates - malathion, naled (=Dibrom), chlorpyrifos (=Dursban) and fenthion (=Baytex), some natural pyrethrins, synthetic pyrethroids (permethrin, resmethrin and sumithrin) and a carbamate (bendiocarb).

The same insecticide use survey referred to above demonstrated that in 1995, fenthion (Baytex) use measured approx. 75,000 lbs. AI, naled (Dibrom) use was approx. 306,000 lbs. AI, malathion use was 490,000 lbs. AI., permethrin use was 1,000 lbs. AI and resmethrin use was approx. 2500 lbs. AI.

In Florida, both aerial and ground adulticiding is conducted, based on surveillance verifying the need to spray. ULV (Ultra-Low-Volume) is the predominant ground (truck-mounted) and aerial (via fixed-wing or rotary aircraft) technique used. Only a few agencies employ thermal fogging.

D. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL. Biological control (=biocontrol), while popular in theory because of its potential to be host-specific with virtually no non-target effects, is used sparingly because of its limited effectiveness. In Florida, larvivorous fish (typically Gambusia species), are the only extensively used biocontrol agent.

IV. FMCA AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA'S ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROGRESS. Since the late 1970's, significant progress has been made in merging mosquito control management with environmental stewardship goals. Below are several of these initiatives:

A. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION. During the late 1970's and early 1980's , considerable disagreement occurred between Florida's mosquito control agencies and agencies responsible for environmental protection. These disagreements were primarily over: 1) how to manage salt-marsh impoundments and, 2) the non-target effects of aerial adulticiding. These conflicts resulted in the legislative formation (Chapter 388, Florida Statutes) of the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control (FCCMC) and its Subcommittee on Managed Marshes (SOMM). It is the FMCA's responsibility to appoint two mosquito control directors to the Council.

The FCCMC is an advisory body established to assist in resolving disputes over mosquito control management, in particular with arthropod control on publicly owned lands. FCCMC is also expected to identify and recommend research priorities. SOMM, also an advisory board, was established to provide technical guidance on marsh management plans and to review source reduction research proposals. Over their 14 year existence, these two committees have played an integral role in resolving conflicts and promoting environmental stewardship in matters involving mosquito control management.

White Paper on Florida Mosquito Control. In the Spring of 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested that the Florida mosquito control community develop a "White Paper on Florida Mosquito Control". The intent of this document, which is scheduled to be published later this year, is to provide a "snapshot" of Florida mosquito control during 1996-97 with the goal of developing recommendations on how mosquito control chemical use and risk can be reduced in the future. While this request was not directly from the EPA's PESP Program, it is right in line with PESP's goals and objectives. The White Paper, which is approximately 200 pages in length and written by over 20 contributing authors, has now been adopted by the FCCMC and is currently in the process of being professionally edited.

White Paper Conference. As a finale for this ambitious project, the Steering Committee for this White Paper document, is organizing a several day conference during May 1998 to bring the White Paper development to a conclusion and to provide a forum where discussions can occur on: current issues facing mosquito control, potential future problems and opportunities, and the development of recommendations on how to solve such issues. This conference, which will coincide with the Spring Meeting of the Florida Mosquito Control Association, will include several sessions with invited speakers followed by panel discussions. After the conclusion of the meeting, abstracts of the speakers' presentations will be published in a conference proceedings.

B. WETLANDS MANAGEMENT. Since the ecological importance of wetlands was documented in the 1970's, mosquito control in Florida has worked to improve environmentally sensitive management of these habitats. These improvements in wetland management began with changes to impoundment management practices encouraged by SOMM and based on interagency research. This research was initiated in the early 1980's by funding through the federal Coastal Zone Management Program with supplemental funds from numerous organizations including the Florida Dept. of Health & Rehabilitative Services, mosquito control agencies, private research institutions and development interests. Today, over half of the 40,000 acres of impoundments along the Indian River Lagoon are managed for both mosquito control and natural resource considerations. As the privately-owned wetlands continue to be publicly purchased, through cooperative funding by the State's Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program, the increased implementation of Rotational Impoundment Management (RIM) and Open Marsh Water Management (OMWM) will be possible in these environmentally sensitive areas.

Workshops on Salt Marsh Management and Research. With the goal of disseminating information on progress in salt marsh management and research, on three occasions (1988, 1992, 1996), 4-day "Workshops on Salt Marsh Management and Research", sponsored by the FMCA, SOMM, and other interested organizations, have been held to bring interested mosquito control workers, regulatory personnel and researchers up-to-date on salt marsh management and research findings. Each of these 3 workshops have had international participation with approx. 100 individuals at each meeting with a proceedings of the meeting published as a Bulletin of the FMCA. Educational forums such as this are helping to fine-tune source reduction efforts and thus reduce the need for pesticide use in environmentally sensitive habitats.

C. WASTE TIRE COLLECTION PROGRAM. As discussed in III.A.1. above, through the FDACS administered Statewide tire collection program, tremendous strides have been made in cleaning up waste tires illegally dumped around the State. As previously mentioned, the tire weight collected during 1994-96 by Florida mosquito control programs totaled 9010 tons. Since virtually all of these tires are capable of producing mosquitoes, proper tire disposal is helping to reduce mosquito control chemical applications to the adult mosquitoes which would be generated by them.

D. USE OF BIORATIONAL LARVICIDES. Florida has been a leader in the use of biorational larvicides ( Bti and the insect growth regulator methoprene) with their use increasing substantially over the past 20 years. The methodology of adsorbing methoprene to sand (=Altosand) to ensure that the material penetrates dense mangrove canopies was developed in Florida in the mid-1970s.

E. AERIAL ADULTICIDING. In Florida, when there is a possibility of chemical deposition on public lands which are determined to be environmentally sensitive and biologically highly productive, the State has developed criteria for aerial adulticide applications. These criteria, established in Chapter 5E-13 of the Florida Administrative Code, state that: only specific areas with a documented need be sprayed; labels must be strictly followed; applications must be timed to coincide with periods of mosquito activity; equipment must be properly calibrated; open waters must not be treated, and appropriate records must be kept for a minimum of 3 years. These criteria help to assure that the responsible use of aerial adulticiding is employed in Florida.

CHEMICAL EXPOSURE CONCERNS. Some individuals in Florida are genuinely concerned about exposure to chemicals, whether it be from mosquito control or other sources (e.g., residential lawn sprays, agricultural spraying including anti-medfly applications). Some of these persons have requested consideration of their concern by mosquito control offices. Virtually without exception, mosquito control agencies notify individuals with chemical exposure concerns prior to adulticiding their neighborhood and also, during their routine spraying operations, spray truck drivers are instructed to take measures to try and avoid accidently spraying pedestrians. These measures display a genuine concern for the desires of a portion of the population to avoid exposure to chemicals.

F. ENCEPHALITIS SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM. Since 1978, many mosquito control offices around the State have participated in a St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus surveillance program. This program, which uses chickens as a sentinel animal, allows participating agencies to submit sentinel chicken blood sera to the Florida Dept. of Health and Rehabilitative Services' Tampa Virology Lab for detection of SLE and EEE antibodies at no cost. This information allows mosquito control and public health agencies to be aware if SLE or EEE virus transmission is occurring thus allowing the local agencies to take are appropriate actions which usually include notifying the public that an increased risk of virus transmission exists and also increasing adulticiding activity. Currently approximately 20 agencies in Florida are participating in this program which helps in defining when a public health need exists for chemical applications directed at mosquitoes carrying the SLE or EEE virus.

G. EDUCATION. The FMCA annually sponsors the Dodd Short Courses, a week-long program to thoroughly train mosquito control personnel (from field workers to senior management) concerning all aspects of mosquito control. At these courses, which are annually attended by approx. 400 individuals, mosquito control workers are also offered the courses necessary to take the Fla.. FDACS' examinations for Public Health Pest Control certification. These courses also provide the opportunity for mosquito control employees to maintain this certification by participating in the various courses offered. These courses, along with public education initiatives provided by local mosquito agencies, helps maintain the level of professionalism among mosquito control workers and also keeps the public properly informed of mosquito control issues.

H. RESEARCH. Since the early 1980's, the FMCA's Research Advisory Committee has helped identify mosquito control research that is needed in Florida. Over the past several years, through the State's Waste Tire Fund, $250,000 has been made available for mosquito control research to be conducted primarily by scientists at the University of Florida's Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University's John A. Mulrennan Sr. Research Laboratory. This fund is administered by FDACS and provides the opportunity for projects to be funded which help identify ways where the goals of reduced pesticide use and risk can be achieved.

V. PROPOSED FMCA INITIATIVES TO MEET PESP GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. To meet the PESP goals of reduced pesticide risk/use in the future, the FMCA will accomplish this by encouraging the FMCA membership to incorporate certain fundamental initiatives in their programs wherever possible, much of which is a furtherance of the ongoing efforts described above. These items will include:

A. SOURCE REDUCTION. The FMCA will continue to stress the importance of properly designed source reduction projects. As long as State funds continue, this will include continued participation in the Waste Tire Collection program. Also, in environmentally sensitive marsh habitats, the FMCA will promote the importance of accomplishing mosquito control objectives and improving fish and wildlife habitat. The primary multi-agency forums for this will continue to be the FCCMC and its SOMM. The techniques to accomplish this in salt marsh environments include further refining and implementation of Rotational Impoundment Management (RIM) in east-coast impoundments and OMWM utilizing rotary ditches on both Florida's east and west coasts. These methods can result in greatly reduced mosquito populations with a minimal need for pesticide use.

B. LARVICIDING. Because of their target-specificity and safety to the environment, the FMCA will continue to stress to its members the importance of using "biorational" larvicides (Bti, B. sphaericus and insect growth regulators). However, because of the limited number of larvicides available for use, we anticipate that temephos (=Abate) will continue to be an important larvicide used in Florida.

C. ADULTICIDING. The FMCA will encourage its members to use the latest, scientifically proven techniques and equipment for both ground and aerial adulticiding and use chemical application rates that provide good control benefits. The FMCA will stress that all applications must be made only when the need truly exists as verified through adequate surveillance, and insist that equipment be properly calibrated. Accurate chemical applications using Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment will also be strongly encouraged.

Mosquito control offices will continue to be urged to carefully consider individuals' concerns over exposure to mosquito control chemicals. Mosquito control offices will be urged to take prudent steps to take these concerns into consideration. Under these circumstances, actions that mosquito control can attempt include: 1) prior notification before spraying their neighborhood so the individual can take precautions (such as closing their windows, going out for the evening), or 2) attempt to exclude treatment of their immediate residence (not always feasible when their neighbors may be demanding mosquito control services).

D. RESEARCH. The FMCA fully recognizes, and will continue to support, the importance of research in maintaining effective control programs. Toward that end, the FMCA's Research Advisory Committee is dedicated to making proper recommendations on what fields of research, and what specific projects, deserve priority funding (when funding is available). A recently approved project, with significant PESP implications of reducing pesticide use and risk in the future, is an in-depth, cooperative study of the effects of aerial chemical drift. The goals of this project are to try and fine-tune aerial adulticide application methods to minimize non-target effects.

E. EDUCATION. As stated in the AMCA's Strategy Document, the FMCA also recognizes that education is the key to meeting PESP goals. Toward that end, the FMCA will continue to support the Dodd Short Courses, as Florida's main organized forum for educating mosquito control workers. Also, Wing Beats, the Journal of the FMCA, and the Fall and Spring annual meetings of the FMCA will serve as mechanisms to keep mosquito control professionals trained and informed thus reducing future pesticide risk in Florida.

VI. MEASURING PROGRESS IN MEETING PESP GOALS. The FMCA will measure progress in meeting PESP goals by supporting, encouraging and carefully monitoring the initiatives listed in V. above and annually providing a detailed report on progress in meeting PESP goals and objectives within these areas. This process will be lead by Joseph Ruff who will serve as the FMCA's PESP Contact to the AMCA. Assistance will be solicited from various FMCA members around the State as needed.

VII. SUMMARY. The FMCA looks forward to participating as a "PESP Partner under the AMCA's auspices" in this program which we believe can have long-term benefits to both associations. The FMCA believes that our members' activities over the past 10-15 years have already accomplished many of the stated PESP goals and objectives and we view becoming a Partner as a natural extension of our member's ongoing endeavors. While significant progress has been made, there is continued room for improvement.

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FMCA ORGANIZATIONAL DESCRIPTION

President: The President maintains and exercises general supervision over the affairs of the Association, subject to authority by the Board of Directors.

President Elect: The President-Elect exercises the powers and performs the duties of the President in the absence or disability of the President, or in case of a vacancy in the office of the President, and serves as Program Chairman for the Fall Meeting of the Association. The President-Elect automatically becomes President the year following his term of office as President-Elect.

Vice President: The Vice-President exercises the powers and duties of the President-Elect in the absence or disability of the President-Elect and serves as program chairman for the Spring Meeting of the Association.

Executive Director: The Executive Director, which is a non-elected position, appointed by the Board of Directors, serves as the Association's business manager and is a non-voting member of the Board of Directors. Duties include keeping meeting minutes, sending out meeting notices, conducting correspondence, paying all bills and keeping financial records and performing such other duties as may be assigned by the Board of Directors.

Immediate Past-President: The Immediate Past President serves as a voting Board member and as chair of the Nominating Committee.

Board of Directors: The Board consists of the elected officers of the Association, the 4 Regional Representatives, a Member at Large and the Executive Director (who serves as a non-voting member). The President serves as Board Chairman. The Board of Directors manages the affairs of the Association, fills vacancies among the officers, prescribes duties of the officers not otherwise prescribed by the Bylaws, provides rules and regulations for the conduct of the Association's affairs and has full power in all matters demanding action between meetings.

FMCA COMMITTEES PERTINENT TO PESP

Education Coordination Committee (ECC): This committee brings together all the projects and committees intended to provide training or information to the membership, or which deals with public relations. The ECC includes the Aerial Training Subcommittee, the Agency Profiles Subcommittee, the Buzz Words Newsletter Subcommittee and the Dodd Short Course Subcommittee. The purposes of the ECC are:

1) To develop and maintain programs to meet the educational and informational needs of both individual and sustaining FMCA members;

2) To coordinate the scheduling of mosquito control related educational courses, seminars, meetings, fly-ins and workshops sponsored by the varied interest groups within the FMCA, whether or not the event is approved or sponsored by the FMCA;

3) To keep FMCA members informed of the education products and services provided by the FMCA;

4) To consider requests for FMCA approval of non-FMCA sponsored educational events and items, such as short courses by other organizations;

5) To provide full or partial funding of educational events and items sponsored or co-sponsored by FMCA;

6) To consolidate under one committee the activities of the several former committees and ad hoc projects that provide educational materials:

7) To provide by virtue of a larger committee, greater member participation in the decision-making process related to expenditures for educational programs.

Legislative Committee: This committee keeps in touch with the FMCA's legal counsel to learn of pending new or modifying legislation which may affect mosquito control programs and reports to the FMCA Board of Directors.

Research Advisory Committee: This committee makes recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the needs of Florida Mosquito Control programs which can be addressed through research.