In January 2008, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Internal Operations Committee a review of Health Services Department – Environmental Health Program standards and policies to promote a better understanding of the applicable regulations and inspection and follow-up processes, and to identify opportunities, if any, to streamlines those processes.
The Internal Operations Committee held discussions of this matter on April 14, May 12, August 11, and December 8, 2008, providing an opportunity during the intervening periods for the Environmental Health Division to meet individually with local businesses to flesh out and resolve issues that were raised on April 14. A sampling of the issues raised on April 14 included alleged inconsistencies in the application of regulations and codes, increases in requirements of applicants from one inspection to the next, disagreements over interpretations of regulations, protracted period of time to get final approval for a permit, outdated forms, frustration with perceived bureaucracy, and dissatisfaction with perceived lack of communication.
The discussions were very enlightening for all parties concerned with the issues. Some of the operational issues causing so much consternation were determined to be a result of understaffing, which has been remedied through the hiring of three additional plan checkers. Many other issues were determined to be the result of a mismatch in the business community’s expectations regarding the County’s authority to waive or bend regulations. Environmental Health was able to meet separately with most of the community members who wanted to meet. The meetings were generally positive and many issues were resolved or at least a common set of expectations was achieved.
The changes implemented by the Environmental Health Division include:
a. Actively promoting pre-project design consultation meetings with sign-off by an Environmental Health official.
b. Adopted internal policies on subjective regulations and provided 40 hours of additional staff training to improve consistency and uniformity in the application of internal and external regulations.
c. Increased public access to key staff to resolve problems; established a process that facilitates the principles coming together on set-aside days to triage problems.
d. Developed a compliance checklist that can be provided to report the progress of a project, and why a project may have stalled.
e. Implemented desk-duty narratives to document customer conferences on project issues.
f. Launched a new public website that provides on line project tracking. (In the two months since the pages have been up, there have been 541 visits to the main Plan Check page; 242 visits to the FAQ page and 219 visits to the page where people can track the status of their application. A month-old “Contact Us” page has been visited 219 times.
g. Updated Division forms and literature to be consistent with California Retail Food Code requirements.
h. Modified the public service area at Environmental Health to be more customer friendly by increasing lobby and counter space.
i. Utilized the Statewide Technical Advisory Committee on Environmental Health to increase consistency on subjective regulations.
j. Published an updated and refurbished “Plan Check Construction Guidelines for New and Remodeled Food Facilities, Swimming Pools, and Spas” handbook.
Since the December 8, 2008 report to the Board of Supervisors, the Environmental Health Division has surveyed the other Bay Area Counties regarding expedited plan reviews. Only three of the eight counties allow this practice. In fairness to all constituents, regardless of their ability to pay higher fees, the Environmental Health Division believes it is better to handle all plan reviews expeditiously based on dates of submission.
The Environmental Health Division issued a press release on December 11, 2008 regarding improvements to plan review process. The Environmental Health Division is committed to presenting information on these improvements in our plan review process for chambers of commerce and cities within Contra Costa County.
The Health Services Department and its Environmental Health Division appreciate the support of the Board of Supervisors and its Internal Operations Committee in the ongoing effort to protect and promote the health of the people of Contra Costa County. The Environmental Health Division will make a follow-up report to the Internal Operations Committee in August, 2009, as requested.