Guidelines for Cleaning up Former Methamphetamine Labs, June 2009

Methamphetamine (meth) drug labs are not a new hazard to Iowa. In 2004, federal, state and local authorities seized more than 1,400 Iowa labs. These labs are discovered in houses, apartments, motel rooms, motor vehicles, and even an occasional combine. A dramatic decrease in the number of meth labs occurred in 2005 when a law restricting the purchase of pseudoephedrine was implemented. Although the number of meth labs has decreased, they continue to exist. Since there is currently no official federal guidance or regulations on how to clean up a former meth lab, the Iowa Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health, has created these basic guidelines to assist public health officials, property owners and the general public in cleaning up former meth lab properties.

Tree and Brush Control For County Road Right-of-Way, Ocotober 2002

This manual summarizes the roadside tree and brush control methods used by all of Iowa's 99 counties. It is based on interviews conducted in Spring 2002 with county engineers, roadside managers and others. The target audience of this manual is the novice county engineer or roadside manager. Iowa law is nearly silent on roadside tree and brush control, so individual counties have been left to decide on the level of control they want to achieve and maintain. Different solutions have been developed but the goal of every county remains the same: to provide safe roads for the traveling public. Counties in eastern and southern Iowa appear to face the greatest brush control challenge. Most control efforts can be divided into two categories: mechanical and chemical. Mechanical control includes cutting tools and supporting equipment. A chain saw is the most widely used cutting tool. Tractor mounted boom mowers and brush cutters are used to prune miles of brush but have significant safety and aesthetic limitations and boom mowers are easily broken by inexperienced operators. The advent of tree shears and hydraulic thumbs offer unprecedented versatility. Bulldozers are often considered a method of last resort since they reduce large areas to bare ground. Any chipper that violently grabs brush should not be used. Chemical control is the application of herbicide to different parts of a plant: foliar spray is applied to leaves; basal bark spray is applied to the tree trunk; a cut stump treatment is applied to the cambium ring of a cut surface. There is reluctance by many to apply herbicide into the air due to drift concerns. One-third of Iowa counties do not use foliar spray. By contrast, several accepted control methods are directed toward the ground. Freshly cut stumps should be treated to prevent resprouting. Basal bark spray is highly effective in sensitive areas such as near houses. Interest in chemical control is slowly increasing as herbicides and application methods are refined. Fall burning, a third, distinctly separate technique is underused as a brush control method and can be effective if timed correctly. In all, control methods tend to reflect agricultural patterns in a county. The use of chain saws and foliar sprays tends to increase in counties where row crops predominate, and boom mowing tends to increase in counties where grassland predominates. For counties with light to moderate roadside brush, rotational maintenance is the key to effective control. The most comprehensive approach to control is to implement an integrated roadside vegetation management (IRVM) program. An IRVM program is usually directed by a Roadside Manager whose duties may be shared with another position. Funding for control programs comes from the Rural Services Basic portion of a county's budget. The average annual county brush control budget is about $76,000. That figure is thought not to include shared expenses such as fuel and buildings. Start up costs for an IRVM program are less if an existing control program is converted. In addition, IRVM budgets from three different northeastern Iowa counties are offered for comparison in this manual. The manual also includes a chapter on temporary traffic control in rural work zones, a summary of the Iowa Code as it relates to brush control, and rules on avoiding seasonal disturbance of the endangered Indiana bat. Appendices summarize survey and forest cover data, an equipment inventory, sample forms for record keeping, a sample brush control policy, a few legal opinions, a literature search, and a glossary.

Solar Powered Highway Delineator System, HR-367, 1993

Currently, many drivers experience some difficulty in viewing the road ahead of them during times of reduced visibility, such as rain, snow, fog, or the darkness of night- Recent studies done by the National Safety Council provide a detailed contrast between fatal accidents occurring during the day and night. Revealed was that the motor vehicle night death rate (4.41 deaths per 100 million miles driven) was sharply higher than the corresponding death rate during daylight hours (1.21). By providing a delineating system powered by the natural resource of solar power, a constant source of visibility may be maintained throughout the evening. Along with providing enough light to trace the outline of the road, other major goals defined in producing this delineator system are as follows: 1. A strong and durable design that would protect the internal components and survive extreme weather conditions. 2. A low maintenance system where components need few repairs or replacements. 3. A design which makes all components accessible in the event that maintenance is needed, but also prevents vandalism. 4. A design that provides greater visibility to drivers and will not harm a vehicle or its passengers in the event of a collision. This solar powered highway delineator consists of an adjustable solar array, a light fixture, and a standard delineator pole. The solar array houses and protects the solar panels, and can be easily adjusted to obtain a maximum amount of sunlight. The light fixture primarily houses the battery, the circuit and the light assembly. Both components allow for easy accessibility and reduce vandalism using internal connections for bolts and wires. The delineator mounting pole is designed to extensively deform in the event of a collision, therefore reducing any harm caused to the vehicle and/or the passengers. The cost of a single prototype to be produced is approximately $70.00 excluding labor costs. However, these material and labor costs will be greatly reduced if a large number of delineators are produced. It is recommended that the Iowa Department of Transportation take full advantage of the research and development put into this delineator design. The principles used in creating this delineator can be used to provide an outline for drivers to follow, or on a larger scale, provide actual roadway lighting in areas where it was never before possible or economically feasible. In either event, the number of fatal accidents will be decreased due to the improved driver visibility in the evening.

Guidelines for Cleaning up Former Methamphetamine Labs, June 2009

Methamphetamine (meth) drug labs are not a new hazard to Iowa. In 2004, federal, state and local authorities seized more than 1,400 Iowa labs. These labs are discovered in houses, apartments, motel rooms, motor vehicles, and even an occasional combine. A dramatic decrease in the number of meth labs occurred in 2005 when a law restricting the purchase of pseudo-ephedrine was implemented. Although the number of meth labs has decreased, they continue to exist. Since there is currently no official federal guidance or regulations on how to clean up a former meth lab, the Iowa Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health, has created these basic guidelines to assist public health officials, property owners and the general public in cleaning up former meth lab properties.

Issue review : county jails and probation sentencing.

This issue review provides a description of the use and funding of county jails and the potential budget impact if the state were to fund the cost of housing probationers.

Issue review : sex offender registry.

This issue review provides a description of Iowa's 200-foot residency restriction for sex offenders and the impact on the corrections system.