The mission of the Environmental Health Administration (EHA) is to protect the health of the residents of the District of Columbia, visitors and those that do business here, by targeting environmental factors through education, research and regulation. EHA will focus on how environmental factors impact human health and provide services to optimize such factors. EHA contains three (3) Bureaus and six (6) Divisions.
Bureaus
Environmental Protection Bureau
The Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) consists of two divisions (Division of Indoor Environment and Division of Outdoor Environment). The Healthy Homes Program (previously located within DOEE), will be housed within the Office of Indoor Environment. This program focuses on eliminating environmental hazards (lead, climate/ventilation/pests/structural/etc.) in the home. In addition to the healthy home programs the Office of Indoor Environment will provide services including but not limited to; lead education, mold inspections, water sampling, smoking exemptions, smokefree workplace enforcement, carbon monoxide poisoning prevention and prescription drug disposal. The Division of Outdoor Environment is charged with monitoring, conducting research, providing education/outreach and recommendations/interventions for workplace & occupational health, environmental hazards and climate adaptation.
Environmental Epidemiology Bureau
The Environmental Epidemiology (EEB) is charged with minimizing the spread of disease by surveillance, reporting and implementing interventions that may be catalyst of disease. This Office is comprised of foodborne, waterborne, wastewater, vector borne/zoonotic, respiratory and environmental epidemiologists as well as a team of investigators.
Community Protection Bureau
The Community Protection (CPB) consists of four (4) divisions (Division of Food, Division of Community Hygiene, Division of Animal Services and the Division of Rodent & Vector Control). This Division of Food shall ensure food safety for all types of retail, manufacturing and non-commercial food operations. The Division of Community Hygiene regulates aquatic, cosmetology, bedding/upholstery, body art and tanning facilities. The Division of Animal Services is charges with stay animal, dangerous dog, suspected rabies and animal disease control. Additional this division licenses dogs, facilitates pet sterilization & adoption and conducts mosquito monitoring and abatement. The Division of Rodent & Vector Control provides outdoor abatement of rodents, education for indoor pests such as bed bugs and assistance with hoarding and hazardous clean-up such as extremely decomposed bodies.