Local Partner Resources

Environmental Health resources for local government agencies

MDH resources

• Compliance Enforcement
  One of the the primary goals of MDH is compliance with its regulations. Education usually accomplishes this goal, but there are times when it does not. When enforcement is necessary, MDH follows the "Plan for the Use of Administrative Penalty, Cease and Desist Authority, and Other Division-wide Enforcement Tools". By using this document, MDH ensures that enforcement is handed out consistently and fairly.
• Delegation Agreements
  The Delegation Agreement is a formal agreement between the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and local boards of health that gives responsibility for regulating various types of activities to our local partners.
• EH Continuous Improvement Board
  This board was chartered in 2014 to fundamentally advance Minnesota’s state-local partnership in Environmental Health (EH). The Board will initially work on current Food, Pools and Lodging Services (FPLS) challenges and then work more broadly to monitor and advance state-local work in EH.
• Choose Safe Places MN
  Choose Safe Places Minnesota is an initiative to identify and address potential environmental concerns at or around child care locations to protect children and providers from harmful substances. Across the country, including Minnesota, child care and early education programs have been found in locations that could expose children and staff to environmental contamination. Identifying and addressing potential environmental site hazards, especially before a child care program is licensed, can prevent and reduce harmful exposures to the children in these settings. MDH staff are available to assist; we consider current and former uses of property, businesses using harmful chemicals near property, and the safety of drinking water.

Other resources

• Competencies for Public Health Professionals
  In public health, successful mastery of competencies is vital to developing a strong workforce that supports organizational and community needs.
• Community Environmental Health Assessment Workbook:
  A Guide to Evaluating Your Community's Health and Finding Ways to Improve It (PDF)
  Environmental Law Institute 
  This workbook will help community leaders, local organizers, and citizens groups assess environmental health problems in their neighborhoods and assist them in tackling these problems. It outlines an approach to identifying problems, gathering information, and establishing the community`s priorities for improving the environmental health of its residents.
• Improving Environmental Public Health Services Performance to Meet Community Needs (PDF)
  Environmental public health (EPH) programs can substantially enhance public health department goals to improve performance and quality of services. 

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