Rodent Abatement and Transparency (RAT) Amendment Act of 2025

Statement of Introduction Rodent Abatement and Transparency (RAT) Act of 2025 November 19, 2025 Today, alongside Councilmembers Parker, Allen, Nadeau, Pinto, and Henderson, I am proud to introduce the Rodent Abatement and Transparency (RAT) Amendment Act of 2025 to address Washington, D.C.’s growing rodent population and safeguard public health across the District. Rodents are more than an urban nuisance. They carry diseases that can spread to humans, and a recent study in Science Advances found that among 15 major cities, D.C. had the fastest-growing rat population. Researchers point to increasing urban density and climate change as key drivers—meaning this problem will only worsen without coordinated action. The RAT Amendment Act strengthens the District’s approach by improving enforcement, expanding data transparency, and bolstering trash-related policies. It ensures the District can recover the costs of corrective actions when it must step in to address rodent infestation, harborage, or food sources, and allows additional reasonable costs to be assessed so that chronic problem properties are held accountable. To improve transparency and help the public understand where rodent activity is concentrated, the bill requires DC Health to create a publicly accessible rodent abatement dashboard by January 1, 2027. This dashboard will include rodent population estimates, geospatial trends in treatments and service requests, and filters by Ward, ANC, and SMD. The bill also requires DC Health to submit a comprehensive report to the Council by March 30, 2027, outlining abatement efforts, their effectiveness, and the resources needed to make meaningful progress. Because trash is a major food source for rodents, the bill requires Advisory Neighborhood Commissions to be notified before public litter cans are removed from residential blocks. It also ensures that if DPW encounters active rodent activity during enforcement of trash violations, those violations are referred to DC Health so both agencies can coordinate abatement. Reducing the rodent population requires targeted, multi-layered strategies. The RAT Amendment Act provides practical, community-centered tools to improve enforcement, strengthen data systems, and support cleaner neighborhoods. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this legislation and protect the health and safety of residents across the District.

The RAT Amendment Act of 2025 strengthens rat abatement efforts by increasing fines for corrective actions undertaken by the District and requiring trash violations that occur in areas with visible rodent activity to be automatically jointly referred to DC Health. The bill also seeks to strengthen abatement efforts by increasing data regarding the rat population. The RAT Amendment Act of 2025 will increase transparency around rodent abatement efforts by establishing a rat abatement dashboard, allowing the public to have a broad understanding of where rat populations have been reported and where DC Health has implemented abatement strategies. Additionally, it would require DC Health deliver a report to the Council efficacy of reduction strategies and recommendations for further reducing the rodent population.

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1 2 ___________________________ ___________________________ 3 Councilmember Zachary Parker Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 4 5 6 _____________________________ _____________________________ 7 Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau 8 9 10 _____________________________ _____________________________ 11 Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Christina Henderson 12 13 A BILL 14 15 16 _________ 17 18 19 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 20 21 __________________ 22 23 24 To amend the Rodent Control Act of 2000 to require the Department of Health to require the 25 development of a rodent abatement dashboard and report on rodent abatement efforts and 26 permit treble fines on corrective actions; to amend the Sustainable Solid Waste 27 Management Amendment Act of 2014 to require Department of Public Works provide 28 notice to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions before the removal of public trash cans 29 in residential zones and ensure that any sightings of active rodent or vector activity 30 during the course of enforcement under the act also be referred to the Department of 31 Health; to amend the Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Control Act of 2004 to repeal the 32 Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Control Fund which is not in use. 33 34 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 35 act may be cited as the “Rodent Abatement and Transparency (RAT) Amendment Act of 2025”. 36 Sec. 2. Subtitle B of the Rodent Control Act of 2000, effective February 2, 2001 (D.C. 37 Law 13-172; D.C. Official Code § 2103.01 et seq.), is amended as follows: 38 (a) Sec. 904 (D.C. Official Code § 8–2103.01) is amended to add a new paragraph (7) to 39 read as follows: 40

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“(7) “Dashboard” means a publicly accessible, regularly updated online data 41 interface that is: 42 “(A) Machine-readable; 43 “(B) Enabled for source-data export; 44 “(C) Maintained with time-series and geospatial data; and 45 “(D) Capable of filtering data by attributes through a graphical user 46 interface;”. 47 (b) Sec. 907 (D.C. Official Code § 8–2103.04) is amended as follows: 48 (1) Subsection (a) is amended to strike the phrase “certain health hazards that 49 have resulted from the harborage of rodents” and insert in its place the phrase “violations of this 50 subtitle”. 51 (2) Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows: 52 “(b) If the District incurs costs for undertaking any corrective or enforcement action to 53 abate rodent infestation, rodent harborage, or rodent food sources, all parties found to be liable 54 by the Mayor shall be jointly and severally liable to the District government for the costs 55 incurred by the District. In addition to any other enforcement action, the Mayor may assess any 56 reasonable costs, to total no more than three times the costs incurred by the District, for 57 correcting the condition and any related expenses as a tax against the property, carry the tax on 58 the regular tax rolls, and collect the tax in the same manner as real estate taxes are collected.”. 59 (c) Sec. 908(a) (D.C. Official Code § 8–2103.05(a)) is amended as follows: 60 “(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to provide harborage to rodents on private 61 property which they own, or cause or permit the accumulation of debris on public or private 62

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property, or cause or permit weeds or grass to grow to a height of 8 inches or more on private 63 property which they own.”. 64 (d) A new section 908b is added to read as follows: 65 “Sec. 908b. Rodent Abatement Dashboard. 66 “(a) By January 1, 2027, the Department shall create a dashboard on rodent abatement 67 metrics and data, which shall be prominently accessible from the Department’s Rodent and 68 Vector Control Division webpage. The dashboard shall include the following: 69 “(1) Latest estimate of the District’s rodent population, including the date the 70 estimate was calculated; 71 “(2) Time series geospatial data of types of rodent abatement treatments utilized; 72 “(3) Time series geospatial data of rodent abatement treatment requests and 73 resolution status; and 74 “(4) Filters to enable users to view data by Ward, Advisory Neighborhood 75 Commission, Single Member District, and calendar quarter.”. 76 (c) A new section 908c is added to read as follows: 77 “Sec. 908c. Rodent Abatement Report. 78 “(a) By March 30, 2027, the Department shall submit a report to the Council detailing the 79 Department’s rodent abatement efforts over the previous three years and their outcomes, and 80 recommendations for further reducing the rodent population. At minimum, the report shall 81 include: 82 “(1) An overview of the current and planned rodent abatement measures, 83 including goals and specific benchmarks and timelines; 84

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“(2) Metrics the Department is using to measure the efficacy of rodent abatement, 85 including a description of whether the Department has seen improvement, as measured by such 86 metrics, and, if so, how such improvement has been achieved; 87 “(3) Metrics on rodent population during the reporting period; 88 “(4) Metrics on the number of Notices to Abate Violation issued and corrective 89 measures undertaken on behalf of property owners; 90 “(5) A description of public education and outreach measures undertaken by the 91 Department in relation to rodent abatement; and 92 “(6) Budgetary recommendations needed to achieve a 20 percent decrease in 93 rodent population over 3 years.”. 94 Sec. 3: Subtitle A of Title I of the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act 95 of 2014, effective Feb. 26, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-154; D.C. Official Code § 8–1031.01 et seq.) is 96 amended as follows: 97 (a) A new section 106c is added to read as follows: 98 “Sec. 106c. Removal of public litter containers. 99 “(a) Before removing a public litter container on a block in a Residential Zone, DPW 100 must: 101 “(1) Receive a request for removal; 102 “(2) Issue a written notice of intent to install a public litter container to the 103 Council and the affected Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (“ANC”) and provide the 104 Council and affected ANCs 30 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, to 105 respond; and 106

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“(3) Give great weight to any comment from an affected ANC, pursuant to section 107 13(3)(A) of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Act of 1975 (D.C. Law 1-21; D.C. 108 Official Code§ 1-309.10(3)(A)).”. 109 (b) Section 114 is amended to add a new subsection (c-1) to read as follows: 110 “(c-1) If during the course of enforcement as provided in subsection (c) of this section 111 there is evidence of active rodent or other vector activity, DPW shall also refer the violations to 112 the Department of Health as set forth in sections 907 and 908 of the Rodent Control Act of 2000, 113 effective February 2, 2001 (D.C. Law 13-172; D.C. Official Code § 2103.04 et seq.) 114 and section 6 of the Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Control Act of 2004, effective May 18, 115 2004 (D.C. Law 15-163; D.C. Official Code § 8–2131.05).”. 116 Sec. 4. Section 8 of the Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Control Act of 2004, effective 117 May 18, 2004 (D.C. Law 15-163; D.C. Official Code § 8–2131.07) is repealed. 118 Sec. 5. Fiscal impact statement. 119 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 120 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 121 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 122 Sec. 6. Effective date. 123 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 124 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review 125 as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 126 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 127