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REQUEST FOR <br />COUNCIL ACTION <br />CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: <br />SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 <br />TITLE: <br />ADOPT AN ORDINANCE ADDING ARTICLE <br />XV (SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS) TO <br />CHAPTER 18 OF THE SANTA ANA <br />MUNICIPAL CODE (HEALTH AND <br />SANITATION) PROHIBITING SYRINGE <br />EXCHANGE PROGRAMS IN THE CITY OF <br />SANTA ANA <br />CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: <br />❑ As Recommended <br />❑ As Amended <br />❑ Ordinance on 1 sl Reading <br />❑ Ordinance on 2od Reading <br />❑ Implementing Resolution <br />❑ Set Public Hearing For_ <br />CONTINUED TO <br />/s/ Kristine Ridge FILE NUMBER <br />CITY MANAGER <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />Adopt an ordinance adding Article XV to Chapter 18 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (Health and <br />Sanitation) prohibiting syringe exchange programs in the City of Santa Ana. <br />DISCUSSION <br />Beginning in February 2016, the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) began <br />operating a needle exchange program in the Civic Center adjacent to the City Council Chambers. <br />The program operations resulted in acute public safety concerns, which compelled the City to <br />terminate the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and OCNEP; a termination letter <br />was sent to OCNEP in December 2017 and the termination itself became effective in January 2018. <br />During the nearly two years of operating a needle exchange program by OCNEP, the quantities of <br />used and discarded syringes in the Civic Center became unmanageable, with no adequate plan of <br />mitigation or disposal ever presented by OCNEP. The City and County of Orange, through the <br />Civic Center Authority, was forced to install various needle disposal bins in the Civic Center in an <br />attempt to mitigate needle litter in the Civic Center. <br />In early 2018, OCNEP submitted a new application to the California Department of Public Health <br />(CDPH) to operate a mobile syringe exchange program (SEP) in four cities: Anaheim, Costa Mesa, <br />Orange, and Santa Ana. On June 25, 2018, the City of Santa Ana officially provided a letter to <br />CDPH declaring the City of Santa Ana's strong opposition to the proposed OCNEP application for <br />certification of mobile syringe needle exchange services in the City of Santa Ana. Contrary to the <br />City's opposition, in July 2018, CDPH authorized OCNEP's syringe exchange program at four <br />locations in Orange County beginning on August 6, 2018. However, the County of Orange, and the <br />cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange took legal action to block OCNEP's mobile SEP from <br />operating, contending that the CDPH's approval of the mobile needle exchange violated the <br />California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on the basis that the needle exchange program had <br />L. 1 - <br />