City of Boston Launches Boston Rodent Action Plan

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced the launch of the Boston Rodent Action Plan (BRAP), a new coordinated, multi-agency initiative to mitigate the rodent population in Boston and maintain an excellent quality of life established for Boston residents, families, and visitors. The City of Boston also released the BRAP report, commissioned by the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) and authored by Dr. Bobby Corrigan, a leading Urban Rodentologist renowned across the country. The report details the factors contributing to the urgent rodent population in the city. It will serve as a foundation for the BRAP’s aim to improve ongoing City efforts to address this critical quality of life issue better impacting residents and neighborhoods across Boston.  

"Boston takes pride in distinguishing our city through delivering exceptional basic city services for safe and clean streets, beautiful public spaces, and responsive and accessible city government,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “We’re working to make Boston a home for everyone. Except for rats. Our rodent action plan, which is informed by this data-driven report, will guide our approach across our neighborhoods."

In an effort to better address areas of concern and coordinate actions taken by city departments, the City also has established a Boston Rodent Action Plan working group to target better prevention and intervention measures to address Boston’s rat mitigation efforts. This group comprises relevant City departments including the Operations Cabinet, Inspectional Services Department, Public Works Department, Boston Public Health Commission, Parks and Recreation, Community Engagement Cabinet, Boston 311, Boston Housing Authority and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The working group will ensure that we are using our City resources to address the root causes of rodent populations and drive engagement with residents and property owners to help keep neighborhoods and public spaces safe and clean. 

“Boston doesn’t like rats, and rat mitigation is one of the priority quality of life issues for this administration,” said Chief of Operations Dion Irish. “We are excited and optimistic about the enhanced collaboration amongst city agencies whose work impacts rodent mitigation.  Dr. Corrigan’s report will be a valuable resource that will aid us in building on the great work already being done towards developing and implementing an action plan that prioritizes addressing root causes, utilizes data & technology, and reduces environmental hazards.”

The report highlights various causes and effects of rodent infestation, including poor trash mitigation, storage, and removal. Given its position as one of the oldest cities in the Northeast, it also outlines Boston’s infrastructure as an inherent factor that significantly influences the rodent population. This, coupled with densely populated neighborhoods, intertwining alleyways, old sewer systems, and century-old cobble or brick streets and sidewalks, provide an environment for rodents to thrive.

“The Rodent Action Plan is a strong tool to coordinate multiple City departments that play a crucial role in approaching this complex issue,” said ISD Commissioner Tania Del Rio.  “By integrating best practices in waste management, public education, infrastructure improvements, and environmentally friendly pest control, we are confident the BRAP will yield positive results for Boston’s residents. The Inspectional Services Department is excited to be a part of this initiative."

“We strive to make our parks and green spaces feel like home to Boston residents, and addressing the rodent issue is a crucial part of that mission,” said Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods. “By integrating our efforts with the cross-departmental Boston Rodent Action Plan, we can ensure our parks and public spaces remain safe, clean, and enjoyable for everyone in our community.”

“Every Boston resident deserves a home that is rodent free,” Boston Housing Authority Administrator Kenzie Bok said. “At BHA, we know that it takes coordination between all city agencies and departments to effectively combat rats in a neighborhood. I applaud Mayor Wu for leading on this issue and I’m confident that this initiative will make a significant difference for the quality of life for our BHA residents and for families across Boston.”

Broadly, the report outlines that the City take the following actions:

• Build on the City’s ongoing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. Integrated pest management stresses addressing the environmental root causes first and from there utilizing various extermination approaches
• Ensure the goal of rat management program, whenever possible is preventative instead of reactionary 
• Utilize data related to complaints, physical inspections, geo-mapping, population cluster models, and additional emerging technology to target efforts
• Establish a Priority Action Neighborhood (PAN) plan for the top 3-5 most afflicted neighborhoods to reduce currently established rodent hot spots
• Incorporate specialized infrastructure-specific rat control for Parks, Sewers and Alleys, and major construction zones
• Move towards alternative baits and other effective tools for controlling rats that do not present environmental threats to wildlife 

Dr. Corrigan's report emphasizes how human behavior significantly contributes to the rodent population which he calls 'a modern-day city conundrum.’ Storing trash in unprotected plastic bags is a norm in some areas of the city, which is a key factor in the rodent population. Dr. Corrigan also establishes that the No. 1 driver of rat populations in all cities, including Boston, is the food refuse dynamic, often disposed of in plastic bags. The report outlines that the City in partnership with residents, business owners and property owners changing this behavior will be critical in ultimately reducing the rodent population, and it needs to be done consistently throughout the city for a sustained period of time. 

As Boston continues to grow as a city, tackling the rodent control challenge will require investment in data and technology aimed at mitigation. Dr. Corrigan, in the report, also suggests incorporating technology such as rodent sensors, remote rat monitor technology above ground, and shared routine camera scoping below ground/sewers to trace infestations and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the report highlights the need to manage trash in large housing complexes, parks, green spaces, sewers, and utility systems. Additionally, BPHC has determined that the current rodent population at this time does not pose a high public health threat to Bostonians.

The formation of this report and changes to the City’s approach were informed by an extensive community engagement process during the annual Spring Pest Management Campaign led by ISD that runs from March through July. City workers conducted various neighborhood walkthroughs and administered rodent control treatment services to impacted areas, which also greatly informed residents, business owners, and elected officials of the challenges posed by Boston’s rodent population. For more information regarding the Boston Rodent Action and an update on City efforts, please visit boston.gov/rats.