DC Environmental Agenda 99: Next | Table of Contents
Restoring and maintaining environmental quality in D.C. will take more than good intentions, tough standards and dedicated public employees. The job ahead will require new tools to help get the job done. Some of these new tools are necessary for the improvement of services city-wide -- streamlined procurement, an improved financial management system, more accountable managers, and new public-private partnerships -- and thus are needed in common by all D.C. agencies. But environmental protection will be further advanced by the implementation of several cross-cutting measures to help the District tackle its environmental responsibilities with greater efficiency.
Implement the District of Columbia Environmental Policy Act
The District of Columbia Environmental Policy Act (DCEPA), modeled after the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), requires all District agencies to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of their major actions, including permitting actions. Although the City Council enacted DCEPA in 1989, it has never been fully implemented. Final implementing regulations were not published until May, 1997.
With a new administration that is committed to environmental protection, the time has come to implement DCEPA and be sure that District citizens know about, and can participate in, the decisions that affect their communities.
Although DCEPA is modeled after NEPA in most respects, the District's implementing regulations include a mechanism under which most applicants can easily bypass any meaningful environmental review. DCEPA calls for Environmental Impact Statements only where proposed projects are likely to have substantial negative impact on the environment. To determine whether a particular project meets this threshold, the current regulations require project applicants to fill out a simple checklist called an "Environmental Impact Screening Form" rather than NEPA's narrative "Environmental Assessment." DCEPA's screening form contains yes/no questions, and requires absolutely no documentation or narrative analysis.
This significant departure from the Federal model is one of the root causes for the lack of DCEPA implementation. With the screening form, neither District agencies nor the public can evaluate the project applicant's conclusions, which usually assert that the project will have no significant environmental effects. There can be no meaningful opportunity for public oversight when project applicants are left to determine if their projects are environmentally harmful.
Recommendation for Action:
The District should either repromulgate its regulations or the Council should amend the statute to require narrative and well-supported Environmental Assessments.
Contact for more information: Jim Dougherty, Sierra Club New Columbia Chapter; Jeff Nelson, Institute for Public Representation.
Launch the Green Government Initiative
In corporations and governments across the country, a "green revolution"
is underway. Managers at all levels have incorporated sustainability into
building construction and management practices, procurement policies, and
office practices. Thus, hundreds of governments now:
-- buy recycled products such as copy paper, concrete, motor oil, paints, and carpet;
-- specify energy-efficiency criteria when procuring capital equipment such as copiers, lighting systems, and computers;
-- replace inefficient plumbing with new water-efficient toilets and showerheads;
-- use non-toxic cleaners, paints, pesticides, and other chemicals;
-- fuel fleet vehicles with low-pollution fuels such as compressed natural gas.
-- provide municipal workers with bicycles particularly for divisions such as parking enforcement, building inspections and police.
Years of experience have shown that these practices save money and promote a healthy working environment for employees (thus reducing illness-related absence), not to mention contribute to a healthy planet. For example, an energy-efficiency project at the U.S. Soldiers and Airmen's Home improved lighting system efficiency by 43% and reduced lighting operating costs by 63%.
Washington is at the center of the green revolution. The U.S. Federal Environmental Executive, the General Services Administration, the Department of Energy, George Washington University, the U.S. Green Building Council, and many others here in the city are among the leaders in this field, and could readily assist the D.C. government in "going green." For example, the head of GSA's Public Building Service has offered to provide managers of D.C. government buildings with free training in sustainable office management methods. Unfortunately, the D.C. government remains far behind the curve. Despite statutory mandates, we neither recycle office paper nor purchase recycled products. Pesticides are regulated (and undoubtedly purchased) without consideration of use reduction or non-toxic alternatives. The list goes on and on. It is time for our government to catch up with the rest of the country.
Recommendations for Action:
(1) The Mayor should develop and implement a Green Government Initiative. The D.C. Government should adopt a general policy on sustainable operations that would contain, at a minimum, the following elements:
(a) Pollution prevention, source reduction, and recycling policy. This should include office paper recycling, waste minimization, and double-sided copying policies.
(b) Environmental Procurement Policy. This policy should address energy efficiency, recycled content, and non-toxicity. All new passenger vehicles should be selected from models that are among the most energy-efficient in their vehicle class.
(c) Green Building Management. D.C. Government facilities would shift to high-efficiency lighting and plumbing, and non-toxic chemical use would be required. D.C. would join EPA's Energy Star Buildings program, to help identify and implement cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy consumption. (The Mayor should also ensure that the new convention center is built with renewable energy systems as required by D.C. law.)
(d) Support for non-automotive commuting. Such a policy would include adoption of WMATA's "Metrocheck" program for D.C. public employees (summarized elsewhere in this Agenda under "Transportation"), installation of bike parking facilities, permission for entry of bicycles into offices (space permitting), and installation of changing and showering rooms.
(e) Formation of a Green Team to develop and oversee implementation of the Green Government Initiative. This would include one representative from each government agency, with leadership from the Executive Office of the Mayor.
Contact for more information: Jim Dougherty, Sierra Club New Columbia Chapter.
Raise Money and Pride for D.C.'s Anacostia River: Offer an Environmental License Plate and an Income Tax Check-Off
Commemorative Plate
A review of the Maryland Chesapeake Bay license plate program provides insight on how to implement one in D.C. In 1985, the Maryland General Assembly established the Chesapeake Bay Trust as a grant-making body to support efforts to clean up and protect the Chesapeake Bay. Establishment of this public trust was critical to the state's later efforts to raise funds for Bay restoration.
In 1991, the General Assembly established a commemorative license plate for the Chesapeake Bay, which has been the only commemorative plate since that time.
The original fee system was established so that the cost of the plate was equally divided between the Trust and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV). After 1994, when the DMV's initial expenses for establishing a new plate had been fully recovered, more money was sent to the Trust. Since 1991, the sale of 750,000 Bay plates has raised $8 million for the Bay Trust.
The success of the Commemorative plate program for the Bay Trust is in large part due to their status as a grant-making body that distributes funds broadly to non-profits, the Department of Natural Resources, municipalities, and government agencies. There is a broad range of support to keep the Bay plate going.
D.C. is potentially ripe for a commemorative plate because of the high turnover of residents here. The participation rate could be higher than Maryland's 10%.
Income Tax Check-off
In 1989, the MD General Assembly passed a bill allowing an environmental check-off on income tax forms. About 2.2% of people filing returns use the check off – that's a good figure on a national scale. The average donation is $14. The total return in 1994 amounted to $1 million. Half of the money goes to wildlife heritage at the Department of Natural Resources. The other half goes to the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
In 1995, a second income tax check-off was added. This second check-off raised $60,000 in its first year, the amount by which the environmental check-off dropped that same year. Since then, the same amount of money is being spread thinly over a number of new check-offs and this becomes a less effective method for raising money, so it is important to limit the overall number, or to alternate them.
Recommendations for Action:
(1) Establish an environmental trust, e.g. the "Anacostia Trust," as a grant-making body.
(2) Establish a single Commemorative license plate, eg. "Treasure the Anacostia," with the full cooperation of DMV.
(3) Establish a D.C. income tax-check-off, eg. for the Anacostia, provided that the total number of check-offs will be limited.
Contact for more information: Anna El-Eini, Friends of the Earth; Larry Bohlen, Friends of the Earth.
Establish an Environmental Agency for the District of Columbia
The District faces a set of environmental concerns that are essentially similar to those faced by other states, and even the Federal government. These include (1) health threats caused by pollution (2) natural resources (parks, rivers, and wildlife) that are jeopardized by neglect and external threats and (3) environmental injustice – a large proportion of environmentally harmful projects are located in minority and low-income communities. As the magnitude and complexity of environmental threats have grown, the Federal government and – to our knowledge – all of the 50 states have responded by creating a separate agency with exclusive responsibility for protecting the environment.
For example, in 1970 the Federal government transferred the environmental regulatory programs of the then-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into the newly-created Environmental Protection Agency. While much of EPA's mission is aimed at human health protection, the agency has also assumed a broader role of advocate for the environment. Virtually all would agree that having such an advocate has served the Federal government well.
Over the past two decades the District's environmental programs have been reorganized in various ways. They are now divided among the Department of Public Works, the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Department of Health. Wherever D.C.'s environmental programs have been located, they have been the government's stepchildren. This remains largely the case today. Approximately five years ago, Council Member Harry Thomas introduced legislation that sought to consolidate these functions and thereby bring more focus to the environmental needs of the city. Unfortunately, the legislation was defeated in committee on grounds unrelated to its merits.
The establishment of a city-wide environmental agency would take much advance planning and preparation. However, doing so would:
(1) For the short term, an executive position should be created within the Office of the Mayor to serve as an environmental advisor, coordinator, and ombudsman. In addition to coordinating key environmental activities that cut across the jurisdictions of individual D.C. government agencies or involve work with agencies outside the D.C. government, this position should also begin to staff a longer-term restructuring proposal (below).
(2) The City should create a Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. Its responsibilities should include environmental regulatory functions assigned to the Environmental Health Administration within the Department of Health. The new agency should also include an office of Environmental Justice, administer the City's park and recreation system, and take responsibility for tree planting and maintenance.
Contact for more information: Jim Dougherty, Sierra Club New Columbia Chapter.