Testimony of Catherine Plume
Vice Chair, Sierra Club DC Chapter
before the
Transportation and the Environment Committee on
DC Department of Public Works, Budget Oversight Hearing
February 15, 2019
John A. Wilson Building, Room 412
I’m Catherine Plume, the Vice Chair of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club, a lifelong environmentalist, and a 20-year District resident. Thank you, Councilmember Cheh, for convening this hearing and for being a champion of environmental issues in DC.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Christopher Geldart, the Acting Director for the Department of Public works. The DC Environmental Community enjoyed a collaborative relationship with Director Shorter, and we hope to continue that relationship with Director Geldart and DPW staff. While we appreciate the efforts of the Department of Public Works and the Office of Waste Diversion, we have real concerns about DPW’s ability to significantly contribute to DC’s 2032 80 percent waste reduction goals under the current scenario. Today, we’ll focus our testimony on three areas: Commendations, Concerns, and Requests
Commendations: The Sierra Club DC Chapter would like to commend the Department for its efforts on the following initiatives:
● Requiring compostable or reusable straws in DC establishments. While regulating the use of plastic straws will not solve the US problem of single-use plastics, it will help raise awareness about the issue. We also believe that over time, this regulation will reduce costs for businesses while cleaning up area waterways.
● The inclusion of the “What Goes Where” tool on the ZeroWaste DC website is helping to decrease contamination across recycling, e-waste, and composting waste streams.
● The passage of B22-0501 the "Home Composting Incentives Amendment Act of 2018") is also encouraging as it will provide residents a $75 rebate for the purchase of a backyard or vermi-compost system. We would like to know where this program stands and if it will be initiated during this growing season.
Concerns: While we sincerely appreciate DPW’s and OWD’s efforts, we also have several areas of real concern.
1) DC's two garbage transfer stations (at Fort Totten and at Benning Road) charge below market rate prices to private haulers for transferring waste. We understand that the current rate doesn’t even cover the actual costs of processing the waste. With these low tipping fees, the District is undercutting recycling markets and subsidizing disposal to landfills and incinerators. There is no real incentive to recycle this waste, and, we understand that at least some private companies are bringing in waste from outside the District such that DC has become a dumping ground
for regional waste. While we realize that this issue may fall outside the purview of DPW, we ask that the appropriate agencies make it a priority to correct this situation as soon as possible.
2) We are also concerned about the lack of movement on the Pay As You Throw pilot program. In 2017, the DC environmental community successfully lobbied to have funds for a PAYT pilot reinstated in the final DPW FY18 budget. Despite this, we’ve seen no movement on this issue to date. Meanwhile, municipalities around the US have implemented these programs, resulting in a marked decrease in waste generated. Carroll County, Maryland implemented a PAYT pilot in late 2018, and within two months, waste decreased by 44 percent while recycling rates increased from 21 to 38 percent. Other cities, more similar in size to DC, have implemented programs and had similar results. We’re convinced that such a program is essential if DC is to meet its waste diversion goals.
3) While we wholeheartedly support a curbside composting program for DC residents, we continue to be concerned about the model that DPW is pursuing – a large single site within the District that can accommodate the entirety of DC’s residential and yard waste composting needs. Preference for a single site means that more trucks will be on the road, emitting more carbon, while the size requirements for a single site mean that it would be likely be located in Ward 5, 7 or 8, wards that already harbor most of the District’s disposal operations. While we certainly don’t want to delay the curbside program, we also ask that DPW reconsider the multi-site option, and if there are sound reasons as to why this option won’t work, tell us about these.
4) While these are our top three concerns, we have many more. Five years after the passage of Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014 which calls for, among other things, the development of a zero waste plan for the District, we know of no movement on this plan. Meanwhile, while legislation calls for waste reduction at DC events, there are almost no enforcement measures (which falls under the auspices of DOEE), or available infrastructure in the District – such as a stock of rentable recycling bins to help event organizers with any greening effort. And, whether this falls under the purview of DPW or DOEE, it’s time for a bottle bill in DC.
Those of you listening to this testimony may feel that you’ve heard this all before. In fact, if you listened to my testimony at this hearing last year, I said much of the same thing as many of our concerns remain the same. We aren’t moving the waste diversion needle fast enough. We appreciate the hard work of our good colleagues at the Office of Waste Diversion, the larger DPW staff and DOEE. But, currently, these offices are woefully underfunded to address the issues at hand, especially if we are to consider the District’s 2032 80 percent diversion goal at all reasonable. And yet, we’ve been told by DPW that the OWD budget is adequate. We respectfully disagree. Hence, our requests:
Requests:
1) We ask that the OWD report directly to the DPW Director.
2) We ask that the new DPW Director continue the quarterly update meetings that the previous director provided to the DC environmental community.
3) We ask that DC’s waste tipping fees be reviewed by the appropriate entities in short order and that a plan and timeline be developed for setting these fees in line with current market rates.
4) We ask that OWD develop a TOR for the implementation of a PAYT pilot within the next 3 months and that the pilot is initiated within this FY.
5) We ask that DC’s very successful Food Waste Drop-Off program be expanded to include more drop-off sites with at least one year-round drop-off site established in each Ward. (We asked this last year, too.)
6) We urge DPW to implement the residential composting program during this growing season.
7) Unless there is a compelling reason to the contrary, we ask that DPW rethink its current “one-site” residential composting facility design.
8) We’d like to see an open and transparent development of a District Zero Waste plan.
9) And, finally, we ask that the DPW Director and his staff work with OWD to develop a realistic FY20 budget that will ensure that DC’s 2032 80 percent diversion goal is more than just words on paper.
The DC Chapter of the Sierra Club stands ready to work with DPW to develop and implement all of these programs. We would like to acknowledge the positive role that we feel the DC Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment continues to play in spurring DPW’s movement on these issues.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.