TESTIMONY
of
Catherine Plume
Vice Chair, Sierra Club DC Chapter
before the
Department of Transportation and the Environment Committee for
the Performance Oversight Hearing for the Department of Public Works
John A. Wilson Building, Room 412
January 9, 2020
I’m Catherine Plume, the Vice Chair of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club, a lifelong environmentalist, and a 20-year District resident, and now a proud resident of Ward 4. Thank you, Councilmember Cheh, for convening this hearing and for being a champion of environmental issues in DC. I’m here today to discuss the Department of Public Works. The DC Chapter will focus on the Department’s bicycle safety, electric fleet purchasing, and waste reduction initiatives.
Electric Vehicles
We appreciate the progress that DPW has made on electrifying the District’s vehicle fleet. And, while we appreciate that some trucks are being purchased that run on biodiesel, we urge DPW to continue to look for electric truck options and to electrify DC’s entire vehicle fleet. To reach DC’s climate commitment of carbon neutrality by 2050, we must phase out vehicles powered by combustion.
Bicycle Safety
The Sierra Club is pleased that additional officers have been put on the streets to enforce DC’s bike laws. We hope that DPW will deploy officers to traffic hotspots such as the bike lanes located along the west side of Union Station, in Columbia Heights, downtown, and in all areas where bike lane blocking by delivery vehicles poses a perpetual hazard.
Waste Reduction
We are pleased to learn that tipping fees have been increased at the Fort Totten Facility. With space so limited in DC, it is outrageous that it is cheaper for some haulers to drop waste generated in Virginia and Maryland on in DC transfer stations. We ask DPW to continue to monitor these fees and levy fines when they find that haulers are dumping waste that is not recyclable.
We appreciate DPW’s continued focus on improving recycling and promoting composting in the District. The tagging initiatives that were undertaken last fall were relatively well organized and helped educate residents about recycling errors. Improvements were seen over the course of the tagging. We recognize that this tagging was a burden for the department, but we feel that such initiatives are sometimes needed to educate residents about recycling.
• Composting
While we’re pleased to see that the food waste drop-offs are continuing at DC farmer’s markets, we urge that a year round dropoff be established east of the Anacostia River. We’re also very pleased to see that the residential composting program is now underway. We feel that providing vouchers for residents to offset the cost of backyard and worm bin composters will further recycling in the District. Meanwhile, we continue to look for updates on a curbside composting program for DC. We have long been hoping to hear that a site has been determined for a composting facility for food waste in the District. We hope that a site will be identified this calendar year and that work will begin to make curbside composting a reality in the District.
• ZeroWaste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019
As we noted in our December testimony, the Sierra Club wholeheartedly endorses the DC ZeroWaste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019, and we hope that this bill will be passed in the very near future. We feel that it is ambitious but feasible, and necessary. This bill has large implications for both DPW and DOEE and we encourage their leadership to begin looking at the impacts of this legislation on their Departments now. However, much of this bill focuses on business entities and will not move DC’s abysmal residential waste reduction rate significantly. We need creative and concerted efforts now if we are to attain the District’s 2032 goal of 80 percent waste diversion from landfills and incineration.
• Pay As You Throw
And, as we have mentioned repeatedly, we remain very concerned about the lack of movement on a Pay As You Throw program for the District. Based on the results of similar programs established in cities of a size comparable to the District, we believe that a PAYT program can significantly move the needle on DC’s waste diversion rate. Councilmember Cheh, we worked with your office to secure funds for a pilot program. An RFP was issued, and bids are being held at DPW. We understand that the DPW Director has concerns about the program. We note that a pilot program is just that – a smaller orchestrated effort to test a program, identify what works and what doesn’t, before taking on a larger program.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.