Clean Energy, Plastic Pollution, and Clean Water Should be Key Priorities for DC Environment Department

Testimony of Lara Levison
Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter
Oversight Hearing on the Department of Energy and the Environment
Committee on Transportation and the Environment
Thursday, February 16, 2023

Introduction

Councilmember Allen, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this budget hearing on the Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE), and thank you for your strong leadership on environmental issues. My name is Lara Levison, and I am the chair of the Energy Committee of the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter. The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. The DC chapter has about 3,000 dues-paying members.

ENERGY

We commend the Council for passing several strong climate and energy bills last year, including the Clean Energy DC Building Code Amendment Act,^[1] the Climate Commitment Act,^[2] and the Greener Government Buildings Act.^[3] Though many implementation challenges lie before us, these bills take significant steps forward to reduce carbon pollution and improve public health in the District.

But we cannot rest on our laurels, as the harmful impacts of climate change are accelerating. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that “The planet continued its warming trend in 2022, with last year ranking as the sixth-warmest year on record since 1880…” Climate-related events in the U.S. in 2022 included Hurricane Ian, which caused immense destruction in Florida, and devastating wildfires across the West. The impacts and recovery processes from hurricanes and wildfires unfortunately demonstrate how climate disasters hit poor and non-white communities first and worst.^[4],^[5] The District did not experience extreme weather events in 2022, but we have in the past, and we will experience increasingly more of them in the future, including extreme heat, the deadliest type of natural disaster in the United States.^[6]

Beyond Gas

For the District to achieve our climate goals, as well as reduce indoor and outdoor air pollution, we must eliminate the combustion of fossil fuels in our buildings. Fracked gas burned in buildings to provide heat and hot water is responsible for 23% of DC’s greenhouse gas emissions.^[7] The gas we burn in our homes is methane, and when released directly into the atmosphere, it is 84 to 87 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas.^[8]

The only way to deal with the climate and health threat of burning gas in buildings is to stop burning gas in buildings. Unfortunately, fossil fuel interests want to take DC in the opposite direction. AltaGas, the Canadian fracked gas company that owns Washington Gas, wants to charge DC ratepayers $4.5 billion to replace its fossil fuel piping system.^[9] In December, AltaGas sought permission from DC’s Public Service Commission to charge DC residents $672 million dollars from 2024 to 2028 for the third phase of its pipeline replacement program, called Project Pipes.^[10] That’s just for phase three of Project Pipes – AltaGas has plans to charge DC families and businesses billions more for its dirty energy infrastructure in the years ahead.

DC cannot afford the high cost of dirty fuel – we cannot afford it financially, our climate cannot afford it, and public health cannot afford it. Instead of wasting billions of dollars on fossil fuels, DC should invest in equipping homes and buildings with efficient electric appliances and heating systems. Because President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, DC will soon see millions of dollars in federal rebates, tax credits, and other incentives to transition our homes and buildings from dirty energy to electricity, which will come from 100% renewable sources in DC by 2032.

Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers unprecedented federal assistance for families, businesses, and governments to transition from indoor fossil fuel combustion for heating to clean and efficient electric systems like heat pumps and induction stoves. Our understanding is that DOEE will receive about $60 million in formula funding for rebates for residential building electrification under the Inflation Reduction Act. The rebates in most or all cases will not cover the entire cost of installing efficient electric equipment, like heat pumps or induction stoves, in people’s homes. To ensure that the IRA funding brings to DC the climate, health, and cost savings benefits of efficient electric appliances and to ensure that we leave no federal dollars on the table, the District must identify local dollars to supplement the residential electrification rebates. We ask that this committee press DOEE not just on how it plans to use IRA money, but also on how the upcoming budget will use local dollars to ensure DC maximizes IRA home electrification rebates to benefit the District’s low- and moderate-income families.

In addition to rebates (and tax credits for higher earners) for electrification, the Inflation Reduction Act includes $27 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency for greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Our understanding is that about $7 billion of that will be awarded to states based on competitive grants applications. We request that this committee ask DOEE for details on its plans to apply for that funding. Because the EPA has yet to issue guidance on how to apply for that funding, it is unlikely DC could include plans for it in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. But DC could apply to use that funding in 2025 and beyond to pay for DC laws already on the books, such as the Greener Government Buildings, which the CFO has estimated will have a price tag of $8 million over the four-year financial plan.

The Inflation Reduction Act also includes a $3 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program, which could provide a key opportunity for DC to seek funding to electrify homes in frontline communities that often see the greatest health harms of indoor fossil fuel combustion. Gas-burning appliances fill our homes with many of the same pollutants as car exhaust, things like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), particulate matter, and formaldehyde.^[11] Health impacts stemming from elevated nitrogen dioxide exposure include aggravated respiratory symptoms and higher susceptibility to lung infections,^[12] a 42% increased risk of developing asthma symptoms,^[13] and IQ and learning deficits in children.^[14] Peer-reviewed research published this year found that gas stoves are responsible for almost 13% of all childhood asthma cases.^[15] These health impacts hit environmental justice communities the hardest. Children in Ward 8 are 10 times more likely to visit the hospital because of asthma than children in wealthier parts of the District.^[16] The Sierra Club urges DOEE to seek funding from the Inflation Reduction Act’s EJ Block Grant program to ameliorate the public health threat of gas-burning appliances and heating equipment in the District’s frontline communities.

Healthy Homes Act

We want to take this opportunity to commend you, Councilmember Allen, for reintroducing the “Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Amendment Act.” The bill establishes a program to remove fossil fuel appliances and equipment (boilers, furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and ovens) in people’s homes and replace them with efficient electric systems such as heat pumps, at no cost to homeowners and renters. At least 30,000 DC households earning less than $80,000 a year would be eligible for the no-cost replacements of gas-fired appliances and heating systems. We look forward to speedy enactment of this legislation, and we urge the Mayor and Council to include funding for these activities in the FY24 budget, to enable low- and moderate-income DC residents to gain the benefits of this program as soon as possible.

Building Energy Performance Standards

The DC Council blazed a trail for other jurisdictions to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in large buildings by enacting the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) in the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act. We commend DOEE for moving forward with implementation of this important policy despite the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic. We appreciate that DOEE met the statutory deadline of January 2023 for completing a report assessing whether BEPS should be revised to base improvements in buildings on a greenhouse gas standard. The report recommends a “trajectory pathway” for BEPS that would set long-term targets using Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and on-site greenhouse gas intensity as the metrics. The trajectory pathway would establish interim targets every six years that would be specific to each building covered by BEPS. The trajectory pathway provides several benefits over the current approach, including deeper greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 and greater certainty for building owners.

DOEE recommends implementing the trajectory pathway no sooner than 2032 and proposes holding off on the necessary policy changes until the first compliance cycle has been completed and evaluated.  A trajectory pathway that is not implemented until 2032 will not see much compliance with the new trajectory GHG target until about 2038, since most building owners are likely to implement measures close to the deadline of any given cycle. As a result, the new GHG trajectory simply comes much too late to make a meaningful difference to the achievement of the District’s carbon neutrality goal by 2045.^[17] The Sierra Club is concerned that in the near term, owners whose buildings require major renovation will not have the incentive to electrify their buildings, but rather will install new fossil fuel boilers and other infrastructure that will remain in place for decades. We therefore strongly recommend that the DC Council follow the recommendation of the BEPS GHG study and adopt the new trajectory goals (which would require new legislation), but adopt a faster timeline. At a minimum, building owners should have an option to voluntarily choose an alternative compliance pathway in the next cycle of BEPS (aka beginning in 2027 for compliance over the next five years)  that is based on the principles of the trajectory approach laid in the GHG study. 

DC Sustainable Energy Utility

The Sierra Club salutes former director Ted Trabue for his leadership of the DCSEU and willingness during his tenure over the past several years to move the DCSEU away from policies that perpetuate the combustion of fossil fuels in the District’s buildings. We look forward to working with new managing director Ernest Jolly to achieve the District’s climate and energy efficiency goals. With funding from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, the District has a golden opportunity to expedite electrification of our buildings, thereby reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution, as well as cutting the carbon pollution that is the main cause of the climate crisis. It is essential to focus first on residences of low and moderate income residents to reduce health stressors and ensure that these residents are not subject to higher costs for methane gas as the gas distribution system is gradually phased out.

Clean Energy DC 2.0

DOEE is in the process of updating Clean Energy DC, the District’s climate and energy plan, which identified actions needed to be taken by 2023 to meet the District’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. Clean Energy DC 2.0 must lay out a clear and detailed roadmap for decarbonization and electrification of the District’s buildings and transportation sectors, with a strong emphasis on decarbonizing affordable housing and the homes of low and moderate income residents in the near term, for the reasons explained above. The actions and goals must be in alignment with the timelines in the Climate Commitment Act passed by the Council last year. The plan should be developed with extensive public participation, and it should not place a significant emphasis on the use of waste heat.

Transportation Electrification Roadmap

DOEE released its long awaited Transportation Electrification Roadmap (TER) last August to help the District transition its local transportation modes to zero-emission vehicles by 2045. As the TER notes, the electrification of bus fleets is especially critical for reaching the District’s GHG emission reduction goals.

We appreciated seeing a comprehensive set of recommendations that were time bound in the roadmap. We would like to see updates for the progress made on them, particularly the ones that had a six month to one year time period, such as those related to community engagement and the identification of 200 locations for EV charging infrastructure.

Medium and Heavy Duty Zero Emission Vehicles

Medium and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) are a major source of the unhealthy air pollution that puts our health at risk, with the health burden disproportionately impacting people of color and lower-income families. Though MHDVs account for roughly 4% of vehicles on our roads, they are the largest contributor to nitrogen oxide pollution and particulate pollution, and the second leading contributor of GHG emissions in the country.

The Sierra Club was encouraged when the District signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in July 2020 with 15 states to phase out fossil-fuel MHDVs by 2050, with a target of 30% of new sales to be zero emission by 2030

Sierra Club has participated in the DOEE’s past stakeholder outreach for a multi-state draft Action Plan that was released in March 2022, as part of the MOU. We ask that an update be provided about the Action Plan.

WMATA Metrobus Electrification

Metrobus operates the sixth largest bus fleet in the nation with 1,540 buses, which are a significant source of GHG emissions and air pollution. Though the District does not have sole jurisdiction over the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the Sierra Club believes DOEE has an important role to play in ensuring that WMATA speeds up its transition to zero emission buses (ZEB), which would benefit air quality and public health while reducing GHG emissions.

DOEE’s Transportation Electrification Roadmap explicitly incorporates WMATA in its plan for achieving DC’s climate goals, stating, “[a]s WMATA finalizes its fleet transition plan, the District will work with the battery electric team to lower barriers identified in its plan, and to hasten projects for BEB [(Battery Electric Bus)] operations in the District.” DOEE emphasized WMATA’s importance in complying with DC climate law, explaining that "the transition of WMATA passenger bus assets is a critical component to meaningful transit electrification in the District'' and “WMATA is a linchpin in any efforts to decrease the District’s greenhouse gases.” DOEE added, “[p]artnering with WMATA to transition the fleet of transit buses to BEBs will further drive down GHG emissions and eliminate air pollution caused by diesel fuel, decreasing exposure to air toxins for both residents and visitors.”

This Roadmap illustrates that the DC government correctly and transparently recognizes WMATA’s pivotal role in making this region cleaner, healthier, and innovative in adopting and achieving ambitious GHG emission reduction goals. This was made even more obvious in a February 1, 2022 resolution, unanimously adopted by the DC Council, calling on WMATA to electrify its fleet. Titled “Sense of the Council Urging WMATA’s Bus Fleet Electrification Resolution,” this document dictated, “Going forward, WMATA must buy only electric buses, meaning that Metro's entire fleet would be fully electric by 2038[.]”

WMATA, in contrast, could hardly be less transparent in describing its own GHG emission reduction goals in its proposed five year Strategic Transformation Plan, released in January 2023. It is only at the very end of the Plan’s appendix that WMATA even mentions its goal of transitioning to a 100% zero-emission bus fleet by 2045. Nowhere in its Plan does WMATA explain what its interim electrification goals are or what steps it intends to take to achieve these goals.

According to the Metrobus Fleet Management Plan, published in December 2021, WMATA is planning on procuring 375 methane-burning compressed natural gas (“CNG”) buses, compared to only 125 electric buses from FY 2024 through FY 2028.

WMATA should be hastening its timeline toward zero-carbon emissions with a cleaner, all-electric bus fleet and infrastructure, not locking us into a future with more polluting methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than the carbon dioxide emitted by petroleum-fueled buses, or the continued negative health effects and harm from fossil fuel combustion.

ZERO WASTE

The DOEE Ditch the Disposables grant program was established by the 2020 Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act to provide incentives for food service entities to switch from disposable to reusable food ware. We congratulate DOEE for its achievements in bringing reusable food ware to the District through this program. We understand, however, that DOEE can only attempt to fund this program through budget enhancements which other reviewing entities can and do delete from DOEE’s budget, and that the Council could act to provide continuing funding for this program. We urge the Council to do just that, and also to expand current levels of funding (now set at approximately $250,000 annually).

It’s time for the District to embrace a more impactful reusable foodware vision. In addition to providing expanded and continuing funding for the Ditch the Disposables small grant program, we can re-examine the Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act’s original call for reusable food ware for onsite dining (which was removed in face of the pandemic). Several jurisdictions have moved in this direction post-pandemic. In addition, some cities, like Los Angeles and San Francisco are requiring reusable cups at events. There are a growing number of third-party reusable cup and takeout container companies that have started doing business as noted in this directory. As an initial step, the Council could act to require reusable cups and containers at events organized by EventsDC, extending this to other venues in the future.

These businesses will need access to wash facilities. The renovation of the Benning Road Transfer Station could provide an opportunity for the District to invest in such a facility. We also need to deploy public kiosks so that customers can return reusables and invest in green vehicles used to redistribute clean cups and containers to restaurants and venues. These investments would enable entrepreneurs to build and expand their reusable foodware businesses here in the District and create green jobs. Let’s ensure continuing success for Ditch the Disposables, but let’s treat that as our first small step in the transition to reusable food ware so we can end the mindless consumption of single-use plastic foodware and the waste it creates. 

As stated in our past testimony, it’s beyond time for the District to join states like New York and New Jersey in banning single-use plastic bags. The current bag fee generates at least 40 million new single-use plastic bags every year. It’s perverse that valued environmental programs in the District are funded by these fees, fees that lead to unnecessary plastic pollution.

Our volunteers have noted that they continue to receive utensils in takeout orders they did not request or be served beverages with straws and stirrers in restaurants. We imagine members of this Committee have seen the same. We understand that DOEE is only able to inspect some 300 food service entities annually and relies on tips from the public to highlight other infringements of the straw and stirrer ban and utensils on request requirements. DOEE takes its responsibilities seriously. But it can’t keep up. If we want to get serious about reducing plastic straws and utensils, Council needs to enhance DOEE’s enforcement capabilities.

Finally, it’s time to update the Mayor’s List of Recyclables and Compostables so it’s clear that the ubiquitous opaque black takeout containers are not characterized as recyclable and that packaging that contains PFAS forever chemicals are not allowed to contaminate our composting and recycling streams. We understand that DOEE and DPW have engaged in discussions on this issue, and request that Council provide oversight to ensure action.

WATER

Lead Pipe Replacement

The Council has been appropriately responsive to the need for lead service line replacement with legislation and budget authorizations. The executive convened a government-wide task force that issued a report in late 2022 to coordinate agencies’ response. The Council has requested a subsequent evaluation of the Lead Task Force report that is expected soon. New legislation will be needed to address problems of program implementation and remediation, some of which has already been drafted. This Committee will need to coordinate legislative initiatives and ensure that the local and federal funding for this critical need is used effectively to protect the public and remediate remaining lead exposures in water service lines. Sierra Club strongly recommends the Committee conduct public hearings to engage knowledgeable DC residents on concerns over remediation program implementation and any new legislation to improve program design and delivery.

Flood Task Force Action Plans

The Flood Task Force report is expected to be submitted to the Office of City Administrator this month. Sierra Club offered numerous recommendations to strengthen elements of the 20+ action plans. The area of flood planning and preparation that appears weakest and therefore most concerning is interior flooding caused by particularly heavy rains overwhelming stormwater infrastructure. Efforts such as the voluminous underground tunnels and green infrastructure installed to reduce combined sewer overflow to DC’s surface waters will help control interior flooding. However, rainfall models show that far more rain and flooding is likely to occur than the District has currently planned for. Sierra Club recommends additional focus be provided by DOEE here due to the broad and costly consequences of area flooding on citizen’s homes and businesses. Oversight of the coordination with the recommendations of the Climate Ready DC plan is prudent. DOEE indicates that the Flood Task Force will meet once a year prior to budget request season to track progress and ensure budget requests are responsive to recommended flood management plans. Council oversight of the DOEE response to and planning for this challenge is strongly recommended. Continued investment in stormwater retention and managing stormwater on site will be necessary in the coming years.

Anacostia River

The Sierra Club has prepared a draft report on the importance of ecosystem services at the  RFK site and is socializing it with community leaders and DC land use planners. How the RFK site is reused will have an important effect on riparian wildlife habitat and water quality in the Anacostia River. Sierra Club looks forward to working with the Committee to sponsor roundtables in the coming year to examine options for this environmentally important land parcel.

We urge that adequate resources and staff time at DOEE be allocated to closely coordinate with the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), as it seeks public input on the District’s redevelopment plans for Kenilworth Park North in 2023, and we encourage prioritizing the health of and access to Watts Branch. 

We understand that the purpose of the Anacostia River Corridor Restoration Plan is narrowly focused on creating a master plan that identifies restoration projects at sites along the Anacostia River and upland to the edge of the 500-year floodplain, and the work undertaken in this plan is limited by the grant received. However, we support more comprehensive planning and coordination of future use that treats the Anacostia River holistically and as a single entity and that will be used to guide all future development projects. This is needed to ensure that all restoration and protection efforts of this river are in service of achieving this broader vision.

Waterways Management Authority

Sierra Club is generally supportive of legislation creating a Waterways Management Authority. We recommend that the coordination of water quality and riparian development strategies be elevated so that this linkage is realized in zoning and stormwater management. Provisions for a  logical engagement with comprehensive river planning should be included. In particular, the increased use of the rivers for water contact recreation should be envisioned and included in the Waterways Management Authority legislation.

SMART GROWTH

Both the Office of Planning and District Department of Transportation are in the early stages of new planning documents – the 2025 Comprehensive Plan and MoveDC 2.0 – that will shape how and where people in DC live, work, and travel over the next generation. These plans can go a long way towards meeting the District’s zero-carbon targets, by shaping investments that are already planned and made by others, on the vast majority of DC’s land – including private sector and federal building owners who own most of the District’s land and buildings or the District’s street network. DDOE must begin forthright engagement with these agencies to ensure that these plans fulfill the District’s potential for a zero-carbon future.

CONCLUSION          

The Sierra Club salutes former director Tommy Wells for his leadership of the talented DOEE staff, and we look forward to working with Interim Director Richard Jackson to find creative and effective solutions to the environmental challenges facing the District.