2018-11-28 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Motion, second, and vote: Commissioner Fulton moved that the committee be comprised of Commissioner Fritz, Chair Bennett, and herself. Vice Chair Olson seconded the motion, and all commissioners voted aye. Chair Bennett said a preliminary report by the committee will be placed on the January agenda. b. Discussion on Bill 192 (Draft 2), which was referred by the County Council’s Environmental Management Committee to this Commission for comment and recommendation. Bill 192 seeks to establish an Environmental Quality Control Program to mitigate nuisance factors at County facilities managed by the Department of Environmental Management, such as improperly handled refuse and wastewater, feral cats, dogs, and other animals abandoned or released at DEM facilities. Motion and second: Vice Chair Olson moved to approve the bill so it could be discussed. Commissioner Fritz seconded the motion. Director Kucharski said that Bill 192 expands upon the responsibility of DEM and that he is somewhat torn by it. DEM is already doing what the bill seeks, but without a comprehensive environmental quality control program and human impact study. Those programs are already required by their permits or by federal law. Codifying in a separate program the things DEM does in complying with their permits will take personnel, time, and funding, which DEM does not have and which is not provided for in the bill. The bill says the director is to request sufficient resources, but it does not say from whom. The department is already mandated, as a permit condition, to deal with feral animals at their facilities. He is torn as to how they could fit the bill’s requirements into their current operations without changing prioritizations and doing less of something else. He also does not know how they would pay for the bill’s requirements, and the priority it demands is not one of his top priorities as director. Chair Bennett said developing a comprehensive environmental quality control program requires monitoring and feedback loops. It is not something easy to do. Interpreted loosely, it would take a blank check to pay for it. Vice Chair Olson said he had spoken with Councilmember O’Hara, the drafter of the bill. It was thought the bill would make the County Council more aware of what DEM has to do. What the additional costs are don’t pop up in the legislative process. The Council needs to know that DEM is not just about hauling trash and greenwaste. DEM has a commanding control of all its facilities, which have ancillary expenses that can run up. These expenses need to be known. The money to pay for them is coming out of the Solid Waste budgets, but they do not show up as line items. If they did, the director would have an opportunity to ask for additional funds. 7