By Jubi Headley
July 2, 2012

In addition to the awards presentation for the 2012 Cans for Cash™ City Recycling Challenge, the meeting of the Environment Committee featured presentations on cost-saving solid waste management solutions and rehabilitating vacant and abandoned properties, as well as lively discussion on resolutions.

Report: National Press Club Forum on 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act

Conference of Mayors Environment Committee Chair Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper reported on the May 31 forum at the National Press Club to mark the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA), a landmark federal law protecting water resources in the United States. Providing safe and adequate water and wastewater infrastructure is currently the third most costly municipal expenditure for cities, and inflation, population growth and an aging infrastructure base increase the cost of that investment each year.

During the discussion, mayors called on Congress to either amend the Act or ask EPA to change the way it implements the Act, in line with a more current, cost-efficient approach. "As mayors, we don't have the luxury of focusing on only one issue," said Cooper. "We have to look at the whole array of environmental needs and given our financial constraints, determine the best course of action that best protects the health of our citizens, our environment, and our economy."

EPA unveiled a new Integrated Planning and Permitting Policy (IP3) on June 12 that is intended to provide a framework for sewer overflows and stormwater management, which would allow federal, state and municipal governments to collaborate more effectively and cost-efficiently.

Five cost-saving Solutions to Cut $1 Million from Your Solid Waste Budget

Next to personnel, disposal costs are the highest costs for city solid waste budgets. Michael Carroll, Solid Waste Division Manager for Orlando and Past President of the Municipal Waste Management Association (the environmental affiliate of the Conference of Mayors), offered strategies that cities can employ to reduce both. These include automating garbage and recycling collection by using trucks equipped with cart-lifting mechanisms which create driver-only garbage collection routes, which save $3 to $5 per home, per month. The up-front costs for the carts are about $50 per home, but, depreciated over five years, this amounts to less than $1 per home, per month. An additional benefit to automation is a significant decrease in worker injuries and associated workers compensation claims.

Caroll also noted the value of diversion as a cost-saving strategy — specifically mentioning increasing recycling and composting rates, as well as looking at waste-to-energy (WTE). Because sorting can be automated, this can lead to huge savings in processing costs (read: less labor and injuries) as well as an opportunity to increase the types of material accepted. Single stream recycling can lead to a 40 percent increase in diversion over a two-bin system, according to Carroll. Increasing recycling can lead to savings of up $80 in disposal. Likewise, increasing composting can lead to savings of up to 20 percent on disposal fees. And exploring gasification methods can not only increase these savings even further, but generate energy (and corresponding savings/revenue) from waste.

Other cost-saving solutions suggested by Carroll included:

• Converting to compressed natural gas (CNG) and/or other alternative fuel vehicles for collection;

• Using GPS, route optimization and other technology; and

• Covering the costs of solid waste collection through enterprise (rather than general) funds — essentially a pay-as-you-throw service for residents — as well as refining the bid or RFP process for greater cost savings.

Carroll noted these all of these topics and will be covered in detail at the upcoming Municipal Waste Management Association Fall Summit, scheduled for September 11 – 13 in Lexington (KY). Carroll encouraged mayors to send their solid waste directors and other staff to learn more about these cost-saving measures.

For more information on Caroll's presentation or about the MWMA Fall Summit, visit the website www.usmayors.org/mwma.

The next presentation focused on strategies for reclaiming and rehabilitating the more than 1.4 million homes in foreclosure in the United States. According to presenter Jonathan Philips, Managing Director of Anka Funds, some policymakers believe that the best way to deal with these abandoned and vacant properties is to demolish them, which would then, the reasoning goes, help to combat the value drain these properties represent in neighborhoods and cities. Anka (a fund that invests in programs that rehabilitate housing and helps revitalize neighborhoods) believes there's a better way. Phillips noted that each demolished home represents about 35,000 pounds of construction and demolition debris — which would then have to be disposed of, at a significant cost to cities. Anka's strategy of rehabilitating or renovating these homes, on the other hand, keeps nearly 99 percent of that debris out of the waste stream and the landfill.

Philips detailed a number of additional advantages of adopting a rehab versus teardown strategy for these vacant and abandoned properties:

• Rehabilitation could create opportunities for millions of Americans to rent long-term so that they can restore their credit ratings, become comfortable with the idea of owning a home again and possibly purchase the home when market conditions stabilize.

• Cities would benefit by creating opportunities for residents to re-populate neighborhoods and renew the sense of community, as well as increase neighborhood safety, halt further property value decline and stabilizing home prices, attract additional investors to neighborhoods, re-employ thousands of construction professionals and increase the property tax base.

• Environmental benefits would be significant as well. The rehab process would allow for energy-efficient upgrades such as more efficient HVAC systems, Energy Star appliances, and increased insulation, among others, as well as renovations that improve indoor air quality. Furthermore, the climate change impacts of rehabbing versus new construction are significantly decreased.

According to Philips, these energy efficient home rehabilitations can be covered by volume purchasing with significant cost savings achieved. This strategy provides a strong tool to approach banks about participating in a larger-scale community preservation plan that they can work together on with the city. As he noted, this strategy is already funded and working in a number of communities across the country — the city and banks help determine what properties are important for community impact, and Anka provides funds for rehabilitation. "Then the banks and cities together can say, we restored this many homes in this area to make sure this neighborhood didn't pass the tipping point," Anka concluded.

In addition to their work on rehabilitating blighted/vacant and abandoned property, Anka has programs to provide more responsible and green rehabilitation, veteran housing, and credit counselling to allow former owners to stay and rent and later buy their homes. For more information visit Anka's website at www.ankafunds.com.

• Supporting Full and Dedicated Funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants

• Resolution to Promote the Greening of the Retail Community

• Calling on Congress and The Administration to Provide Funding for the EPA Climate Showcase Grants for Local Governments

• Urgency to Address Climate Protection

• State Substitution for NEPA Resolution

• City Investment Priorities for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure and Services

• Supporting EPA's Integrated Planning and Permitting Policy

• Supporting a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to Enable Low-Cost Mechanisms to Leverage Funding for Drinking Water, Wastewater, Flood Control, and Storm Water Infrastructure

• Urging the Passage of a Farm Bill That Supports Healthy, Local, and Regional Food Systems

• Resolution to Expedite Flood Risk Reduction Projects

• Supporting the Continued Maintenance of Small and Medium Sized Harbors by the U.S. Army Corps

• Resolution to Restore to Strengthen U.S. Exports and the Integrity of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund

• Supporting the Reinstatement of the Superfund Tax

• Supporting Extended Producer Responsibility for Mattresses

• In Support of EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants

The last resolution was utilized during a Senate debate on Senator James Inhofe's (OK) efforts to prohibit EPA from implementing new air regulations on coal-fired utilities. The measure was defeated.