MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

Council Chamber

Members Present:  Ed Washington (Chair), Susan McLain (Vice Chair), Rod Park

Chair Washington called the meeting to order at 1:37 PM.

1.  CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF APRIL 5, 2000

Councilor Park requested that consideration of the minutes be delayed until after Council McLain arrived. She was on her way. [Editor’s note: Consideration of these minutes was delayed until the next committee meeting, on May 3, 2000.]

2.  REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

Terry Petersen, Director of the Regional Environmental Management Department, gave a summary of the department’s recent activities. (The summary is attached to the meeting record.) Items included the following:

•  The parent company, Asche Transportation Services, of Metro’s hazardous waste transport contractor, Specialty Transportation Services (STS), has had considerable financial difficulties. Although it should not affect Metro’s contract with STS, the situation should be monitored closely.

•  A recent US District Court decision placed a permanent injunction on Washington County’s system of franchising for waste collection. The long-term consequences of that decision were unclear.

•  The City of West Linn recently awarded a franchise based on competitive bid for the first time. It is one example of the changes taking place in the solid waste collection industry.

•  More than 1200 people brought household hazardous waste to a collection event in Washington County. Two more events are planned for May, one in Aloha and one in Gresham.

Councilor Park asked Mr. Petersen if he had received a complaint about a week ago via e-mail about that event.

Mr. Petersen said he had not received the complaint so he could not comment on it. He added that this particular event was held just last weekend, so if the complaint related to a Metro event, it would have to have been one of the smaller, neighborhood events. He said Metro employees staff both neighborhood and larger collection events. He said he would follow up on the complaint after he sees it.

3.  ORDINANCE NO. 00-858, FOR THE PURPOSE OF AMENDING METRO CODE CHAPTER 5.02 TO EXTEND THE SUNSET DATE FOR THE REGIONAL SYSTEM FEE CREDIT PROGRAM TO JUNE 30, 2001

Mr. Petersen introduced the ordinance and gave a brief history of the fee credit program. He explained that the program was due to expire at the end of June of this year. This ordinance would extend the program for another year. Briefly, the program encourages recycling by allowing a credit on Metro’s system fee based on the amount of recovery done at the facilities. Studies of the program indicate it has been generally successful, although recycling has fallen off at some facilities. (More information on this ordinance can be found in the staff report included in the meeting packet as part of the permanent record.)

Chair Washington opened a public hearing on Ordinance No. 00-858 at 1:45 PM.

Ray Phelps, Willamette Resources, Inc., 16 Touchstone, Lake Oswego, OR 97035, testified in favor of the ordinance. He noted, however, that the credit amounts that accompany the ordinance have not changed since 1998 but inflation has eroded those values by about 5% since then. He suggested that the fee credit be indexed according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). He further suggested that the amounts shown [as an attachment to the ordinance] be adjusted to reflect the 5% the CPI has increased over the past 18 months.

Mr. Petersen said those were good points. However, he requested that the committee allow his staff time to study the financial impacts before taking action on Mr. Phelps’s suggestions.

Councilor Park said that if the credit were to be indexed, the system fee should also be indexed. He said the tip fee should also be indexed to keep the system whole.

Mr. Petersen agreed. He said that if the cost components were tied to inflation, then the revenue components that pay for those costs also needed to be tied to inflation.

Mr. Phelps said Mr. Petersen was correct in that the tip fee had been maintained at $62.50. However, he noted that there had been a gap between the actual fee and the tip fee, because of Metro’s aggressive programs to encourage recycling. He said those programs had indirectly increased revenue capacity. He said that this system fee credit program had demonstrated its value in promoting recycling, but the industry was falling behind because it had lost purchasing power.

Councilor McLain said she needed more information before she would support this ordinance. She needed to feel that the cost and revenue sides would be in balance.

Chair Washington asked if the committee could go ahead and act on this ordinance in its present form and still consider Mr. Phelps’s suggestion.

Mr. Petersen said this ordinance would simply extend the program in its present form for another year.

Chair Washington asked Mr. Petersen how long it would take his staff to study the implications of Mr. Phelps’s suggestion.

Mr. Petersen suggested that Mr. Phelps’s suggestions be considered together with discussions about the excise tax incentives and the level of funding for the regional system fee. He thought there might be a number of things to change within that mix. He suggested working with that, then making a decision on the whole package. He said all these issues would be coming before the Council within the next few months so this would be revisited soon.

Councilor Park asked if this ordinance carried with it the same 90-day time sensitivity as that of the excise tax ordinance.

Marvin Fjordbeck, Metro Legal Counsel, said it did. He said that was why this ordinance did not carry an emergency clause.

Councilor Park said his concern was to prevent a lapse in the program.

Mr. Fjordbeck said the purpose of this ordinance was solely to extend the current system. The Council could change either the regional system fee or the credits, and those amendments would go into effect 90 days after they were passed.

Councilor McLain suggested going forward with the ordinance in its present state to prevent a lapse, while continuing to work on Mr. Phelps’s suggestions.

Mr. Phelps said he supported the program and thought it was too valuable to allow it to lapse. He offered his help in working on an amendment to include an adjustment for inflation.

Chair Washington directed Mr. Petersen to include Mr. Phelps’s suggestions the work plan discussions.

Councilor Park will carry the motion to a meeting of the full Council.

3.  RESOLUTION NO. 00-2927, FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHORIZING CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 TO THE CONTRACT FOR OPERATION OF THE METRO SOUTH AND METRO CENTRAL TRANSFER STATIONS

Mr. Peterson introduced the resolution and explained the need to issue the change order. Metro had contracted three years ago with BFI to operate its transfer stations. Last summer BFI merged with Allied, which triggered a provision in the contract that requires Council approval to transfer the contract and to execute a change order. (More information can be found in the staff report to the resolution, contained in the meeting record.) He said the Council could approve transfer of the contract, transfer of the contract with the changes, or deny both transfer of the contract and the changes. He urged Council to pick the second option—support the transfer with the changes. He noted that this was a different contract from the disposal contract signed last year as it was short-term. Metro would be able to put the contract out to bid in just a few years. He said BFI has been a good operator.

Chair Washington asked whether this would affect solid waste savings.

Mr. Petersen said it would amount to about a $20,000 savings in janitorial services.

Merle Irvine, General Manager, Allied Waste, 10295 SW Ridder Rd., Wilsonville, OR 97070, spoke in support of resolution. He thanked the staff for understanding the changes that have taken place in the industry recently. He said the additional costs incurred as a result of the changes were not so great as to interfere with the level of service the station could provide under the new change order.

Councilor McLain asked about a pilot project to deal with organic waste at Metro Central.

Mr. Petersen said that was being studied, but it was not related to this resolution.

Councilor McLain will carry the motion to a meeting of the full Council.

5.  RESOLUTION NO. 00-2937, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPROVING A 1999-00 BUSINESS WASTE REDUCTION OUTREACH WORKPLAN

Mr. Petersen said this resolution and the next one were related, so his presentation would include both. He invited Ms. Kolberg to come forward to help with the presentation. He noted that the committee had requested staff that present this information before it undettook the program.

Vicki Kolberg, Outreach and Education Supervisor, REM, explained the purpose of the initiative. She noted that approval of the first resolution would apply to the work plan, and approval of the second would allow release of an RFP to solicit a firm to do the advertising component of the work plan.

Ms. Kolberg said that more than half the waste stream was made up of commercial waste, of which half was highly recylable paper. This program would aim to encourage businesses to increase their paper recycling. Studies have indicated that businesses would be more influenced by other businesses than by Metro, so the campaign would capitalize on that approach. (The campaign and program are explained in more detail in the staff report and Exhibit A to the resolution, included in the meeting record.)

Councilor McLain said businesses have repeatedly told Metro that the most helpful thing it could do was provide bins that make it easier for them to recycle. She expressed concern about spending more money to do more studies of business recycling. She would prefer that the money be spent on implementing programs to make it easier for businesses to recycle.

Ms. Kolberg said the campaign would use “poster businesses” that recycle a lot to educate other businesses as to what they could do to improve their recycling rates.

Councilor McLain said she thought that a lot of the information the study would find out was already known. She said she would support the program this time, but she hoped that it would be tied to results.

Ms. Kolberg said the intent was to follow up the campaign with hands-on support. The difference here was that it was a business-to-business approach, which might give it more credibility.

Councilor McLain added that the time frame would need to be tighter between the campaign and the ability to implement the programs. She said her support for recycling was well-known, but she was ready to see results rather than more audits.

Councilor Washington will carry the motion to a meeting of the full Council.

6.  RESOLUTION NO. 00-2938, FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR ADVERTISING SERVICES AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT

Chair Washington will carry the motion to a meeting of the full Council.

7.  RESOLUTION NO. 00-2925, FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHORIZING AN EXEMPTION TO THE REQUIREMENT OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING, AUTHORIZING ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROCURE HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL SERVICES, AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO EXECUTE THE RESULTING MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

Mr. Petersen introduced the resolution. (More details can be found in the staff report that accompanies the legislation as part of the meeting record.) He said this would authorize the Executive Officer to release RFPs and to execute a contract with the winner, to dispose of the hazardous waste Metro collects. He said this contract would strengthen requirements to avoid the situation encountered last year when a disposal site owner went bankrupt and abandoned the waste. The new contract would require that the waste collected be properly disposed of. He expected contract costs to be about what has been budgeted, or $971,400.

Councilor McLain asked if the reason that this would be an RFP rather than by bid was because the sites where that kind of waste could go were limited.

Mr. Petersen said Exhibit B to the resolution listed the findings of the contract review board on why this would be an RFP.

Chair Washington asked why there were three current contracts for transportation and disposal of hazardous waste.

Mr. Petersen said there are different categories of hazardous waste, and different companies offer better prices for particular categories. The best total price has come from allowing different companies to propose on different categories of waste.

Councilor McLain asked about the findings in Exhibit B. She wondered if the list were prioritized. If so, she would like the environmental reasons moved to the top.

Mr. Petersen said the list was not in any order of priorities.

Councilor Park will carry the motion to a meeting of the full Council.

8.  WORK SESSION ON THE YEAR 11 REGIONAL WASTE REDUCTION PLAN

Mr. Petersen introduced the work session and emphasized that no action would be taken today. He said Ms. Erickson and representatives from three local jurisdictions would present the implementation phases of the waste reduction plan. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requires Metro to have an approved waste-reduction plan, because Metro sends solid waste to farm and forest land in Gilliam County. These new initiatives comprise the heart of that waste-reduction plan. Staff still needed to look at the Regional Solid Waste Plan to see what, if anything, might need to be modified to reflect these new initiatives. He said he would let the committee know sometime in July what if any changes would need to be made.

Jennifer Erickson, Waste Reduction, REM, provided an overview of the plan. (The information Ms. Erickson presented can be found in the meeting packet that is part of the meeting record.) Ms. Erickson said the plan has been through a public comment process, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) has endorsed the plan, and the plan has been in the hands of Councilors since last December. She introduced the local government partners, who would each present a different initative.

Judy Crockett, Recycling Specialist, City of Portland, summarized the strategy for reducing organic waste by targeting large commercial sources to identify causes of waste and devise solutions. Solutions include finding ways to help commercial generators reduce, reuse, or compose waste, in that order. (See discussion beginning on page 6 of the Draft Year 11 Plan, included in the meeting packet that is part of the permanent record. In addition, her presentation has been outlined in a summary sheet attached to record.) She said she strongly favors the new approach to the plan, which asked for targeted initiatives.

Councilor McLain congratulated the groups that had worked with Ms. Erickson to move beyond the study stage to the pilot program stage. She suggested partnering with people who are already doing some of the things the program proposed, for example, food gleaners in Clackamas County who collect food from farms that go directly to animals for feed.

Ms. Crockett said the city was aware of informal networks but did not know how many there were or how large.

Susan Ziolko, Waste Reduction Coordinator, Clackamas County, explained what the task force has learned about commercial waste. The task force comprised two Metro staff members and three local government representatives. The study included conversations with businesses, haulers, and other government staff to get feedback on what they thought would help increase recovery from the commercial sector. (See information beginning on page 4 of the Draft Year 11 Plan, included in the meeting packet of the permanent record.)

Councilor McLain said that and FTE devoted to market development would be added in this year’s REM budget, which should help reach that goal.

Wendy Fischer, Recycling Specialist, Washington County, explained progress toward addressing construction and demolition waste. She noted that construction and demolition recycling had not kept up with growth in the construction sector. (See information beginning on page 5 of the Draft Year 11 Plan, included in the meeting packet of the permanent record.) The task force has been looking at programs elsewhere in the nation and in Canada for ideas. A consultant had been hired to determine a means of entry into the industry, to identify promotional strategies, and to identify methods to expand the programs of deconstruction and source separation. Promising strategies would be implemented in Year 11.

Councilor McLain said that about six years ago Metro had a construction and debris program. Short -term results were good, but the program disappeared. She suggested Ms. Fischer’s group look at that program and those results to help with this current effort.

Ms. Fischer said staff had reviewed that program. She suggested that Bryce Jacobson, who knew more about that program, come forward to explain what had happened.

Bryce Jacobson, Solid Waste Planner, REM, explained the Construction and Demolition program that had been in effect a few years ago. He said the program was dropped when Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) were introduced. It was anticipated that the MRFs would take care of construction and demolition recycling. That has not been the case.

Councilor Park said that businesses do what is least expensive. If a MRF charges $62.50 and a landfill $44, no matter how much a contractor has been educated, that cost difference would determine what happened to the waste. He said he was not certain how to address that problem, but he would be looking into it. He expressed hope that the facilities would have the capacity to accept recyclable waste to keep it out of the landfill.

Ms. Fischer said the inequities in the system relate to larger issues, including inequities in landfills from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Transportation and location add to the cost of recycling. She said that the possibility of adding recovery operations at one or both landfills in the county appeared promising.

Councilor McLain said this was the first time in the past six or seven years she felt that a program has been targeted, has involved partnerships, and has had measurable goals. She thought the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan needed that to carry it to the next level of effectiveness.

Ms. Erickson thanked the local governments that had participated this year. She promised to bring a resolution forward to this committee next month proposing the adoption of this plan.

9.  COUNCILOR COMMUNICATIONS

Councilor Park said the SWAC last week had discussed the excise tax issue and the ordinance he was preparing on it. He hoped his approach would level the playing field and use economics to Metro’s advantage. He said one concern was keeping any potential excise tax dollars from disappearing into Metro’s general fund. He said one proposed amendment would address that concern by creating a recycling-rate stabilization fund, where excess money would go first. After that, money would flow into a fund for excise tax recycling credits to move the region toward its recycling goals. He said the ordinance that dealt with where this tax would be applied was equal in importance to the one that dealt with how the tax would be figured. The basic idea would be to tax waste that goes to the landfill, not waste that gets recycled.

Mr. Petersen said he thought the solid waste industry generally supported the ordinances, even though a few companies might be paying more. Those who would pay more would be those who send more waste to the landfill. He said his staff had been reviewing the draft ordinances and had been preparing technical amendments for it.

Councilor Park said the excise tax was a variable cost rather than an overhead cost, so even though the tax might be some $5 per ton, the profit of putting that ton into the ground was still greater. He said he had not heard of anyone losing money on that. Companies had the choice to either put the $5 into Metro’s coffers or into a recycling program to pull waste out. He said that ultimately the companies would make that choice based on their bottom line.

Councilor McLain asked about creating the new fund for rate-stabilization. She thought Metro already had a rate-stabilization account.

Councilor Park said the rate-stabilization account was confined to the solid-waste department. He said that the account he was proposing would be within the general fund. He said it was important for the industry to feel comfortable with how this would affect removing caps on private transfer stations and how removing the caps would affect recyclers.

Councilor McLain asked about the details in the ordinance and its relationship to removing the caps from smaller transfer stations.

Chair Washington suggested she discuss that issue with Mr. Petersen outside of this committee.

There being no further business before the committee, Chair Washington adjourned the meeting at 3:12 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Emmerson

Council Assistant

ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE MEETING OF APRIL 19, 2000