TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM O. HOWLAND, JR.
DIRECTOR, DC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
ON BILL 17-761
“SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FEE AMENDMENT ACT OF 2008”
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008, 2 PM
Good afternoon Chairperson Graham and members of the Committee on
Public Works. My name is William O. Howland, Jr. I am the Director of
the District of Columbia Department of Public Works. I am here to
speak in favor of Bill 17-761, the “Solid Waste Disposal Fee Amendment
Act of 2008.
• Before turning to the specifics of Bill 17-761, I would like to provide
some brief summary information. DPW’s Solid Waste Management
Administration operates two solid waste transfer facilities, one at 3200
Benning Road, NE and the other at 4900 Bates Road, NE.
• Solid waste collected by both District government and private collectors
is delivered to the transfer stations where it is moved onto large trucks
and hauled away for disposal. Private contractors who dispose of solid
waste at our facilities pay a fee, based on the cost of providing this
service.
•Under the formula approved by the Council, this fee is calculated based
on estimated material processing costs per ton. We do not over-calculate
the fee in order to collect a "profit"; nor do we under-calculate it, which
would have the effect of subsidizing private haulers.
• The Council originally provided that fee changes were subject to both the
rulemaking procedure under the DC Administrative Procedure Act and a
45-business day Council review period. Last year, the Council amended
this to allow some fee changes to be made through the rulemaking
process that would not be subject to the Council review period. This
procedure applies as long as a fee change is based on a change in the cost
to be paid our contractor under a Council-approved contract to haul away
and dispose of solid waste from the transfer stations.
• In practical terms, this means that when the company that hauls waste
from our transfer stations to a disposal site increases the fee that it
charges us, we can pass this increase on to our customers after we go
through a rulemaking to increase the fee.
• But if other non contract-based costs, such as labor or operating expenses, increase, we may change the fee only after going through the regular rulemaking process and a 45-business day Council review period.
This delays our ability to implement fee changes.
• If the proposed fee change is an increase, until the increase goes into
effect the District government is, in effect, subsidizing the cost of
providing this service to private haulers. And our need to keep track of
two different approval processes for different components of a fee change
is confusing and administratively burdensome.
• Bill 17-761 would simplify the process for all transfer station fee
changes. All fee changes would be subject to the rulemaking process.
This will ensure that the public, most notably the commercial transfer
station customers, are notified of fee changes and have an opportunity to
comment on them. Further, it will ensure that we can implement all fee
changes promptly, allowing us to pass on our costs in a timely manner
and preserve a neutral fiscal impact on DPW’s budget.
•Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify. Again, I ask for your
support of Bill 17-761, and I would be happy to respond to your
questions.