Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Environmental Committee, Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 31m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/3629
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-31. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:08] Good afternoon, everyone. As you may know or see, I am not Supervisor Walkinshaw, who would be heading this meeting. We will get to that in one second. I am Supervisor Jimenez. And real quick, for the holidays, I have some cookies and some homemade banana bread with chocolate chip I brought.

[00:00:29] So I will leave these up here for anyone who wants to try some afternoon treats. Yeah, take that, Walkinshaw. So anyways, good afternoon. Welcome to the December 10, 2024 meeting of the Environmental Committee.

[00:00:48] Before we begin, I'd like to recognize Chairman McKay for a motion. Thank you very much. And again, Kathy Smith, our Vice Chair, is not present, so I'll ask Supervisor Jimenez if he can do the vote count here in a second.

[00:01:03] I do not see Supervisor Walkinshaw, but I know he had requested to participate remotely. So, Supervisor Walkinshaw, if you can hear me, can you please state your name and general location for the record? Yeah, James Walkinshaw. I'm at my home in Annandale.

[00:01:21] I'm not sure why you can't see me. Perfect. We are working on that. We can hear you clearly, though, so that's good. And with that, I move that the Environmental Committee certify for the record that Supervisor Walkinshaw's voice can be adequately heard by all persons assembled here at the Government Center.

[00:01:38] And I further move that this committee approve Supervisor Walkinshaw's remote participation as it fully conforms to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' policy for remote participation in meetings. All those in favor, say aye.

[00:01:54] Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. Board members have the agenda. Our first item is the acceptance of the meeting summary from our October 29, 2024 meeting. there are no changes from board members we'll consider that summary accepted great moving on for our first presentation we have Matt Adams division director of the solid waste management program at DPWES here to present thank

[00:02:31] you good afternoon chairman McKay supervisor Walconshaw Supervisor Menez and members of the board again my name is Matthew Adams I'm the division director in charge of the sustainability engineering and environmental compliance group inside of the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, and inside of the Solid Waste Management Program. Today I'll be presenting on the updated timeline and associated strategies critical to our zero waste plan and the draft implementation timeline. First, I'll start with the Unified Sanitation District proposed timeline.

[00:03:02] Outlined in the provided Gantt chart is a draft implementation timeline for the Unified Sanitation Districts for all sectors in Fairfax County. This chart was created after meeting with the board members in hearing feedback for the zero-waste strategy and the Unified Sanitation District Implementation Plan. The feedback from the board recommended a phased approach to Unified Sanitation District Implementation with the understanding that this will not meet the community-wide energy and climate action plan or the CCAP timeline, but does continue to move

[00:03:38] toward an improved long-term diversion strategy for the community and the overall goal of CCAP. This plan begins with single-family or residential unified sanitation district creation and allows for flexibility to accelerate or postpone commercial or multifamily sanitation districts based on the needs of the community and a demonstrated success in the single-family sector.

[00:04:02] The single-family or residential process starts with a notice to displace the collector community in 2025, starting the five-year state-mandated clock for displacement. During the displacement period, significant effort would be made to hire staff and consultants, delineate districts, develop contracts, undergo the bid process, and begin the ramp-up for implementation to over 300,000 homes in Fairfax County.

[00:04:29] It is anticipated that the Unified Sanitation District rollout will take approximately four years to reach full implementation after the state-required five-year displacement period. As shown in blue in the Gantt chart, a similar process would be repeated for the commercial and multifamily implementation if and when the board elects to begin that process.

[00:04:49] Due to the added complexity of the commercial and multifamily waste collection system, it is anticipated to take significantly longer to implement unified sanitation districts for that sector as shown. Looking more in depth at the unified sanitation district model for solid waste collection in single-family residents, which involves granting private companies the exclusive rights to collect and manage waste within a specific geographic area or district.

[00:05:17] This approach can significantly improve waste management in the community by introducing contractually standardized and efficient and effective services for that community. The contracted collector is held to a strict performance standard, ensuring consistent and reliable services. Additionally, contracted collection can lead to better resource allocation, technological advancement, customer service improvements, and lower collection costs as private companies often bring innovation and expertise when working with a large economy of scale in the industry. By streamlining operations and reducing inefficiencies,

[00:05:53] contracting solid waste collection can lead to a cleaner, healthier community and enhanced environmental sustainability by reducing the number of large collection vehicles on the roads and the fuel they consume. Shown in an early preview of the Solid Waste Management Program's Unified Sanitation District informational campaign material outlining the benefits of the model and what the residents can expect once contract to collection begins. In addition to Unified Sanitation Districts, we have heard consistent feedback concerning pay-as-you-throw or a waste less

[00:06:28] save more model. To clarify, the system will be a cart size based system and the 96 gallon cart or the 95-gallon cart will be the standard for waste collection in Fairfax County. This is similar to the current standard for collection across Fairfax County today. Reducing to a 64 or a 32-gallon or 35-gallon cart for waste will result in a lesser fee for collection as disposable. Recycling and yard waste collection will be provided as part of the waste collection fee and can be used at no additional cost. Additionally, to provide flexibility to customers with limited space or

[00:07:07] different disposal needs, alternative sizes to yard waste and recycling will also be available for residents. I've brought examples of these carts so that members can see the different sizes of the carts and what they could look like in the community. Please note that the large 95-gallon cart is supposed to be green. Unfortunately, it is gray today. But the idea is that that would be our yard waste cart, and then there would be a blue recycling cart at 65 gallons or 95 gallons, and then picking the size of the waste cart would be the 35-gallon cart.

[00:07:40] Finally, this waste model is also being considered, includes a fourth much smaller cart that would be provided for food scraps. It would look something like this. So this is important as the separation of food and yard waste is critical in supporting the board's plastic bag ban in yard waste.

[00:08:04] And this is something that is being assessed as part of the Zero Waste Implementation Plan. By allowing the mixing of food and yard waste in a single container, it has been observed in other communities to increase the contamination of plastics in yard waste in the processing system.

[00:08:20] So we've seen this when we've been to other municipalities of a large size that combine that stream. It causes there to be additional plastics in that stream that is near impossible to get out, plastics and glass. Continuing with the organics collection implementation, single-family or residents organics collection programming is proposed to begin after the approval of unified sanitation districts for single-family properties.

[00:08:49] These efforts will begin with an extensive community outreach and education programming, transitioning to community pilots, then to voluntary collection, and finally, it will be part of the standard service rollout for unified sanitation districts in 2030.

[00:09:06] A similar model is expected to be used for multifamily and then commercial if designated. With the start of organics waste collection and the need for additional waste processing, a new organics facility will need to be constructed in the northern Virginia region area.

[00:09:24] The current processing capacity for yard and food waste in the region is not capable of meeting the over 150,000 yearly tons of organic waste generated in Fairfax County at full implementation. Upon approval of the plan, DPOES will begin the process of siting, permitting, designing, and constructing a regional compost facility.

[00:09:48] The undertaking is in the very early stages or the very early planning stages, but the current model suggests that a private partner would be contracted to run said facility. Through regional committees and partnerships, Fairfax County has heard interest from other jurisdictions in the region willing to partner on an organics processing facility as well.

[00:10:10] So the picture here is of Prince George's County's organics processing facility. It is roughly a 200-acre facility. It processes nearly 50,000 tons of organic material a year.

[00:10:26] This is very similar to something that Fairfax County would need to begin the efforts to start processing the organics inside of Fairfax County. So this picture is to provide a scale so that the members can see kind of exactly what we're talking about, what that looks like, how that could be implemented. We're talking about there are several opportunities either outside of the county or somewhere in the neighboring region with partners as to where we can put this facility. But that is still, again, in the very, very, very early stages of that process. Additionally, to achieve the education,

[00:11:05] engagement, and enforcement necessary for the successful implementation of unified sanitation districts and a robust organics program, it will be essential to make significant investments in solid waste management's financial outreach and enforcement staff. These positions are critical to the effective execution of the zero waste strategies by managing the unified sanitation district's contracts, educating residents on the changes in the system as those contracts come on board and enforcing those contracts on the contracted collectors. So we want to make sure that those individuals are following the contract and delivering

[00:11:44] the services that we're paying for. Increases in the enforcement staff is one of the most important aspects of the plan as it will give the Fairfax County staff and Solid Waste Management Program additional tools to ensure that contracted collectors are following the contracted service level per the contract. Each position is strategically aligned with the launch of a specific program, ensuring that the necessary resources and expertise are available when required at implementation.

[00:12:17] These proactive approaches underscores Fairfax County's commitment to maximizing the program's effectiveness and the long-term sustainability of the program. Next, to maximize participation and convenience for residents, the plan lays out the implementation of zero-waste events and or centers. This plan begins with the creation of mobile zero-waste events demonstrated on the photo on the left, which is from a New York City Department of Sanitation zero-waste event, and then eventually transitioning to a permanent staffed facility as shown as the example on the

[00:12:51] right. This event model was already demonstrated during the Fairfax County Recycles Day event at the South County Government Center, where over two and a half tons of material was safely collected and disposed of from the community. A special thank you to all those who came out to support the event and made it so successful. Thank you. This program would start in the fiscal year 2027 and is supported by the proposed zero waste fee that we'll talk about on the next slide.

[00:13:19] So this shown is the proposed zero waste fee structure that would be necessary to fund the initiatives outlined in the previous slides. This includes unified sanitation district programming implementation cost, organics programming, startup capital for organic processing facilities, position expansions in outreach and enforcement, and zero waste center implementation. It is recommended that all sectors pay this fee as residential or single family, multifamily, and commercial properties will benefit from the expansion of zero waste programming. The zero

[00:13:57] waste fee would begin in FY27 with single family properties and later would expand to multifamily in commercial properties as programming specific to those sectors is started. This is our proposed plan. The commercial zero waste fee calculation is still being developed as there are several potential fee models available, but the shown fee is what we believe to be the estimate per business at this time. Shown is a revised milestone timeline which reflects the updated plan and incorporates feedback from the board.

[00:14:33] It is important to highlight that it has been recommended that Solid Waste and DPWES decouple the zero waste plan from the DEQ submission scheduled for April of 2025. This strategic adjustment eliminates the necessity for a public hearing in February and streamlines the DEQ update process significantly.

[00:14:55] Additionally, this allows for greater flexibility in the implementation of programs and timelines and allows the Solid Waste Management Program to focus more effectively on the upcoming Unified Sanitation District public engagement and implementation programming and planning.

[00:15:11] Commencing at the start of the new year, the Solid Waste Management Program will initiate a comprehensive outreach and engagement campaign focusing on Unified Sanitation District education with the DEQ update submission planned for April of 2025. Notification for displacement to single-family collectors is expected to be issued in the spring of 2025, and a public hearing will need to happen thereafter in the early summer of 2025 to start the displacement timeline and the approval of a zero-waste implementation policy document.

[00:15:44] So that concludes my update around the planning and processing of what we're doing for the Solid Waste Management Plan and our zero-waste implementation process. Thank you for your time, and I'll leave the rest of the time for questions. I appreciate that, Matt, and I appreciate you all bringing some visuals.

[00:16:02] It always helps to actually have that in front of you, so that's fantastic. So before we open it up to the floor, and I will say I'm a stickler for time, so when we do ask questions, let's make sure to be good with time so we can finish up on time and use everyone's time as best.

[00:16:21] I'm going to pass it over to the Chairman of the Environment Committee first, Mr. Walkinshaw. followed by Chairman McKay, I will ask possibly a question, then we'll go out to the floor and see what folks have. So, Supervisor Walkinshaw, if you can hear me, you're up, my friend.

[00:16:37] Thank you, Chairman Jimenez, and thank you for stepping in today. You've definitely shown me up with the homemade baked goods. And I was disappointed to miss today's meeting, but I'm doubly disappointed to see I'm missing real live trash carts. I would have really loved to see to see those. You know, I want to, since I'm the first here, I will do the duty of thanking Matt and the team for their work on this. Obviously, this has been a huge, huge lift and will continue

[00:17:10] to be so. I think what we have presented today reflects a lot of the feedback we have received from the board over the past many months that we've been sharing this process with you. Obviously, this is a major undertaking, but I believe very strongly that the Unified Sanitation Districts have the opportunity to be really transformative for our residents. They can pay less, experience fewer trucks rumbling through their neighborhood, get better and

[00:17:46] expanded service and have more accountability. So I think this is a huge opportunity. You know, it obviously is connected to our CCAP goals, but I would say even beyond that, you know, the issue of solid waste collection and the service that our constituents have received historically, especially in recent years from the private haulers necessitates that we take a very hard look at this change. And many of us who were on the board in 2021 and 2022 know how bad it got.

[00:18:23] And I'm a firm believer that if we don't make a change, our constituents will experience years like that again from the private haulers. So I'm excited about this opportunity. We're going to have really robust public engagement, building on the very robust survey and survey responses that we had earlier this year leading up to the public hearing in summer of 2025.

[00:18:53] So I'm excited for all of that. I'll ask just one question, Matt. If you can talk through a little bit more the organics facility and how that kind of facility will operate. Obviously, there's a cost to construct the facility.

[00:19:11] There are costs to operate such a facility, but are there revenues also that would be associated with the facility based on the end product that it produces? Well, first, thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw.

[00:19:29] So again, Matt Adams. So the process with the organic collection facility, that you are correct that that facility would generate revenue through a tip fee so as individuals say businesses brings organic waste to the facility they would pay a tip fee much like the at the i-66 transfer station now where those individuals pay a tip fee to dispose or to dump the waste or their organic waste and then after it's been processed we would start generating a market to sell that compost to you

[00:20:06] know local businesses farms individuals in the region as well as potentially using it in projects and things that we have now inside of some of our parks as you know out in the community thank you for that mr walkenshaw anything else before we move on to chairman mckay no that's it thank you all right thank you chairman thank you very much and i concur with everything that supervisor walkenshaw just said including kudos to staff for their good work i think a couple questions because we kind of skipped over the reason why we have to go to the DEQ to begin with.

[00:20:45] And I actually get asked by a lot of folks, why can't we do this sooner in terms of implementation? So can you just remind, especially for those who might be watching this and not know, the reason why we have to go to the DEQ, the reason for the timeline, and then is that a discretionary process or is that typically we submit the required documents and the DEQ approves those documents.

[00:21:13] Yes. Hello. This is Matt Adams again. So the process for, you know, I mean, I appreciate the effort of wanting to do it sooner, but the process for displacement, specifically of collectors, is state mandated.

[00:21:28] So that five-year waiting period from the time that we approve an ordinance to move to displacement and to move to unified sanitation districts, that five-year window is set by state law, and we do not have the authority to change it currently. And is that process seen as discretionary, or is it a you meet the criteria, therefore you get approved?

[00:21:50] So right now there is a state-mandated four criterias that have to be met, and that when we go through that process to say what that justification is, My understanding is that DEQ refused that process, but outside of that, we move forward outside of legal challenge.

[00:22:14] Okay. I think the reason I bring that up is I think it's important for people to understand the regulatory environment that we work in. Whether you agree or disagree with that, it is a state requirement, and in some ways, I think it's too long. In other ways, I think it's helpful in terms of the real impacts of the displacement elements.

[00:22:34] I think our job here is to support our constituents at the end of the day. And clearly the system that we have today is not serving all of the needs in the community in the best way possible. And I think in order to move forward with our environmental initiatives, this is an important role for government to play with our collection agencies.

[00:22:54] And as Supervisor Walkinshaw just said, I mean, the number of trucks that are going into some of our neighborhoods and the air quality issues, the wear and tear on the streets is significant. I think we're going to hear a lot about that from the public when we hear from them. Of course, if we do this, we will then be responsible for a lot more area than we're directly responsible for now.

[00:23:17] And so obviously, if we are going to go down this path, we're going to want the confidence that we can deliver the services and deliver them a lot better than, you know, than what is being delivered today. Because right now, other than the collection areas that we manage, they're basically run by the private sector.

[00:23:35] And, you know, unfortunately for a lot of our consumers, they're not getting the kind of attention or customer service in all cases that they want. Transferring that responsibility over to the county means that we got to make sure we have the things in place. And so I do appreciate the real graph here on the individuals and the positions and things that will have to be handled.

[00:23:56] My last question related to that is, are those positions, I know the answer to this, but I want everyone to know the answer to this, those positions and the cost of those positions to run this system are captured by the cost of the program. In other words, are we looking at this being a major hit to the county's budget, or is this something that the costs are covered by the cost to the consumers of delivering the service?

[00:24:27] All right, this is Matt Adams again. So the expansion in positions is covered by the zero waste fee that will be charged, that we are currently proposing as part of the zero waste package. And so that covers not only the positions needed for the organics component, but that also covers the positions needed to handle consumer inquiries about level of service.

[00:24:55] Yes, that includes customer service for an enforcement, very specifically the outreach along with educating the community as well as enforcing said contractual obligation. Okay, so finally, I mean, on its surface, I think this is absolutely the direction we need to go in. And I think there's some details that need to be worked out as one of the benefits of having a public hearing, having the public involved in this to hear what some of those concerns are.

[00:25:18] I think the principal concern I have is making sure that we can deliver the service that our residents expect the way they expect it. And right now, I think we're internally having struggles doing that in some areas, but certainly we're well aware of the struggles that exist with the private haulers as well.

[00:25:38] And so at the end of the day for this, the service has got to be better. And I think that's going to be the thing that most people are looking at and wanting to be convinced of through the process. But I do think this is the way the community wants us to go. I think that's what we're going to hear. I think from an environmental standpoint, it makes total sense.

[00:25:56] And these are the real hard decisions that we have to make if we're going to do the environmentally smart things for our residents. And so I appreciate the presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And the idea of long-term progress is really, I think, a big part of this.

[00:26:12] It's making sure that we're doing, as the chairman said, the best for our residents, because that's why we're here. But it's also making sure that we're trying to meet the goals that we've set in front of us environmentally here in Fairfax County. Being mindful of time, I am going to call on Supervisor Alcorn, Supervisor Lusk, Supervisor Bierman, Supervisor Herity.

[00:26:35] Please just make sure that we're mindful of time, and then we'll move forward. Thank you, Mr. Alcorn. Thank you. Two quick questions. First of all, in the organics facility, so individuals, as you mentioned, would be able to bring organics there. Is it also anticipated that there might be new collection services for organics by haulers?

[00:26:57] And I'm thinking of those three bins. There's equipment that our haulers have that take care of that. Not so much that yet. So yes, the idea is that as that facility or the organics facility comes online, that would handle the new service delivery and the amount of yard waste and organics waste that would be generated as the unified sanitation districts or our collection increases.

[00:27:27] And our plan is to continually increase outreach and engagement around organics collection, then move to a pilot stage so we can get an idea of how much we're generating, then move to a voluntary system, and then, again, roll out.

[00:27:45] That sounds completely logical. My second question, I know there's some issues about how the contracts might ultimately be implemented in terms of single-family detached, single-family attached, and any different rates that might be out there.

[00:28:03] When will we see the options, or when will the board discuss how to approach that? Supervisor Alcorn, this is Eric Forbes, Solid Waste Management Program. It's a great question. We have time through the USD process, that five-year displacement period, to really work out the details of the contractual needs that we have and what we'll be setting up.

[00:28:26] That is the pay-as-you-throw model, right, which is another part of this process and one of our strategies to get to the CCAP goals. And we have that flexibility of time to really identify that contractual methodology in terms of right-sizing the container size for the type of community and the collection.

[00:28:45] Yeah, I guess my issue, I want to make sure that everybody is aware of this. It's a lot cheaper to service a townhouse community than it is a single-family detached community. You can get a lot more stuff a lot faster. And I just want to make sure that by going this way, and I completely support the direction we're going that we're we're somehow acknowledging that in the rates that folks get charged uh that that's that we think about that uh ahead of time so thank you very much mr chair mr lusk uh thank you mr chairman i'll go quickly um i just wanted to start with the slide that talks about transforming uh waste collection and appreciate the comments that were made by um supervisor

[00:29:25] walking child in terms of the benefits just wanted to be clear we talked about this when we met before is making sure we have a way to kind of depict and show to the residents that value. So as we're communicating to them, we're going to need some materials that we can provide.

[00:29:42] And I will argue that this is a very good first step, but I think we've got to address a few things in addition, and that is on the pay-as-you-throw, talking about that a little bit in the slide or however you're going to depict this, and then making sure that people basically understand, and I believe this is the case, With the pay-as-you-throw model, you're not being measured by the weight but by the size.

[00:30:09] So I think that's, is that correct? This is Matt Adams. Yes, that is correct. It is a size-based system. Okay. So it is not based on the weight that you generated. It's the size of the cart. So again, just to the point I was starting with is how do we kind of explain all the values, the points that were made by Supervisor Wackenshaw in a quick and easy way so we can provide that newsletters and social media, et cetera.

[00:30:37] This is Chris Harrington, Director of Public Works. Supervisor Lust, to your point, exactly. So as Matt mentioned, assuming that we get concurrence from the board today and so far signs are positive, we immediately start to transition into, one, preparing that DEQ submittal as the minor amendment, but more critically, working with each of your offices to develop what that outreach campaign is leading up to that hearing that the board will have potentially in the early summer timeframe to talk about displacement for residential collections.

[00:31:04] We completely agree that that outreach is going to be critical. And to Supervisor Alcorn's questions, we have lots of time afterwards to sort of work out the details. And our intention is to work collaboratively with the board at every step of the way to kind of make sure that this model is what we're looking for.

[00:31:19] Okay. No, that's great. I certainly appreciate it and look forward to the next steps. And then the last question was on slide two. When you talk about the creation of the residential unified sanitation district, I think we had talked about it being possibly in four parts, north, south, east, west.

[00:31:37] That's the four years to create those four different sections. What happens if we need more than four? Do we still, we can still achieve the four-year timeline if we need more separate districts than the four? This is Matt Epps.

[00:31:54] Yes, we do believe that we can, if there are more districts. Yes. It depends on how the demographics inside of those districts, obviously how those pan out. We believe that we can get it implemented over four years, regardless of how many districts. Okay.

[00:32:09] But the benefit of this is that through every budget cycle, the board has multiple opportunities to tell us to go faster or tell us to step on the brakes. So, you know, we are trying to approach this in the most pragmatic way possible because we completely understand this is new territory for all of us. Okay. Now, I'll just say I fully support it, look forward to the next steps, and appreciate the work that's been done.

[00:32:29] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Supervisor Luskin. Before I go to Supervisor Beerman, I will say that one of the things that I really hope is throughout this process, and it's not just at the very beginning, but it's during the process, that we're listening to the community and getting feedback as the process happens.

[00:32:47] So it's not just, we want to hear from you at the very beginning, and then the process starts, and then we're not listening. We need to be listening throughout every stage, even during implementation. So, Supervisor Beerman. So I want to make sure I understand this. On slide four, select trash cart size.

[00:33:05] So basically, is that at the beginning of the year, beginning of the process, you decide which cart size works for you, right? So then my question is in townhome communities where oftentimes people, you know, there's like a communal area where everybody brings their trash, have you thought about how you're going to do enforcement in that situation so that the person with the smaller cart isn't just, you know, dragging it out?

[00:33:33] out there and then putting half of it into the bigger cart or vice versa? Like, I mean, you keep saying enforcement and saying enforcing contractual obligations. As a lawyer, I love that. But what about enforcement of pay-as-you-throw policies in multifamily?

[00:33:49] How are we going to do it? This is Matt Adams. So the idea is that, you know, we would be out in the community. Obviously, the first step is to educate individuals, though we do understand that there are individuals in the community that may not try to that may elect to not follow the rules so that is part of that enforcement capabilities for those individuals to go out see what's happening and try to hold those that are doing the thing that they're not supposed to be doing accountable right so and not only that is that we're also wanting or through the pay-as-you-throw model if an individual is you know say for example an individual comes out and puts their recycling in the trash can of

[00:34:28] somebody else or does something they're supposed to be doing, that we can tag that load or tag that bin and let individuals know, and they can call us and we'll go and investigate. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Beerman.

[00:34:43] Supervisor Herdy? I'll try to be quick. I think the unified sanitary districts have got a lot of advantages, as we already mentioned. A little worried about throwing the private haulers under the bus when we had the same challenge as they did, And the private haulers are actually going to be doing this service, not us.

[00:35:00] So I'm a little worried about the number that we're going with four. And I know we've got a bunch of small haulers, and are we squeezing them out? And you don't need to answer this now, but kind of why four and what's going to happen to those smaller, you know, innovative companies?

[00:35:19] Are they going to get squeezed out? Organics, I'd be very interested in getting feedback on Prince George's County's success if they develop the market. how long has it been there, what is it costing them, what is it going to cost us to do an extra run through the neighborhoods to pick up organics, because I don't see any of the cost information here. I see a big fee, and that fee means I see revenues. I don't see fees. I see revenues.

[00:35:46] It's actually fees paid by taxpayers or residents. I think I got some of the enforcement questions. I will just say pay as you throw. I'm a long way away. I mean, impact on young families, Different times of the years, people have different, you know, different sizes of needs for trash.

[00:36:07] It's just one of those things, you know, especially with young families. What I don't see anywhere in here handled is glass. Right now we have our residents. We've done a great job with glass, I think, making the transition very fiscally responsibly with central collection, developing a market, selling it.

[00:36:24] But are we going to continue to have our residents? Again, that's the heaviest thing. To go back to the weight question, what's the future for glass? Is that going to be, you know, another trip or is that? Hello, this is Matt Adams.

[00:36:41] So for the future of glass in Fairfax County, we believe that this will not change how glass is handled in Fairfax. We have developed a successful market, much like you have said, and do not want to go back in time to putting it back curbside because it doesn't change its inevitable, how it is inevitably disposed of because, I mean, it goes to the landfill.

[00:37:02] So this actually gives us more control. Unified sanitation districts do, as we can set contractually, we can obligate the collector to not pick up that glass, to not pick up loads with glass, because we would view that as a contaminant.

[00:37:18] Supervisor, just to add on, I think we'd be looking to make it more convenient, right? Our current model works very well, but we know that it's still, we're limited by the number of purple cans and how far people are from it. So as we're looking to add these zero waste centers, the mobile collection events, some of those are going to be ways that we can make it more convenient to collect all of those different commodities. To your point on the pay-as-you-throw, we certainly welcome direction from the board throughout the process. If there is a way, however you wish to modify or discount or alter the fee based on circumstances, that's absolutely something that we can do and implement. And then, you know, for the occasional circumstance where people have additional trash, there are systems, certainly that other jurisdictions that we've explored

[00:37:56] utilize, where you can buy a sticker to put on a bag that we know that's a valid bag for us to collect. And folks can change the size of their container as their family size grows or shrinks over time as well. So one last question. I think I heard it in there, but maybe a little clarification either now or later, because I know we're tight on time. But the enforcement, are we going to be dictating enforcement of the glass in a recycled container to the private companies? Or is that something we're enforcing? Or I just heard you say that if there's glass in a container then they won't take it or how does that is that something we're going to contractually

[00:38:35] obligate our haulers to do and do they know that yet um so supervisor harry this is eric forbes this is a good question and i think that deals with contamination and what we would call a cycling cart today and that is a problem for our community still currently um so yes it would be ideally tagged by the provider and in the unified sanitation district model would be the franchisee that is operating in that area that would be responsible for tagging the contamination and contaminated cart and the attempt of the tag is to educate that resident or the customer on

[00:39:08] proper set out requirements ideally we're reaching towards a ccap goal which is less contamination higher recycling rate and diversion rate and the way to do that is to work with the community to help build their success and that's the first step in the first model in that and now eventually if the tag does not work um that waste does not get collected the recycling won't get collected so it will be dealt with at that point um and enforcement may be part of that process we haven't figured out the details of that there will be updates to how our enforcement manual is written for instance and

[00:39:42] how we operate chapter 109 of the county code um and that's subject to grow and change over time well final comment and i'll leave it as a comment we have a big littering and dumping problem in Fairfax County right now. I know Equac is dealing with it. We better not make this so hard people go to that route, and that's a big concern of mine, so keep that in the back of your minds as you're going through this. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Supervisor Herdy. We are almost 15 minutes behind. That's not good, but we're going to move through these two last questions, and we got some desserts, and we're going to make sure that the speakers next have

[00:40:18] half the time because of this i'm just kidding supervisor pal check and then we'll finish off with super with chairman mckay and then we will move on i will be super brief i really just want to thank you um hearing some of the comments i think definitely want to highlight uh there's a lot of positive to this and a couple of things that weren't mentioned as someone who's been both on and off county service not having to manage the contracts i don't know we've heard from many many many frustrated community members um especially ones whose civic associations where we can no longer take that role of negotiating.

[00:40:52] So I think that's one of the, you know, even if you don't care about waste the way we do, I think just the ability to take over that management, especially so many of our seniors you heard from are so frustrated that they have to navigate this process and figure out how to negotiate.

[00:41:09] So I think that's a huge win for this program, and I very much appreciate that. I think that's the right role for our agencies to help take on in collaborating and working with those private entities. And as someone who's on the service now, I love the idea of having the flexibility.

[00:41:25] I can tell you as your family grows, it would be nice to move to a system where you have more flexibility and can better size and try to incentivize, but know that you have all of those seats. So I just want to thank you all. I know there's a lot of detail that still needs to be worked out.

[00:41:44] Luckily, we have a few years to go, And so I appreciate the work you're doing, and I know we would all appreciate being able to bring in our community questions and concerns and feedback as you work through this. So just thank you for your work on this. Thank you, Supervisor Pelchek. Chairman McKay?

[00:42:00] Yeah, just a quick question. On the pay-as-you-throw program, does any private hauler offer that in Fairfax County right now? This is Matt Adams. Not to my knowledge, no. So I'm intrigued by the opposition to it.

[00:42:18] I mean, we talk about affordability for seniors all the time who are basically subsidizing trash service for larger families. I mean, in terms of equity, that's a pretty big equity piece, too. And so I'm just intrigued by any level of opposition where the more you produce, the more you pay, why that's a bad thing.

[00:42:37] And I think the fact that private haulers aren't offering it right now is telling for us going into this conversation because we're in the business of trying to reduce waste, period. It's not in our interest for people to generate more waste. It's not in our interest to encourage people to generate more waste.

[00:42:53] And so I'm just intrigued by this opposition piece and really, frankly, look forward to a much more robust conversation as we move on. So thank you. Well, obviously, lots to ponder and lots to move forward on the board. Obviously, we all have our residents' thoughts in making sure that our residents have the best service that they deserve.

[00:43:16] Matt and team, thank you so much. Feel free to grab some banana bread. We will now move on to our next presentation. Our next presentation is on residential clean energy solutions. I'd like to welcome Mr. John Silcox, public information officer from OEEC.

[00:43:44] Good afternoon.

[00:44:04] My name is John Silcox. I'm the public information officer for the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination. My one regret today is that we don't have a cool visual, and so we have a hard act to follow today, but hopefully we have some great information to share with you and some great updates, and we look forward to doing that. So I wanted to start by just telling you that back in May of this year, we presented a recommendation to really focus on residential programming as we pursue clean energy to reduce carbon emissions that cause climate change. And we're here today to provide an update on the status of some of those initiatives, how they work together to help

[00:44:44] achieve our goals for boosting residential clean energy projects countywide. And as a reminder, the three broad strategies that we've shared with you in the past that are essential to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality in Fairfax County include energy efficiency and electrification in buildings. And that's happening through a number of different initiatives and programs now, especially homes, though, and that's what we're going to be focusing on with some of the content we're sharing today. The other big bucket that we talk about is the widespread use of electric vehicles, both by individuals, businesses, and in our public transit system. And we have some

[00:45:23] programming on that, and we've shared some updates recently, and we'll be doing so in the future, as well as some information later on in this meeting about some of those electrification efforts. And then finally, the use of renewable energy, such as solar power. And we've been partnering with a number of nonprofit organizations in our community to accelerate the adoption of solar energy within our community. But what we proposed in May was a three-pronged strategy to really drive behavior change and ultimately boost residential clean energy projects that are going to help us reach our goals. The first of that was really focused on increasing awareness of the

[00:46:02] opportunities for clean energy improvements in homes by boosting outreach and informational campaigns. So we have a lot of great resources to help people take the actions that we want them to take. There are a number of incentive programs already available and others that will be coming online. But a lot of times folks just aren't aware that these programs, these actions are important and that they can take advantage of them. So we want to really raise the awareness and raise the visibility of this information and these resources. The second was providing opportunities for our

[00:46:38] community, both at an individual level and at a collective level, to really inspire action and to motivate each other. And so we wanted to provide an opportunity for us to be able to better allow for that sort of friendly competition within our community and also to motivate and inspire others to follow suit. And finally, we talked about creating a concierge style or help desk resource to provide in-depth guidance to consumers to help them identify where these resources exist,

[00:47:14] to find well-qualified contractors that can help them with the work that they want to do, to connect them to those federal, state, county, and energy utility programs that are available to them, and to connect them to the lenders who are offering financing options. So those were the three components we discussed in our previous presentation back in May. And today we're here to provide some updates on each of those initiatives. I want to start by talking about an enhanced marketing effort that we're kicking off this month with a robust media campaign to help build the culture of energy efficiency and sustainability within our community. We're working with a

[00:47:50] marketing vendor, Identica, to help us deploy a media campaign, which is going to begin with some advertising this month, but we'll really be kicking into gear in the beginning of 2025. And the goals of this campaign are really to help raise awareness, as I said, increase participation in the programs that we already have available, and to encourage folks to take advantage of the resources that are available to them, and to encourage that action that we need our communities to take to help us reach our climate goals. We want to help build that community of resiliency

[00:48:26] to changing climate because we know that we're already experiencing these changes in our climate conditions now and that will continue to accelerate in the future. We want to foster that sense of community responsibility, that we're all in this together and we all have a part to play in creating a more sustainable community. And we want to increase that engagement with the resources that we already have, that the county is already providing, and that is available to people now.

[00:48:56] As we deploy this campaign, we'll be doing some digital advertising focused on actions related to home energy, electric vehicles, boosting resiliency to things like extreme weather events like flooding. We'll be doing some advertising and both in English and Spanish. As we roll this campaign out. We'll be looking to do even more informational resources in other languages as well. We'll be driving people to a campaign site on the county government website where they'll be able to learn more about these tasks and activities, find these resources that we want to inform them about,

[00:49:34] and link them to other information from there. That will include things like access to county programs that are currently in existence as well as others that will be coming online soon. As we do this, we're going to be engaging community partners and organizations to help us amplify the messaging.

[00:49:52] We've developed some resources, toolkits, some social media, infographics, content that they can share within their communities help us amplify the message. And we'll be looking to partner with them in ways to tailor that to their communities as well as find out what they need in order to help us make this as successful as we can.

[00:50:11] As I said, this will be kind of rolling out in phases starting this month and then moving through early 2025. But we envision these efforts continuing on throughout the year and, you know, helping us build collective momentum. And, of course, we'll be engaging each of your offices and the staff that you work with to help us, you know, broaden this campaign to get this information out to your stakeholders and your constituencies.

[00:50:38] So we look forward to that partnership as we go forward, and you'll be hearing more about that. We've already started to engage your office staff, and we'll continue to do so as we go forward. The next thing I wanted to talk about is our climate tracker.

[00:50:55] As I mentioned, at the same time that we're deploying a marketing campaign, we're also building a web-based application that's going to enable individuals, neighborhoods, and organizations to track their climate action, to share their successes with each other, and to inspire some friendly competition.

[00:51:10] Individuals will be able to sign up with this app to get personalized estimates for their home as to their carbon emissions, as to information that's relative to their daily actions. And they'll also be directed to information, resources, and incentives that will be available within the app that will help them take these actions.

[00:51:30] There will be opportunities to set up teams, so if they wanted to do some joint efforts with family, friends, neighbors within their places of worship, within their community association, within their homeowners association, they will be able to do that.

[00:51:47] There will be opportunities to track their collective impact and success and see it in real time. We're working with a third-party vendor called Bright Action to build this application for Fairfax County with information and resources that are localized for our community, that those resources and information will be available in both English and Spanish.

[00:52:08] We're looking to deploy this app on the county website in early 2025, and we'll be sharing more information as we get closer to that launch and certainly providing your offices with information so you can share that with your constituencies. And then as we noted in May, consumers are often challenged by the complexity of choices in the marketplace related to solar energy, to energy efficiency upgrades, to EV charging, and they often seek advice or referrals from the county and from our office, and we're limited in the information and referral that we can provide.

[00:52:48] Our office receives these types of inquiries frequently, and we're limited, like I said, in what we can provide in terms of direct referrals and in terms of the sort of concierge service that many homeowners are looking for as they look to take some of these actions.

[00:53:04] So the third component of the work is really aimed at addressing that need by creating a home energy advisory or referral service to help promote existing federal county and utility resources, as well as lay the groundwork for Fairfax County residents to take advantage of the more than $180 million federal home energy efficiency and home electrification rebates that are coming from the Virginia Energy Office in 2025.

[00:53:31] We've already engaged a contractor to create a pilot program that's going to act as a trusted resource for residents who are interested in pursuing energy-saving projects. And the goal of that program is going to be to complement the Virginia Energy one-stop shop that's being developed at the state level that will also be supporting single-family residential energy efficiency work, electrification, and renewable energy retrofits.

[00:53:58] And again, that's rolling out in 2025, so we're developing our program in collaboration and with the idea of complementing what's happening across the state.

[00:54:14] Our goal is to assist 1,000 unique households and help 200 of those complete energy retrofits or upgrade projects that can result in at least 15% savings on their energy bills with a particular emphasis on lower income and disadvantaged communities. This effort is being supported by funding that had previously been allocated to the Green Bank startup and then as well as new federal energy efficiency and conservation block grant funds, which are expected to come soon.

[00:54:49] So what I've shared, these three components, they really work together by raising awareness among our residents and our community and encouraging their participation in the climate work that we're doing as a county. ultimately hoping to get people to take the action they need to do to improve their homes, to save money, reduce pollution, cut energy costs, and lower carbon emissions.

[00:55:11] And of course, we're giving special emphasis to reaching people where they are and ensuring that equitable participation and benefits are available to all in our community. And finally, I just want to put a few key milestones on the committee's radar.

[00:55:28] As noted today, the Sustain Fairfax campaign is running beginning this month through the spring of 2025, and we'll be sharing more information as that continues to roll out over the next few weeks. We anticipate the Climate Action Tracker app that I discussed earlier to launch around February of 2025, followed in April or May with our Energy Concierge pilot program.

[00:55:55] At the February BOSEC meeting, we'll provide an in-depth update on our operational energy strategy and the progress that we've made towards those 2040 goals. This will include results from a U.S. Department of Energy analysis of the county government emission scenarios through our Better Climate Challenge program, which we're a part of.

[00:56:15] And then at the May BOSEC meeting, we'll provide updates on the CCAP and Resilient Fairfax implementation work, including metrics and program highlights from 2024. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Well, thank you so much, John, for that presentation.

[00:56:32] As we did last time, we'll go to the chairman of the Environmental Committee, Mr. Walkinshaw, followed by Chairman McKay. I'm going to be very, very mindful with everyone. We are ending at three. We still have one presentation, and Chairman Walkinshaw has a presentation of his own.

[00:56:52] So we're going to be very mindful, and I apologize if you have questions. You can send them in. You can pick up a phone. But we do have to get through this at a reasonable time. so chairman walkenshaw you are up uh thank you mr chairman i i have nothing on this and and with respect to my presentation i i don't really need to make one other than to bring to everyone's attention the nip that's include on the plastic bag tax that's included in the meeting agenda and package i appreciate that thank you sir chairman mckay i have nothing other than to say thank you

[00:57:29] because this is something we've been asking for, these elements, for a long time. And I still contend that, you know, if we make it easy for people, people will do the right thing. And our job on the environmental front in a lot of ways is to make it easy for people to know what the right thing is.

[00:57:46] And this is a major step towards that. So thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Stork. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question has to do with using the data that's collected. Slide six, you're identifying here a climate action tracker, and there's making it easier for residents to take everyday climate actions.

[00:58:11] And there's data that's produced around that, particularly neighborhood competition. How do you see that coming together in neighborhoods or groups or civic associations? Or how do you see those pieces coming together?

[00:58:27] and how do we create, if you will, the friendly competition that I think can help us all do better? I appreciate the question, and I know it's something that we've discussed in the past, that the opportunity to incentivize these actions and really allow for people to see what impact they're making.

[00:58:49] So I think what we intend is we want to get the app up and running. We want to make sure it's working correctly. want to make sure that we're able to launch it in the community. And then we want to provide information and instructions for people on how they can form these types of teams, how they can create these types of challenges within their communities, provide resources to direct them how to do that, and tie what we're doing with that tracker into our overall marketing campaign that I talked about previously.

[00:59:27] So, you know, we see this as one tool in the toolbox that's going to allow people to take some of these actions. Not everyone may choose to use that tool, but we know it's one tool that could be a great way for people to really organize themselves and their households to really know what can I do and what will be the benefit of doing that.

[00:59:54] And then to see what, over time, what those impacts are. So we intend to really use our marketing campaign to also help direct people to this tool and to this resource when it becomes available. And yes, I think we're going to be providing some specific user guidance to how they can set up these types of groups and trainings.

[01:00:19] And then working with our communities to see what they need, what support they need from the county to really market that within their own networks. So that's how I see it rolling out. I think that's a particular passion of mine.

[01:00:35] I think it's all wonderful, and I support it. Something concrete, though, it'll be available now, next month, next year. Is there a pilot or something? I mean, how are you looking to, in other words, putting some more meat on that bone of that potential?

[01:00:56] Good afternoon. I'm John Morrill with OEEC. At the very beginning, when each person signs up, essentially they'll put in the geographic place they're from. And so what we found is that they can put in Herndon, Breston, Mount Vernon, Great Falls, Springfield.

[01:01:15] Essentially, whatever neighborhood is associated with a zip code, that's like the baseline. And so it won't be by supervisor district or anything else that's kind of a little tricky to organize.

[01:01:34] But at a very basic part, it starts with the town or geographic area by mailing address that they're in. And that will be how people are initially grouped. Do you have some kind of cookbook or package that you look to roll out, and when might that be?

[01:01:56] So we're customizing the app now, so we're pulling together the resources to allow it to be localized to our community. And then there'll be materials created to help get the information out about how it will work.

[01:02:14] Those aren't available yet. We would expect those before we launch. So I would say let's kind of move on sometime in January. Am I going to get a date or a time or some time frame on it? That's what I'm asking for because we've been talking about this a good while.

[01:02:31] So I'm not going to be moved along. I need something. Is it going to be next year? You're not sure. You'll come back and say in a month you'll know what it is. I need something more. We're looking to launch the app in February of 2025. For the application. Okay.

[01:02:47] For it to be available on the county's website that people can start creating their accounts. Yes. But I think it's something good to start there. Thank you. Did you get the answer you were looking for, Supervisor Store? Some of it. I mean, I believe in the market.

[01:03:03] I believe in pay as you throw. And I believe in charging. But I also believe in incentivizing people to do the right thing. And this is a great way to do that and build community at the same time. So thank you. Definitely understand the need to have some kind of time frame, especially when you want to look to the future and also look to answering constituent questions about what's coming.

[01:03:21] So that makes total sense. These are big things, and they take a lot of time. I know they do. But if we don't have dates around them, the dates always seem to slip. So I'm looking for something that I can work on and use. Thank you. Timelines are very important. All right. We're going to go to Supervisor Palchek, and then for the final word, Supervisor Lusk.

[01:03:41] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be super brief. Thank you for this. I think this is a great step forward, a lot of work to be done, especially interested in, I know you didn't mention the specific partnerships, but as you're looking through those. Just want to make sure that you are also working with the management companies, especially of our multifamily units and others, to ensure they have the training and information and access that you are able to provide in addition to single-family homes. And I'm also sitting here thinking this is a great opportunity to engage with students at Mason and Nova. I know the

[01:04:16] Institute for Sustainable Earth at Mason might be able to help push out or bring in students who You might want to do projects and really help us, the younger people, with the marketing and help push it out to the community. So just a couple of ideas as you're going through that. Thank you for your work.

[01:04:33] Before you jump in, Mr. Lusk, I just want to kind of piggyback off what Supervisor Palachuk said and super great idea. I mean, using all these groups, environmental groups that are in our county, in Fairfax County, whether it's, you know, Citizens Climate Lobby or Sierra Club, et cetera, you name it.

[01:04:51] I mean, these are groups that are always looking for projects, especially local projects. And if we can get their help in spreading the word and using their volunteers, because a lot of these groups have massive armies of volunteers, we can help spread the word much quicker.

[01:05:07] So I think that was a great point, Supervisor Palchuk. And Supervisor Lusk. Very quickly, I'll say, really excited about the Energy Concierge pilot. And I just wanted to just note, what do we think might be some of the incentives or financial supports that might be connected with that program?

[01:05:25] John Morrill with OEEC. We will be referring to any and all utility incentives that homes are eligible for.

[01:05:43] There are the extensive federal rebates and tax credits that are available for home improvement. And John mentioned the $180 million that the federal government has allocated to the state of Virginia, where they're providing these rebates for people who make their homes more energy efficient.

[01:06:08] So these are the kinds of rebates or incentives that we're speaking of. No, that's perfect. And I appreciate the focus on those underserved communities and neighborhoods as well. And then last, I'll say on the HOAs and COAs, excited about that competitive opportunity there.

[01:06:25] And I'd also argue that it might be hard for it not to end up being by a supervisor district at some point because we're going to want to say, hey, which district is doing the best? So I think we might want to still have the opportunity to disaggregate and show that by magistral district at some point as well.

[01:06:43] So with that, I'll close. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you all for your presentation. Moving right along, we have a presentation on fleet transition community EV readiness plan. I'd like to welcome John Morrill, who's already sitting here, and Julie Gurney to present.

[01:06:59] I just want you all to be, again, mindful of the time. We have 20 minutes, so if we can make sure that we present in accordance with giving our supervisors enough time to ask a question or two, that would be fantastic, and I appreciate that.

[01:07:18] Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board of Supervisors. I'm John Morrill, Director of the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination. Joining me for the presentation is Julie Gurney, a mitigation specialist with our team and project manager for this work, and Marguerite Guarino from the Department of Vehicle Services.

[01:07:41] At past committee meetings, I've mentioned our intent to develop a strategic plan to map future needs for electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the community with an eye to filling gaps where needed. This presentation outlines the work that has begun on such a plan with a consulting firm. The same consulting firm is also helping staff prepare a plan to accelerate the transition of the general county fleet of vehicles to non-carbon alternatives, which is where I will begin. Electrifying the fleet of county vehicles is essential if we are

[01:08:21] to meet the goal of carbon neutrality for county operations by 2040, as laid out in the operational energy plan. The fleet transition has been underway for several years. The Department of Transportation is working on a transition framework for its connector transit bus fleet, and Fairfax County Schools is hard at work for their fleet. For the general county fleet, the county has over 200 hybrid electric or all-electric vehicles, including dozens of all-electric sedans, an all-electric box truck for transporting materials to and from the warehouse,

[01:08:58] and two all-electric trucks for collecting household hazardous waste and recycling. But we also know there are challenges with the availability of all-electric vehicles, particularly for the special purpose vehicles that are very common to a municipal fleet, including public safety and other heavy equipment. The consultant is working with staff from multiple agencies to examine fleet needs, the future availability of vehicles by type, and to develop a framework and timeline for the overall fleet transition to include a study of costs and benefits to the county.

[01:09:39] This analysis will be completed next summer and will inform future vehicle purchasing decisions. Good afternoon. I'm Julie Grinney with OEEC, and I will elaborate on the Community EV Readiness Plan. Widespread use of electric vehicles in place of fossil-fueled vehicles is also essential to meeting the carbon neutrality goals of CCAP. Our near-term goal is that 15% of all light-duty vehicle registrations be electric in Fairfax County by 2030. Today's

[01:10:18] electric vehicles account for about 4% of registrations. One of the largest obstacles to greater use of electric vehicles by the general public is the phenomenon of range anxiety. Therefore, it is essential that adequate EV charging infrastructure is available throughout the community and deployed in an adequate manner.

[01:10:37] Our work with consultants is examining patterns of EV infrastructure, as well as projections of future growth in EV registrations, both in number and geographic location. This work will identify where gaps exist, where they're likely to persist, and outline strategies for increasing charging opportunities where they lack today.

[01:10:55] You may be aware that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has completed a similar planning exercise for the region as a whole. Our readiness plan builds upon that prior work with deeper attention to the needs of Fairfax County and additional stakeholder engagement for input and guidance. So here you see the project timeline for both the fleet transition study and the community EV readiness plan. Both efforts launched last month and the consultants are well involved in data analysis for both. Early next year, the consultants will conduct site visits to become more familiar with existing fleet EV activities and fueling and maintenance

[01:11:31] sites. We have started working with our internal stakeholders, including both county agencies involved in the fleet transition, as well as agencies contributing to a community plan. An external stakeholder engagement will begin in earnest in March, including Fairfax County residents, members of electric vehicle interest groups, staff from neighboring jurisdictions, and representatives from historically underserved communities. A draft plan for the fleet transition will follow in April, and additional stakeholder engagement will be held in June. Final reports are due in July, and we would be happy to provide further information to the board during the

[01:12:09] process upon completion. So we welcome any questions you might have. Well, thank you so much for your presentation, and we're going to continue on as we near the end of this committee meeting with the chairman of the Environmental Committee, Supervisor Walkinshaw, then Chairman McKay, and we'll open up the floor and finish off with a message from our chairman.

[01:12:31] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One comment on the community EV readiness plan, and then a question on our fleet transition work. First, with respect to the community EV readiness plan, And, you know, I would just say one of my priorities is making sure that when we talk about the need for additional public EV charging, that we don't talk people out of making the transition to EVs.

[01:13:07] And sometimes I fear that we do that. I think it's going to be really important in our planning and in our communications around this plan that we make it very clear. if you live in Fairfax County and you live in a single family home, which is still most people, you have the EV charging infrastructure that you need to travel locally. Now, traveling to grandma's house in Florida or in New York, maybe a different question or a different challenge, but there is robust local EV charging infrastructure for most people who live in

[01:13:46] Fairfax County. There are hundreds of thousands of people who live in Fairfax County who can make the transition to an EV today and never worry about their ability to charge locally, to make their commute, purchase their groceries, or get to soccer practice. And I think it's important that we communicate that. And I know in some of our work in the previous presentation, from the previous presentation, we'll be doing just that. With respect to our fleet transition plan, and when When we dig into this issue, one of the things, you know, I think probably board members should

[01:14:18] understand is the low-hanging fruit we have done in the purchase of hybrid or electric sedans in the county fleet. And when existing sedans go out of service and reach the end of their life, they're being replaced by electric sedans. It's when you get beyond sedans that the question gets a little bit more difficult. And obviously, you know, there's a category of heavy

[01:14:51] duty and highly specialized vehicles, fire trucks, other public safety vehicles, different vehicles that DPWES might need that each one is specific and unique, and we're going to have to work through. But I want to focus in on that other category of light duty vehicles, SUVs and pickup trucks. And I want to be assured that when an agency says they need or want an SUV or a pickup

[01:15:25] truck, because maybe that's what they've always had in their fleet, I want to be assured that we are testing that assumption. We shouldn't be purchasing SUVs or pickup trucks unless they are legitimately needed. And obviously there are instances where that's the case, but we cannot purchase SUVs or pickup trucks because it's an end user's preference. And I just want to be assured that we have a process or through our work with this consultant, we will get to a process

[01:16:00] to legitimately analyze the real needs of our agencies for these vehicles. The default should be a sedan. By the way, whether it's EV or not, the default should be the least expensive, least polluting sedan that we can purchase. There should be a strong rationale to purchase anything other than that for county agencies or employees going about the county doing their day-to-day business.

[01:16:29] So I wonder if anyone can just speak to whether that process exists or can we make that process more robust through the work of this consultant. My name is Marguerite Guarino, and I work in the Department of Vehicle Services. I can assure you that process already exists, and we'll continue it with the consultant. Okay. I guess I'd like to get more details on that. You know, I don't want to govern my anecdote here. I see a lot of folks driving around in pickup trucks that don't have a speck of dirt on the tires. So I'd like to understand that more. If a NIP is appropriate,

[01:17:08] if a meeting with me is appropriate, that's okay too. It's a bit longer process, but I'm happy to meet with you or describe in a NIP with you. We have a fleet utilization management committee that reviews all low mileage vehicles. We have a process that we go through as vehicles are aging out of the fleet before we replace the vehicle to ensure that it's required as part of the fleet, as well as the type of unit that is being purchased to make sure that it is necessary as you recommended for whether it be a pickup truck or something larger. But it's a lengthy process that I can provide in writing and meet with you as well. Okay, thank you.

[01:17:44] If you are done, Chairman Walkinshaw, it sounds like a yes. We will pass it along to Chairman McKay. Just first, I appreciate the progress that's been made on the UVs. I guess one thing that might be helpful for the board is just getting a handle on the number 224.

[01:18:04] I'm just curious as to what percent of vehicle purchases over the period of time we bought the 224 were hybrid and or electric. And so what I'm looking for is a little bit of a translation of that number into a percent, and I'm fully cognizant of the fact that DVS has a long replacement schedule.

[01:18:26] So some vehicles are still many years from being replaced, and they're still in good working condition, so we wouldn't replace those. And so I'm only looking at of the new vehicles that have been purchased over the period of time we accumulated the 224 hybrid or electric, what percent of those are in the category of hybrid or electric?

[01:18:46] You don't need to answer that now, but I think if we're going to prepare a NIP or respond to what Supervisor Walkinshaw mentioned, I think that's a simpler way for us to understand the progress that we're making, because I do see real progress. I know there's some challenges outside of sedan versus, or not sedan versus pickup, but hybrid versus plug-in.

[01:19:09] And I know there's some agency needs in terms of number of hours a day that they're used plus downtime to charge and other things that have to be factored in. But I think what I'm looking for is a fair representation to the goal we've made in terms of new purchases. And I think that would be helpful.

[01:19:25] Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. And if we can now go to our supervisors for questions, if you can keep it somewhere around two to three minutes, that would be fantastic. Supervisor Alcorn and Supervisor Storka. Thank you. Very quickly, two quick things.

[01:19:42] Supervisor Welkenshaw made a great point how most folks can get EVs right now and really shouldn't worry about it. But it's also true that we're down to 45.5% of our housing units in Fairfax County being single family detached. That means we're actually a majority, either townhouse, multifamily or multifamily. So we do, and I just want to give a big plug for Charge Up Fairfax and all the work the office is doing to really try to reach that part of our community and make sure that everybody

[01:20:15] has access to charging at home. So thank you so much for doing that. So I guess the only other thing is as we as we look at the future are we I know with buses we've had a lot of discussion about electric buses probably not today but at the in the future could could you come back at some point or maybe provide us a nip with an update on what the industry is doing literally bus manufacturers and what some of the issues are I know there are a lot of vehicles that are

[01:20:52] not available right now that we just haven't seen the scale of production necessary to meet the demand um so again that's probably not for today but it would be really helpful i think for the board to get uh more detail on that thank you thank you supervisor alcorn supervisor stork two questions i have two questions first one is are all our sedans being replaced by ev sedans at At this point in time, all?

[01:21:23] Yes. So 100%? Sedans. Sedans. If it meets the operational needs. Okay. And there's operational standards for when you select one type of vehicle versus another. So those would be available for somebody to look at and say, here's the criteria for when you do a pickup, or here's the criteria for when you'd have a sedan, here's the criteria.

[01:21:45] So you're using basically standards to make those determinations. It's a little bit more nuanced where we would work with the department and the representatives about their operational needs to see what would work best for them. So you don't have a standard as to when a pickup truck would be appropriate or when a sedan would be more appropriate?

[01:22:04] Based on their operation? I mean, I don't have any, maybe not in the way that you're asking for. Well, you'd have, these are the five things you need to have to warrant maybe getting a pickup truck. It has to be off-road. I'm making this up. I have to be off-road at times. It has to be able to haul things in the rear at times.

[01:22:21] I assume that there's, I mean, for me in business, You have standards that you use to inform your decision-making, and is that something that's available? It's not in writing, but that's part of the discussion that we have with the customer that would go back to the first question from Supervisor Walkinshaw.

[01:22:38] Yeah, the writing is what I was looking for. And the second question is, planning is-- this is on slide two. Planning is underway by others for FCDOT's connector bus fleet. I don't know who the others is.

[01:22:54] That would be the Department of Transportation. Oh, OK. so planning is underway by the department of transportation on the connector fleet yes sir okay thank you thank you supervisor stork looking around does anyone have any questions comments all right i appreciate you all thank you so much and thank you for your presentation and with that we will move on to the home stretch here with five minutes supervisor chairman of the environmental committee walk and show you the floor is yours sir well i just want to thank you

[01:23:29] again for for stepping in today i apologize that i couldn't be there and um i know board members already read the nip that we recently received with respect to the plastic bag tax revenue it's in your packet i i did just want to draw everyone's attention and i had staff kind of dig into these numbers because there's a chart in that nip that shows the revenue from the plastic bag tax over time. You have to look very closely and have your glasses on to read it. But the long and short of

[01:24:04] it is that the plastic bag tax is working in the way that we hoped it would work. And as a reminder, you know, we were very clear that our goal wasn't to raise revenue, although the revenue has been put to really good use, helping to fund Operation Stream Shield and community cleanups around the County. The goal was to incentivize folks to make that shift from plastic bags to reusable bags.

[01:24:30] And just to pull one data point, from January through July of 2023, there were 2 million fewer plastic bags used between January, July, 2024, and January, July, 2023. So comparing those two seven-month periods, seven months in 2023 for which we had data, seven months in 2024, a year later, two million fewer plastic bags used. So before too long, we'll have the full

[01:25:07] 2024 data, but it looks like we could be demonstrating a reduction of close to four million plastic bags in Fairfax County. And we've seen that from the Clean Fairfax data. That's not just fewer plastic bags being used. That's fewer plastic bags in our streams, in our lakes, and in our parks that have been demonstrated in their monitoring efforts. So the plastic bag tax is working. And I just want to make sure everyone has a chance to review those numbers and we'll

[01:25:42] continue to share them as they come in. Mr. Chairman? Yes. I had followed up with Clean Fairfax on their annual report and the numbers that were in their annual report, and staff had some issues with those numbers. They were interpreting data in a way that's a little different than probably should be. So if we can have staff come back to us on kind of the reduction in stream numbers that were reported in Clean Fairfax and what a better view of that is, I would very much appreciate it because we don't want incorrect information floating out there.

[01:26:20] Yeah, well, Mr. Chairman, let me just, the data is literally a count. So it's literally going to the locations and counting. One could manipulate it, I choose, but it's literally the count of plastic bags that were identified.

[01:26:38] Again, I just want staff to come back with the data. Supervisor. Yeah, I just, I appreciate what Supervisor Walkinshaw just said, Because what is an actual fact, not a manipulation, is there's three million less plastic bags in circulation in our community, period.

[01:27:00] How many of them end up being collected by clean Fairfax is one. If one, that's one too many. You talk to the volunteers who are out there. We can debate whether it's this number or that number. there are three million less plastic bags in circulation in Fairfax County since the bag tax was enacted, which 100% shows the intention is working. I mean, I would really hope that we can achieve our goal of collecting zero revenue at some point in time, but the bare factory remains three million. I mean, that is a huge number. We know it's going to grow exponentially as we move

[01:27:37] forward and, you know, wherever those bags end up, they're not good for our environment. Whether they're being picked up by clean Fairfax or whether they're being thrown away at someone's house, they're not good for the environment. So that's three million less in production. And so I appreciate the NIP and I think making sure that we're really clear on that number because to your point, Supervisor Walkinshaw, the graph is confusing. It's hard for people to understand.

[01:28:02] this is a celebration moment. The headline of this memo should have been 3 million bags less in circulation in Fairfax County. And so I think my, you know, my message for staff and, you know, we just had a presentation on the PR and the, you know, the information that's going out to our public is let's be as clear as we possibly can here. The board's goal was to reduce the number of plastic bags circulating in our community. We know that there's 3 million less since the bag tax was implemented. Let's just take a moment to celebrate and reflect those victories. And that

[01:28:37] is the surefire best way to encourage more people to follow suit and do the right thing, is for them to hear that that is, in fact, what their neighbors are doing statistically in the county. And so I do thank DTA and our environmental folks for their work on this, because it is essential to our environmental goals and just want to point that out and, you know, make sure that NIP isn't lost on all of us and that we celebrate this moment. And thank you for that, Chairman McKay. Before we wrap up, I want to give Chairman Walkinshaw a moment. If you have any final comments after that,

[01:29:17] I'll pass it over to Chairman McKay for one final comment before we conclude and go on our holiday way. So Chairman Walkinshaw? No final comments. I'll just say I'm also frustrated to miss the upcoming General Assembly work session, but thank you all for, because I'm sure you all will stick around to participate in that, and I will be dialed in and listening. So thank you in advance for your participation and your support of our agenda. We wish you a speedy recovery and looking forward to see you in the new year. And with that, Chairman McKay, I'll give you a moment.

[01:29:53] Yes, just very briefly, our legislative meeting with our General Assembly delegation begins at 3.30. So that gives you a little bit of time to go next door, mingle. There's some beverages and other things, snacks over there for our General Assembly members and for board members to mingle with them.

[01:30:11] We will begin our legislative meeting at 3.30 on the dot, and we will end by 5 o'clock on the dot. And so a lot to talk to them about, including what we just talked about here, which is the bag tax was enabled by the General Assembly.

[01:30:28] We put it to work, and it's working. So some things to celebrate, some challenges ahead. But please don't disappear. Take the time to talk to your legislators, and we will begin again at 3.30. So thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Real quick, happy holidays to everyone since this is the last official time we'll see each other before the new year.

[01:30:48] I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holidays. Be safe with your families. And we look forward to a bright and wonderful 2025 here in Fairfax County. With that, the Environmental Committee is adjourned. Thank you for all for attending. The next Environmental Committee meeting is scheduled for February 25th, 2025 at 11 a.m.

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