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District Of Columbia Council Bill PR26-0019

District Of Columbia 2025-2026 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill PR26-0019 Compare Versions

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1- ENROLLED ORIGINAL
2-
3-
4-
5-1
6-
1+MURIEL BOWSER
2+MAYOR
3+January 2, 2025
4+The Honorable Phil Mendelson
5+Chairman
6+Council
7+of the District of Columbia
8+1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 504
9+Washington, DC 20004
10+Dear Chairman Mendelson:
11+Enclosed for consideration by the Council
12+is proposed emergency legislation entitled the "Climate
13+Commitment Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution
14+of 2025", the "Climate Commitment
15+Clarification Emergency Amendment Act
16+of 2025" and the "Climate Commitment Clarification
17+Temporary Amendment Act
18+of 2025". This legislation will clarify that the Department of General
19+Services (DGS)
20+is allowed to repair and replace units and component parts of fossil fuel-based
21+heating and cooling systems and upon approval by Council be retroactively applicable
22+as of
23+January 1, 2025, the first effective date for the Climate Commitment Act.
24+The current law mandates that the District may not install fossil fuel-based space or water heating
25+appliances. The law
26+is intended to advance electrification, decreasing fossil fuel consumption
27+across the District. It
28+is unclear, however, how DGS will continue to maintain existing fossil fuel­
29+based systems without replacing each system through a modernization or planned whole system
30+HVAC replacement project. A modernization or whole system HVAC replacement project for any
31+site requires multiple years to formulate and request a budget; develop, solicit, and evaluate
32+proposals; perform design review; engage stakeholders; swing occupants to an empty building; and
33+build or install the project
34+--all of which must be strategically planned.
35+To date, the District has over 300 fossil fuel-based space heating appliances alone. There is
36+insufficient time, budget, and materials to switch every building to an all-electric system. There
37+would also be significant embodied carbon emissions associated with doing
38+so. Hundreds of fossil
39+fuel-based systems possess many additional years
40+of useful life to provide heating to the District
41+through the winter season and beyond.
42+To wisely steward the District government's limited resources and achieve the useful life
43+of
44+existing systems, DGS will replace fossil fuel-based systems with all electric once these systems
45+are beyond repair or when deemed fully inoperable and appropriate for HV
46+AC replacement.
47+Approval
48+of the enclosed emergency declaration and approval of the emergency and temporary
49+legislation will facilitate the ongoing maintenance
50+of existing fossil fuel-based systems throughout
51+the District.
52+I look forward to your prompt and favorable consideration
53+of this resolution. In order to facilitate a
54+response to any questions you may have, please have your staff contact Director Delano Hunter. Sincerely, 1
55+2
56+3
57+4
58+5
59+6
60+7
761 A RESOLUTION
8-
9-26-14
10-
11-IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
12-
13-January 7, 2025
14-
15-To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District
16-Department of the Environment Establishment Act of 2005 to clarify that the restriction
17-on installing fossil fuel-burning systems shall not apply to the repair, reconstruction, or
18-replacement of components of existing space- or water-heating appliances that rely on the
19-combustion of natural gas, oil, or other fossil fuels.
20- RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
21-resolution may be cited as the “Climate Commitment Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025”.
22- Sec. 2. (a) There exists an immediate need to amend the District Department of the
23-Environment Establishment Act of 2005 (“DOEE Act”) to clarify that the restriction on installing
24-fossil-fuel-burning systems shall not prohibit the District government from repairing,
25-reconstructing, or replacing components of existing space- or water-heating appliances that rely
26-on the combustion of fossil fuels. Without existing appliance maintenance, residents will be at risk of significant delays in repairs.
27-(b) The DOEE Act currently does not distinguish between the installation of new fossil -
28-fuel systems and the repair of current fossil -fuel component parts of a system. Although the
29-District government intends to replace fossil fuel-based systems with all- electric systems
30-whenever feasible, it must be able to repair or replace component parts of a current fossil -fuel
31-system that are in disrepair.
32-(c) As of today, there are approximately 117 District of Columbia Public Schools
33-locations managed by the Department of General Services (“DGS”) containing 162 boiler
34-systems that need to be maintained throughout the winter season and beyond to accommodate the health and safety of students, staff, visitors, and all residents. Other building clusters include the
35-following number of boilers: 33 in Department of Parks and R ecreation; 10 in Department of
36-Human S ervices; 22 in Fire and Emergency Medical Services; 20 in M etropolitan Police
37-Department; and 28 in the Municipal cluster.
38-(d) Replacing fossil-fuel systems as part of modernization requires that the following
39-several key variables be in place prior to making changes to the building: ENROLLED ORIGINAL
40-
41-
42-
43-2
44-
45-(1) First, DGS must ensure that energy efficient replacements are available within
46-the regional or designated marketplace, including ensuring that replacements are accessible to
47-source and ship within the construction timeline, and within the applicable budget to acquire ;
48-(2) Second, to manage the lifetime of maintenance, DGS must ensure that all
49-designated Boiler Plant Operators and other Facilities Management Division personnel are
50-sufficiently trained in how to maintain and operate all new equipment; and
51-(3) Third, as the construction environment, especially for our schools, may not be
52-suitable for students, staff, other District employees, and residents, DGS must work with client
53-agencies to conduct community engagement to raise awareness of, and coordinate, swing space
54-locations, which, without sufficient planning or budget formation, would cause significant
55-disruption to the operational environments across the District.
56-
57-Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
58-enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the
59-Climate Commitment Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 be adopted after a
60-single reading.
61-
62-Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
62+~
63+at the request of the Mayor
64+8 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
65+9
66+10
67+11
68+12 To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District
69+13 Department of the Environment Establishment Act of 2005 to clarify that this act does
70+14 not apply to the repair, reconstruction or replacement
71+of components or units of existing
72+15 space heating and cooling or water heating systems that rely on the combustion
73+of natural
74+16 gas, oil, or other fossil fuels which will allow current heating and cooling systems reliant
75+1 7 on fossil fuels to be maintained until the system
76+is replaced.
77+18
78+19
79+20 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
80+21 resolution may be cited
81+as the "Climate Commitment Clarification Emergency Declaration
82+22 Resolution of 2025".
83+23 Sec.
84+2. (a) There exists an immediate need to amend the District Department of the
85+24 Environment Establishment Act of 2005 to clarify that the act does not prohibit District
86+25 government from repairing, reconstructing, or replacing components or units
87+of existing space
88+26 heating and cooling or water heating systems that rely on the combustion of fossil fuels. Without
89+2 7 existing system
90+maintenance, residents will be at risk of significant delays in repairs.
91+28 (b) The act currently does not distinguish between the installation of new fossil-fuel
92+29 systems and repairing of current fossil-fuel component parts or units of a system. Although the
93+30 District government intends to replace fossil fuel-based systems with all-electric systems
94+3 1 whenever feasible, District government must be able
95+to repair or replace component parts of a
96+32 current fossil-fuel system that are in disrepair.
97+1 33 ( c) As of today, there are approximately 117 District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)
98+34 locations managed by DGS containing 162 boiler systems that need to be maintained throughout
99+35 the winter season and beyond to accommodate the health and safety
100+of students, staff, visitors,
101+36 and all residents. Other building clusters include the following number of boilers: 33 in
102+37 Department of Parks and Recreation; 10 in Department of Human Services; 22 in Fire and
103+3 8 Emergency Services; 20 in Metropolitan Police Department; and
104+28 in the Municipal cluster.
105+39 (d) Replacing fossil-fuel systems as part of a modernization requires that several key
106+40 variables be in place prior to making changes to the building.
107+41 (
108+1) First, DGS must ensure that energy efficient replacements are available within
109+42 the regional or designated marketplace, including ensuring that replacements are accessible to
110+43 source and ship within the construction timeline, and within applicable budget to acquire.
111+44 (2) Secondly, to manage the lifetime of maintenance, DGS must ensure that all
112+45 designated Boiler Plant Operators (BPO) and other Facilities Management Division (FMD)
113+46 personnel are sufficiently trained in how to maintain and operate all new equipment.
114+4 7 (3) Lastly,
115+as the construction environment, especially for our schools may not be
116+48 suitable for students and staff or other District employees, and residents, DGS must work with
117+49 client agencies to conduct community engagement to raise awareness of and coordinate swing
118+50 space locations. This process, without sufficient planning or budget formation, would cause
119+51 significant disruption to the operational environments across the District.
120+52 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia finds that the circumstances in section 2
121+53 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that Climate Commitment Clarification
122+54 Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single reading and retroactively
123+55 applicable
124+as of January 1, 2025.
125+2 56 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
126+3