REPORT TO GENERAL COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: Environmental Management Plan Final Report - Phase One
CONTACT/AUTHOR: Victoria McGrath, Manager, Environmental Leadership
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the staff report
entitled “Environmental Management Plan Final Report – Phase One” dated
AND THAT staff, in conjunction with the staff
technical advisory committee, establish a workshop with Council members to discuss
the Environmental Management Plan.
The
purpose of this report is to update Council on the recommendations from the
Environmental Management Plan Phase One process, to seek Council’s endorsement
of the recommendations and to seek Council’s approval to proceed with the
process necessary to implement the recommendations of the Environmental
Management Plan. In addition, this report seeks Council’s endorsement to hire a
consultant in order for staff to move forward on Phase Two, implementing the
recommendations of the Environmental Management Plan final report.
In 2004, Council approved $100,000 for an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to help the Town prioritize environmental goals and commitments, promote interdepartmental collaboration and coordinate environmental initiatives and projects. A staff technical advisory committee (TAC) made up of representatives from each commission, was established to oversee the selection of the consultant and provide input into the EMP study process.
In 2005, CH2M Hill was retained to develop the EMP. The consultant held a workshop and conducted a survey with staff and members of Council, worked with the staff TAC and developed the EMP based on their experiences with other municipalities and the experiences of six benchmarking communities that helped to guide the EMP process.
In January 2006, CH2M Hill
presented the TAC with a draft EMP report for review and comment. The TAC
provided comments and a final report was prepared and presented in April 2006.
This report is attached as Appendix 1.
What is
an Environmental Management Plan?
The EMP is
a strategic,
corporate document that:
•
Sets up a framework for coordinating and directing municipal actions
•
Identifies municipal environmental initiatives and goals in the long and
short term
•
Will assist in achieving better and new environmental practices in the
future
The EMP establishes a process to develop and implement cross-commission environmental programs and initiatives. The EMP also includes an implementation framework, currently focused on internal, corporate operations that can be expanded to engage the community in a community sustainability plan, which is a necessary next step to support the federal gas tax. The EMP will support new practices, partnerships, and initiatives to advance and encourage environmental leadership. Active participation by staff across the municipality will be needed for the EMP to succeed.
EMP Objectives
The objectives of the
EMP process was to:
•
Help the Town establish short and long term corporate environmental
priorities
•
Promote interdepartmental collaboration
•
Coordinate environmental management
The EMP final report
achieves these objectives by making recommendations on governance, vision and
environmental priorities to help the Town of
Existing
Condition (Where We Are Today)
The Town
of
•
Smog Alert Response Plan
•
Green Fleet
•
•
•
Environmental Policy framework
•
Small Streams Study and implementation
•
Update of storm water management criteria and guidelines
•
Three Stream implementation
•
Green Procurement Policy
•
Paperless Agenda
•
Pesticide Free Parks Pilot
The
Town has not, to date, drawn these initiatives together in a comprehensive way
to enhance environmental sustainability. There is no all-encompassing framework
to guide sustainability priorities in the Town and no overall process to
systematically monitor and improve
By
reviewing the projects and initiatives currently underway in
Gap
Analysis
The gap
analysis showed that the Town of
The gap analysis
identified the following challenges:
•
Centralized coordination is needed and desired between Council and
staff, between commissions and interdepartmentally
•
A Town vision or environmental policy framework related to priority
setting for environmental initiatives is needed
•
In order to meet these
challenges, the consultant identified that a staff “champion” would help to
ensure a consistent, coordinated approach to implementing the EMP. Also, the
consultant recognized that more coordinated decision making would benefit
Council and staff and that the Town would improve its environmental performance
by linking environmental priority-setting with the annual budget planning process.
The six benchmarking
communities (Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Calgary, Regional District of
Vancouver and Newcastle, UK) reviewed by the consultant through the EMP process
met their “gaps” or challenges by setting and championing environmental priorities
at the corporate level, through visioning sessions or corporate policy
commitments. In order to support this, a central office or business unit was
established to support program development and implementation.
Environmental Priorities
The following
environmental priority “themes” were established by the consultant based on the
gap analysis and benchmarking summary:
•
Air
•
Land and Biodiversity
•
Water
•
Resources and People
Within these themes are
recommended priority actions or early success opportunities, to provide an
early implementation strategy for the Town. An example of one air priority
recommended by the EMP final report is for the Town to complete the milestones
under the FCM Partners for Climate Protection (FCM PCP) agreement. The Town of
Establishing broad
environmental “themes” will help to guide the implementation process by helping
staff to understand how to achieve performance measures or targets associated
with their departments’ environmental initiatives.
Recommendations from the
EMP Phase One process Final report
In order to move forward
with implementing the EMP and ensuring continuous improvement and success, the
consultant considered what the benchmarking communities modeled when
establishing their environmental management processes. The following examples
are taken from the benchmarking communities:
•
In 1992, the Mayor of the City of
•
In the City of
•
The executive leadership team of the City of
The success of the EMP
depends on enhancing communications, governance and continuity between Council
and staff. In keeping with the leadership of the benchmarking communities, the
following three recommendations will help to ensure the success of the Markham
EMP:
1. Establish
Environmental Sustainability Office within the Community and Fire Services
Commission, that:
•
Maintains the vision of the EMP/implementation
•
Enhances corporate coordination to achieve EMP implementation
•
Galvanizes support from the staff Technical Advisory Committee, senior
management, CCC and Council
•
Works to establish governance of the EMP and participates on Council
environmental committees
•
Works with other commissions to integrates sustainability and
environmental values into Town of
•
Provides Environmental Intergovernmental Relations related to
implementation of EMP (e.g. FCM Partners for Climate Protection, ICLEI, MOE,
EC, compliance)
•
Undertakes civic engagement, promotion and public education
(particularly once the EMP moves into a community sustainability plan and
within the strategic planning exercises)
The Environmental
Sustainability Office could be managed by the existing staff EMP project
manager thereby reallocating existing staff within the environmental portfolio.
This would alleviate any staffing or resource costs. The resulting coordinating
presence would help to ensure implementation of the EMP and contribute to the
EMPs continual improvement.
2. Establish an
environmental standing committee of Council (the Environmental Sustainability
Committee) under the General Committee:
•
EMP oversight at the Council level would help to coordinate and
streamline issues, policies and initiatives
•
EMC would ensure a coordinated approach to environmental issues and the
EMP
•
EMC would provide a one-window approach to help with prioritization of
EMP initiatives, performance measures and reporting
The intent of
establishing the Environmental Sustainability Committee under the General
Committee would be to dissolve all existing environmental subcommittees of
Council, with the exception of the Markham Conservation Committee. As needed,
subcommittees or task forces could be established under the Environmental
Sustainability Committee. These subcommittees or task forces, including the Markham
Conservation Committee, would be tasked with a work plan and time line to
ensure environmental priorities and initiatives were continuously being
implemented, measured and monitored.
3. Establish staff EMP
implementation team (TAC) to implement the EMP:
•
Staff from each commission will coordinate and support EMP implementation
cross-corporately
•
Would require the support of senior management to allow the staff time
and resources to ensure the EMP becomes a way of work
•
Part-time resources also required from Legal Services, Clerks, HR,
Corporate Communications, and task managers, as needed
The staff EMP
implementation team would be critical to ensure cross-commission activities and
initiatives, selecting priority areas for implementation and securing funding
and resources for successful implementation of the EMP.
Phase Two:
Implementation
The process for
implementing the EMP final report recommendations is laid out in a work plan
within the EMP document and includes the following next steps:
•
Review and endorse roles and responsibilities
•
Select priorities for implementation within each commission
•
Develop an environmental priorities framework that lays out the actions
required to implement (process mapping)
•
Set goals, objectives and metrics
•
Develop action plan
In order to ensure that
the Town is establishing the most successful implementation process based on
measurable results, it is recommended that a consultant be retained to
facilitate an initial brain-storming session with staff and Council members and
assist in the preparation of a process for successfully implementing the EMP.
Council Support
To successfully advance
sustainability in a coordinated way, support for EMP implementation would be
needed from Council and senior management. The following key areas would be
supported by Council:
•
Review EMP performance annually and make recommendations on EMP
management
•
Establish the Environmental Sustainability Committee
•
Demonstrate leadership and commitment to support the EMP
•
Annually perform an environmental scan with the Environmental
Sustainability Office
•
Review the progress of the EMP in the context of the Strategic Plan and
annual priorities
Senior Management
Support
The support of the
senior management group is also instrumental to the success of the EMP. Senior
decision makers need to be engaged in the EMP to ensure cross-corporate
collaboration, training and implementation.
To achieve this, the EMP would need to be part of each commission’s key
performance indicators and built into business unit profiles as well as
performance plans for staff.
Phase Three: Measuring,
Monitoring and Reporting on the EMP
The following “Phase
Three” steps are suggested to begin the process of measuring, monitoring and
reporting on the success and challenges of implementing the EMP:
•
Funding – research and coordinate external funding to support
programs and initiatives; align EMP to budget cycle to ensure resources for
implementation
•
Performance Measures – build on the Town’s Performance
Measures Documents, develop indicators and performance measures
•
Monitoring and Reporting – establish reporting process to
Council and community - annual report card, strategic plan, community
sustainability plan
•
Promotion, education, training – work towards
recognizing the EMP as a way of work, where staff feel a sense of
responsibility for the EMP and are empowered with skills and knowledge to
implement the plan
CONCLUSION:
The Environmental Management Plan is the Town’s
environmental road map for the future. It will set up the framework for
coordinating and directing municipal actions and a reporting process to assist
in achieving new and advanced municipal environmental practises in the future.
To successfully move forward with implementing the EMP, a cooperative approach
is imperative by all Commissions of the Corporation to participate, be actively
involved and contribute to this important strategic initiative throughout its
implementation
The EMP works to achieve the
community vision and corporate goals around environmental focus established in
the Town of Markham’s strategic plan, Engage 21st Century Markham.
The EMP works to achieve the
community vision and corporate goals around environmental focus established in
the Town of Markham’s strategic plan, Engage 21st Century Markham.
In addition, the EMP will help inform
CAO’s Office
Corporate Services
Commission
Development Services
Commission
RECOMMENDED BY:
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Victoria McGrath Manager, Environmental Leadership |
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Jim Sales, Commissioner Community and Fire Services |
ATTACHMENTS:
Appendix 1 – Environmental Management Plan Final Report
Q:\Strategic Services\Shared
Data\Environmental Leadership\Reports\2006 Reports\EMP Final Report to GC 6 12
06.doc