Testimony of Eve Hamilton
Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter
Committee on Public Works and Operations Budget Oversight Hearing
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Councilmember Nadeau, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this FY27 budget hearing on the Department of Public Works and thank you for your strong leadership on environment and sustainability issues. My name is Eve Hamilton, and I am testifying for the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter. The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters, including 7,000 DC residents. We are proud members of the Fair Budget Coalition.
As environmental stakeholders, we view this hearing as an important opportunity not only to assess the Mayor’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget for DPW, but also to better understand how funding decisions will impact the District’s progress toward waste reduction, diversion, and compliance with existing law.
While the proposed DPW budget appears largely flat, at approximately $192.5 million, a 0.1 percent increase over FY26, shifts across Local funds, Special Purpose Revenue funds, personnel services, and non-personnel services make it difficult to determine the net impact on core solid waste and diversion programs, or progress on implementation of the District's zero waste laws and the Zero Waste DC Plan.
If the District is serious about achieving its goal of diverting 80 percent of waste from landfill and incineration, as established in the Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020 and the Zero Waste DC Plan, the budget should reflect a shift in investment away from disposal and toward waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting. Instead, the proposed budget appears to maintain or increase investment in solid waste collection and disposal while restructuring and potentially reducing funding for diversion programs. This raises concerns about whether the District is on track to meet its zero waste commitments.
Waste Diversion and Composting (Office of Waste Diversion)
The proposed budget reflects a restructuring of the Office of Waste Diversion (OWD), with funding and staff shifted from a prior division-level line item into a new administrative structure.
Specifically, the FY27 budget includes approximately $6.7 million for a new OWD administrative allocation, while the prior OWD division-level funding declines from approximately $8.8 million to $1.2 million. Taken together, this suggests a net reduction in funding. At the same time, staffing appears to decrease from 32 to 23 FTEs.
While this restructuring may reflect internal reorganization, it makes it difficult to understand how waste diversion programs are funded and whether resources are sufficient to support continued expansion as called for by District law and our goal to divert 80 percent of our solid waste from landfill or incineration.
We request clarification on the following:
- How is the curbside composting program funded in FY27, including the number of households served, and are there plans or resources to expand service coverage?
- How many smart compost bins and farmers market compost drop-off locations are funded in FY27, and what resources are allocated for their maintenance and expansion?
- What resources are allocated for outreach and education to commercial entities and multifamily properties in anticipation of expanded composting requirements in line with District law as detailed in our DPW performance oversight hearing testimony?
- Has any portion of OWD program funding been incorporated into the Solid Waste Management Administration or other divisions, and if so, how does this affect program implementation and accountability?
- Which actions of the Zero Waste DC Plan will be funded in the FY27 budget?
Understanding how diversion programs are funded, whether through OWD, SWMA, or other divisions, is critical to assessing the District’s ability to expand composting and meet its zero waste goals.
We also note that at a recent DPW stakeholder meeting, the agency indicated that it has established a working group to consider how to expand composting requirements, including for multifamily housing and businesses. While this is a positive step, it is not clear when this work will translate into implementation. Given that these requirements are already established in District law, we request clarity on the timeline for action and how the FY27 budget supports compliance and enforcement.
Solid Waste Operations (Solid Waste Management Administration)
The Solid Waste Management Administration (SWMA), which is responsible for core sanitation operations including collection, disposal, and transfer station management, is proposed at approximately $96.6 million in FY27, an increase of roughly $2.3 million over FY26.
However, this topline increase masks shifts within SWMA, including reductions in some service areas and changes across personnel and nonpersonnel services. It is therefore unclear how these changes affect overall operational capacity. These operations are also foundational to achieving the District’s zero waste goals, as system capacity and reliability directly affect diversion outcomes.
A budget aligned with zero waste goals would, over time, shift resources away from disposal and toward diversion, as programs such as composting and Pay-As-You-Throw reduce the volume of waste requiring collection and incineration. Instead, the proposed budget appears to maintain or increase investment in waste collection and disposal, raising concerns that the District is continuing to rely on incineration and landfill rather than accelerating waste reduction and diversion.
We request clarification on the following:
- What is the net impact of the proposed budget on SWMA operations, particularly with respect to waste collection, transfer station operations, and system maintenance?
- Are there any planned reductions in service levels, maintenance activities, or operational capacity that are not clearly reflected in the topline budget?
- How does DPW plan to ensure continued reliability of core solid waste infrastructure under the proposed funding levels?
Solid Waste Disposal Fee Fund and Proposed Sweep
We are particularly concerned about the proposed sweep of funds from the Solid Waste Disposal Fee Fund.
Based on the FY26 Emergency Act, approximately $2.76 million is being swept from this fund. This fund, also known as the Solid Waste Disposal Cost Recovery Special Account, is specifically designed to support the operation, maintenance, and improvement of the District’s solid waste transfer facilities and is funded through disposal fees paid by commercial haulers.
Because this fund supports core solid waste operations, this sweep effectively reduces dedicated operating funding available to the system.
We request clarification on the following:
- What specific operations, maintenance, or capital improvements will be deferred, reduced, or eliminated as a result of this $2.76 million sweep?
- Will this sweep impact operations at the Benning Road and Fort Totten transfer stations or other critical waste management infrastructure?
- How does DPW plan to maintain facility performance and reliability with reduced dedicated operating funding?
We urge the Committee to closely scrutinize this proposed sweep and ensure that funds collected for waste system operations are used for their intended purpose.
Programmatic and Capital Investments
We also seek clarification on several specific programmatic and capital investments reflected in the budget:
- Does the proposed budget include funding related to a Pay-As-You-Throw pilot, as referenced in prior capital planning documents?
- Are any Heavy Duty or Off-Road capital allocations being used to procure compost collection trucks? If so, how many trucks are being procured, and on what timeline?
- Is DPW making investments in transitioning compost collection in-house, and if so, how are those investments reflected in the FY27 budget?
- Can DPW clarify the restructuring of the Office of Waste Diversion budget, including the shift from approximately $8.8 million in FY26 to a new $6.7 million administrative allocation and $1.2 million remaining in a legacy line item, and explain how these changes affect funding for curbside composting, smart bins, and other diversion programs?
Budget Transparency and Program Clarity
A consistent challenge in reviewing the proposed budget is the lack of clarity regarding how funding changes translate into program-level impacts.
In particular, the restructuring of the Office of Waste Diversion, shifts within the Solid Waste Management Administration, and the proposed sweep of dedicated funds make it difficult to determine how resources are being allocated across the District’s waste system.
We therefore request that DPW and the Committee provide greater transparency on the following:
- What is the net change in funding for the Solid Waste Management Administration across all fund types, and how does this affect program capacity?
- Following the restructuring of the Office of Waste Diversion, can DPW identify where funding for major waste diversion programs is located in the FY27 budget, including whether funding is contained within OWD, the Solid Waste Management Administration, or other divisions?
- Given the proposed sweep of the Solid Waste Disposal Fee Fund and ongoing capital investments in transfer stations, how are operating, Special Purpose Revenue, and capital funds being allocated across solid waste operations, and what is the net impact on system capacity?
We also note that we have sought clarification from DPW in advance of this hearing regarding several of these issues, and asked if the OWD planned to hold a budget briefing prior to today's hearing, but have not yet received a response. We respectfully request that DPW provide written follow-up to these questions.
Fleet Electrification
As we highlighted in our DDOT budget hearing testimony, the proposed Budget Support Act (BSA) delays two important transportation electrification requirements.
DC was designated with non-attainment status under the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, the primary component of smog. The American Lung Association recently gave DC an “F” grade for high ozone days and a “D” grade for the 24-hour standard for particle pollution. Electrifying the fleet would help reverse this poor status and help clean up our air. There are over 100 electric vehicle models commercially available in the U.S., with decreasing upfront costs and greater lifetime savings compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Accordingly, both of the following proposed delays should be reversed:
Electric Vehicle Purchases Amendment Act of 2026: Delays the requirement that the District only purchase or lease zero-emission vehicles from 2026 to 2031, a delay with minimal budgetary impact compared to the climate and air quality impacts of replacing pollutant-emitting District-owned vehicles sooner.
Fleet Electrification Amendment Act of 2026 - Delays fleet electrification by five years. As explained in the BSA, “DC law currently requires that by 2045, all public buses, large privately-owned fleets, commercial motor carriers, limousines, and District-certified taxis operate as 100 percent zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs).” The BSA would delay this to 2050, a delay we cannot afford, given our goals for reducing emissions.
Conclusion
The District has made initial steps in advancing waste diversion, planning for modernizing its solid waste infrastructure, and supporting broader sustainability efforts, including transportation electrification. However, continued progress will depend on sustained on-time investment, clear budget structures, and transparency in how funds are allocated and used.
We urge the Committee to:
- Ensure that dedicated solid waste and diversion funds are not reallocated in ways that undermine system performance and progress toward the District’s zero waste goals;
- Provide sufficient funding and clarity to support waste diversion programs;
- Require greater transparency from DPW regarding how budget decisions affect program delivery; and
- Ensure District commitments to fleet electrification are financed and realized on time to meet our goals for reducing emissions and pollution.
We appreciate the Committee’s leadership and look forward to continued engagement on these issues.
Thank you.