Being Intentional with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Environmental Justice

Being Intentional with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Environmental JusticeAbstractWSSC Water was established in 1918 to improve the polluted waterways in suburban Maryland. Our continued commitment to providing for our communities is marked by our record of zero drinking water quality violations in our 105 years of service. WSSC Water provides water and wastewater treatment to approximately 1. 9 million residents in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. While we have wholesale customers, we predominantly serve residential, commercial, and government customers. Intentionality is key in addressing equity and environmental justice issues within WSSC Water's jurisdiction. This presentation with go through how we strive to serve these disadvantaged communities and ensure equity and environmental justice for all. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice are the foundation of what WSSC Water does for our internal and external customers and stakeholders. This involves building a strong, diverse, and inclusive workforce; continuing our 105-year track record of supplying safe, clean drinking water for customers focusing on financial stewardship to minimize cost and additional financial burden on those with affordability concerns; implementing capital improvement projects based on public health, equity, and environmental justice criteria; increasing efforts to access funding to assist disadvantaged customers; and strengthening supplier diversity efforts, all while maintaining operational reliability and resilience. Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental right for every customer but is particularly critical for disadvantaged communities. Because they often do not have access to alternative drinking water sources and adequate healthcare support, these communities depend on the reliability and safety of their tap water. Our outstanding track record assures our customers that safe drinking water is always available, establishing the foundation for these communities to prosper. The way WSSC Water has integrated equity and environmental justice considerations into prioritization of its Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is, in part, a response to initiatives that have been taken by the two counties that we serve. Montgomery County has designated 56 census tracts as Equity Focus Areas (EFAs), which are intended to encourage investment in areas characterized by concentrations of minority populations, low-income households, or people with limited English proficiency. Prince George's County has designated 120 census tracts as Revitalization Tax Credit Districts (RTCs) that are intended to attract investment into areas that are disadvantaged based on consideration of factors like household income, residential density, land use, economic factors, and unemployment rates but consideration is not limited to these factors. Environmental justice and equity goals were enhanced when WSSC Water made them the foundation for the capital project prioritization in fiscal year 2023 by identifying and providing prioritization points to equity focus areas. The future direction of capital project prioritization is to include environmental justice as a separate scoring category to increase the visibility of this critical initiative. The scoring categories also will be consolidated and simplified. The existing six scoring categories will be merged into four, plus an environmental justice category. The tangible positive impact on environmental justice areas requires going beyond prioritizing capital projects. It requires two decisive efforts. The first effort is to expand the use of WSSC Water's performance measures within census tract boundaries so WSSC Water's level of service can be measured and compared to our goals. If a specific census tract area does not meet WSSC Water's level of service goals, that area can become a primary focus for the second effort. Projects can be prioritized to address the assets that impact that area. Individual project identification and selection will occur at the outset of WSSC Water's project packaging phases. Individual projects will be packaged by identifying water and sewer assets in poorer conditions located on or positively impacting an environmental justice area. This data will be collected and evaluated using GIS maps, census tracts, environmental justice screening tools, conditional assessment data and optimization software. To help keep rates low, we aggressively seek external financing. During FY 2022, WSSC Water applied for 632. 4 million in external financing, was awarded 110. 3 million, and received 8. 3 million in grants and 53. 2 million in low-interest loans. The interest rate on these loans is one-half of the rate for an index of highly-rated municipal bonds or one-quarter of the index rate for loans that finance construction projects benefiting disadvantaged communities. In addition to the highly subsidized interest rate, loans that benefit disadvantaged communities include up to 25 percent of the loan amount as principal forgiveness, with a maximum of 3 million per fiscal year per borrower, the same as a grant. By obtaining tens of millions of dollars of grants and low-interest loans each year, WSSC Water significantly reduces its rate revenue requirements and makes its services more affordable to customers. WSSC Water works each day to increase awareness and find new ways to promote and connect our customers to financial assistance programs, including the following: Customer Assistance Program, Water Fund, Bill Adjustments, Forgiveness of Past-Due Charges, and a Water Service Line Emergency Replacement Plan. In June 2023, WSSC Water launched a 'Get Current' water bill amnesty program to assist customers with delinquent water/sewer bills. This temporary program ran during June, providing bill credits for 100 percent of late payment charges and turn-on fees for qualified customers. During June, WSSC Water suspended residential water service turnoffs to encourage program participation. WSSC Water is committed to building a strong, diverse, and inclusive workforce; delivering safe, reliable water; continuing exceptional customer service; implementing capital improvement projects based on public health, equity, and environmental justice criteria; increasing efforts to access funding for programs to assist disadvantaged customers; and strengthening supplier diversity efforts; all while maintaining operational reliability and resilience. This presentation will go through some of the ways WSSC Water approached diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice through the programs listed above and other initiatives. This paper was presented at the WEF/AWWA Utility Management Conference, February 13-16, 2024. SpeakerLa Plante, RosannaPresentation time15: 30: 0016: 00: 00Session time15: 30: 0017: 00: 00SessionDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion from a Water Utility's PerspectiveSession number25Session locationOregon Convention Center, Portland, OregonTopicDiversity, Equity, and InclusionTopicDiversity, Equity, and InclusionAuthor (s) La Plante, RosannaAuthor (s) R. La Plante1, E. Mcfarland1Author affiliation (s) Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission 1;SourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Feb 2024DOI10. 2175/193864718825159265Volume / Issue Content sourceUtility Management ConferenceWord count10