Audit 20 20 env commitments May 13 08
Description
Office of the Auditor General / Bureau du vérificateur général AUDIT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS IN THE OTTAWA 20/20 GROWTH MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 2007 Chapter 3 VÉRIFICATION DES ENGAGEMENTS D’ORDRE ENVIRONNEMENTAL ÉNONCÉS DANS LA STRATÉGIE DE GESTION DE LA CROISSANCE OTTAWA 20/20 2007 Chapitre 3 Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................... i RÉSUMÉ ...................................................................................................................xix 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 1 3 AUDIT OBJECTIVES, SCOPE AND APPROACH ................................................ 3 4 ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTHS......................................................................... 5 5 FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES .. 5 5.1 MANAGEMENT CAPACITY FINDINGS.......................................................................5 5.2 FINDINGS SPECIFIC TO EACH ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT ........................16 6 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................. ...
Informations
| Publié par | Nuhok |
| Nombre de lectures | 88 |
| Langue | English |
Extrait
Office of the Auditor General / Bureau du vérificateur général AUDIT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS IN THE OTTAWA 20/20 GROWTH MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 2007 Chapter 3 VÉRIFICATION DES ENGAGEMENTS DORDRE ENVIRONNEMENTAL ÉNONCÉS DANS LA STRATÉGIE DE GESTION DE LA CROISSANCE OTTAWA 20/20 2007 Chapitre 3
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy
Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... i RÉSUMÉ...................................................................................................................xix 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 1 3 AUDIT OBJECTIVES, SCOPE AND APPROACH ................................................ 3 4 5 .........................................................................ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTHS 5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES .. 5FINDINGS, 5.1 MANAGEMENTCAPACITYFINDINGS.......................................................................5 5.2 FINDINGSSPECIFIC TOEACHENVIRONMENTALCOMMITMENT........................16 6 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................. 35 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................... 36
2007
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction The Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy was included in the 2007 Audit Plan of the Office of the Auditor General, first presented to Council in December 2004. BackgroundIn June 2001, the City of Ottawa held a Smart Growth Summit, following which City Council formulated seven principles to guide subsequent planning activity by the City. One of these principles is a green and environmentally sensitive City. In the spring of 2003,Window on Ottawa 20/20 Ottawas Growth Management Strategy (GMS) document further refined the, was presented to Council for information. This seven principles contained in the GMS to provide more specific objectives for each. In this document, the environmental principle of a green and environmentally sensitive City was backed by five more specific environmental commitments. These environmental commitments are as follows: 1. Preserve greenspace; 2. Strengthen ecosystem planning and design; 3. Protect surface and groundwater; 4. Improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and, 5. Protect and conserve our resources. On September 28, 2005, Council approved the first City Corporate Plan (CCP). In the CCP, these same five commitments are presented as the 20/20 Strategic Directions and form the Citys Environmental Agenda for 2006-2009. Throughout this report the terms environmental commitments or commitments is used to describe these five elements of the Environmental Agenda. Responsibilities for implementing, monitoring and reporting on progress rest with a number of City branches and departments that are involved to varying degrees in the delivery of the environmental commitments. The Environmental Sustainability Division plays a central coordination and integration function for environmental initiatives within the City. Audit Objectives and ScopeThe purpose of the audit was to provide an independent and objective assessment of the Citys capacity to meet the environmental commitments outlined in theWindow on
2007
Pagei
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy Ottawa 20/20 - Growth Management Strategydocument and the Environmental Agenda as described in the CCP and assess its progress to date towards these commitments.
The specific audit objectives were twofold:
1. Determine the Citys management capacity related to each of the five environmental commitments, including whether: •The commitments are well-defined and articulated; •Roles and responsibilities for achieving these commitments have been established and communicated; •Plans have been established to meet these commitments; •resources have been assigned to meet them;Adequate •A system is in place to monitor progress towards these commitments on a regular basis; and, •Appropriate information is being reported to Council. 2. Determine whether progress to date towards these environmental commitments is reasonable and the City appears on track to meet these commitments. Our assessment of progress reflects the long-term nature of the commitments. At the time of the audit, the City had 13 years within which to meet the commitments fully.
The scope of the audit included an examination of activities and initiatives related to each of the five environmental commitments contained in theWindow on Ottawa 20/20 and the TheEnvironmental Agenda for the City. audit included an examination of activities and initiatives related to environmental commitments contained in supporting plans and strategies where these commitments directly aligned with one of the five environmental strategic directions. The audit did not examine other environmental activities and initiatives that did not directly support one or more of these commitments. This was an important boundary to the audit, given the large number and range of environmental initiatives underway at the City. The temporal scope of the audit was for the period 2004 to the spring of 2007.
Organizational StrengthsA number of organizational strengths were identified during the course of the audit:
•The City has begun and, in some cases, completed a large number of environmental policies, programs and initiatives. •City staff interviewed was knowledgeable of and committed to the Citys environmental initiatives. In addition, the City has initiated environmental
2007
Pageii
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy programs that are beyond the scope of activities defined by the environmental commitments.•The existence of a designated Division for Environmental Sustainability facilitates the continued development, refinement, implementation and monitoring of the Citys environmental agenda. At the time of the audit, this Division was working with the City Managers Environmental Working Group to develop a logic model for the Citys environmental programs, which will be supported by outcome-based objectives and performance measures. This work is expected to provide a framework to guide future priority setting and performance monitoring and reporting. FindingsOverall Findings City staff manages to their individual branch plans and to the supporting growth management plans, such as the Environmental Strategy and the Greenspace Master Plan, and not to the environmental commitments as outlined in the CCP and the Window on Ottawa 20/20document. There is no broader monitoring framework in place for these five environmental commitments, which impedes tracking of the Citys overall progress towards these commitments. Overall, interviewees had no common understanding of what constituted the Citys environmental growth management objectives. City staff does not perceive the five environmental commitments as the guiding principles and objectives of the Citys environmental programs. This inconsistent understanding of the role of the environmental commitments was identified as a significant barrier to the Citys achievement of these commitments. Clarity of vision and objectives is a prerequisite for developing and executing focused implementation plans, and monitoring and reporting on progress. While the supporting plans and the City Corporate Plan each contain elements of an implementation plan for the Citys environmental programs, there is no overall implementation plan or strategy for the environmental commitments. Recognizing the long time frame for these commitments, an implementation plan is required to lay out the logical steps and activities required to achieve the commitments within measured blocks of time between the present and 2020. Roles and responsibilities for implementing activities related to the environmental commitments are spread across a number of branches. Specific roles and responsibilities are not documented for the five environmental commitments and, in many cases, are not clearly defined in supporting strategies and plans.
2007
Pageiii
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy There is no overarching system in place to track progress against the five environmental commitments. Branches responsible for implementing activities or initiatives related to one or more of the commitments monitor progress related to their own initiatives to varying degrees. While branch-level monitoring provides some useful data and information, there is no corporate-level roll-up to assess overall progress related to the environmental commitments. There is no systematic reporting to Council on initiatives related to these environmental commitments.
At the time of the audit, the City was reporting on only two of the five environmental performance indicators identified in theWindow on Ottawa 20/20 twodocument. These indicators are included in the Executive Management Committee scorecard process. The suite of five environmental indicators identified in theWindow on Ottawa 20/20document is insufficient to assess progress relative to all five of the commitments, and should be expanded.
Clarity of Commitments The majority of environmental commitments are clearly worded and understandable. However, the specificity of the commitments varies substantially. While a number of the commitments include activity-based measures that can be tracked, none of the commitments includes specific outcome measures. The lack of specificity of certain commitments could prevent the City from determining when the commitment has been achieved.
Four of the five environmental commitments address environmental challenges facing the City in a meaningful way. TheProtect surface and groundwatercommitment, however, includes only a commitment related to monitoring water quality and could be broadened to include a commitment related to the development and implementation of surface and groundwater protection policies. It should be noted that the Environmental Strategy does discuss protection of surface and groundwater at length and this is part of the actions underManage resources, Incorporate environmental factors into decision-making and Ecosystem approach commitmentscontained in this document.
While the Environmental Strategy discusses solid waste management both in terms of strategic planning and program planning, none of the environmental commitments directly addresses solid waste management. Given the importance of solid waste management and the Citys commitment to achieve a diversion rate of 60% of all solid waste by the end of 2008, this is a notable gap in the environmental commitments. If the five environmental commitments provide the environmental agenda or vision for the City, then these commitments should communicate the importance of integrated solid waste management in the City.
2007
Pageiv
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy Supporting Plans With few exceptions, all supporting plans relating to the environmental commitments have either been developed or are in the process of being developed. Supporting plans that have not yet been developed include: •Cultural Services and Community Funding has not developed a specific plan to support thePreserve greenspacesub-commitment to contribute to the preservation of greenspace by establishing creative green environments and gardens, land art, and art pathways that follow green corridors. •While the City addresses efficient energy use in plans and strategies related to its buildings, fleet and waste management activities, it has not yet developed a strategy to reduce consumption of other materials within City operations. At the time of the audit, a study on material usage within the City was underway, the results of which will inform such a strategy. •The City has not detailed a plan or strategy to encourage and facilitate efficient material and resource use in the broader community. Resources Substantial resources are currently dedicated to environmental initiatives and programs at the City, many of which support the environmental commitments. Broadly speaking, it appears that sufficient resources are available to implement the environmental commitments, provided current levels of funding are maintained. Two specific areas were identified where lack of funding may jeopardize the Citys ability to meet its environmental commitments: •Funding for activities detailed in the Groundwater Management Strategy was eliminated in the Long Range Financial Plan; and, •Funding requests to support completion of an inventory of material resource use in the community were denied in the 2006 and 2007 budgets. In addition to these areas, Council rejected requests in 2006 to fund the following: •$580,000 for Existing Buildings Energy Retrofit Program (based on Toronto Better Buildings Program example); including $80,000 for new 2006 position of Buildings Program Coordinator; •$160,000 for Public Outreach for Air Quality and Climate Change; and, •$276,000 for a variety of smaller air quality and climate change initiatives, such as promoting green roofs and partnering with NRCan on a Commercial Buildings Incentive Program pilot project ($80,000 each from the City and NRCan).
2007
Page v
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy Finally, it should be noted that most of the funding to support air quality and climate change has been obtained from external sources. As the City identifies specific actions to be implemented over time in support of these environmental commitments, new funding may be required.
Progress Towards Each of the Commitments The City has initiated and, in some cases, completed a large number of environmental policies, programs and initiatives. Recognizing that the environmental commitments are long-term commitments that are to be achieved by 2020, the City has made reasonable progress towards achieving all of the environmental commitments. The following table presents a summary of progress to date related to achievement of the environmental commitments. Each commitment is broken down into its constituent components.
Status Commitment and Related Sub-Commitments No action In planning In progress Complete Preserve Greenspace UNDERTAKE A GREENSPACE MASTER PLAN TO IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE ALL OF THE INDIVIDUAL GREENSPACES IN THE CITY. X Rural land use management practices will be centered on the protection of forests, wetlands, natural X areas, greenspace and agriculture; Work with Conservation Authorities and other partners to develop a Forest Strategy to manage and X protect the rural and urban forest;egy will include policies and programs to enhance aBnodthptrhoeteGctreoeunrsbpiaocdeivMearsstiteyr(PElannvSa)n;danFdorestStrat X A vibrant focus on the arts will also contribute to the preservation of greenspace by establishing creative green environments and gardens, land art, and art pathways that follow green corridors X (AHP). Strengthen Ecosystem Planning and Design iUdnednteirftyakeenvwiraotenrmsheendtaalnfedastuurbe-swaantedrschoenddiptiloannss;inpriorityareas,bothurbanandrural,inorderto X Recommend measures to mitigate the impacts of existing and proposed land-use activities; and, X Development proponents will be expected to use "design with nature" principles.X (qualified) Protect Surface and Groundwater Policies to protect groundwater help to ensure potable water in rural areas while clean surface wateris used for both drinking and recreation; X Monitoring of surface water quality will be carried out through the Water Environment ProtectionX program; (on-going) Watershed planning, [and] a Groundwater Management Strategy[in addition to Water Environment odel assessed below]will be used to improve water quality monitoring for all areas of the City; and X qAuaWliattyermEonnvitiorroinnmgefonrtaMlloadreela[sinfatdhdietiCointyt.otwo listed components above]will be used to improve waterX o Improve Air Quality and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions evel p for:Initiatives have been identified and d o ed •Buildings; X •Transportation; and, X •Waste. X There is a system in place to monitor progress towards achievement of the commitment, including:•Emissions inventory for: oGHGs; and, X oCriteria Air Contaminants. • lineBaseafoddnat,hciraetaviinittoeropdevibasisarofssaissengtheairqualiytadnGGH X emissions impact of the initiative; a•Regular monitoring of the impact of each initiative.X
2007
Pagevi
Chapter 3: Audit of the Environmental Commitments in the Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Strategy Commitment and Related Sub-Commitments Status No action In planning In progress Complete Protect and Conserve Our Resources Plans have been established to identify and implement initiatives identified in the commitment. The City has taken initiatives that allow i to: t •Demonstrate efficient use of material and energy resources in its own operations; X •Encourage and facilitate efficient use of material and energy resources in the wider community; X •Work towards adopting alternative technologies that result in cleaner air; and, X •alerspihsrentrapshliabstEreelnai.atthesrtulcintevnhcegoloseiionofalternatietdottehaodtpX a r As shown in the table, the City has initiated action related to the majority of the constituent components of the environmental commitments. This audit has identified several areas where additional effort will be required to achieve certain elements of the environmental commitments by 2020:
•An implementation plan is required to support the sub-commitment to establish creative green environments and gardens, land art, and art pathways that follow green corridors. The Policy Statement in this area reads, The City will develop and implement a comprehensive municipal public art policy that results in: a) the integration of permanent, site-specific works of art into municipal buildings, natural places, public spaces and structures; and b) expanded partnered efforts to integrate public art into all major, new and redevelopment projects in Ottawa. Funding has not yet been approved to complete this public art policy. •There has been limited outreach to members of the developers community to make them aware of the expectation to apply design with nature principles in their projects, and there is a need for tools that can be used by the Citys application review staff to ensure these principles are systematically considered in the application review process. •Clarity is required on what was intended by the commitment to develop and implement a Water Environment Model. •The City requires a system to ensure it collects the data and information required to measure and report on the actual air and greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from significant projects and initiatives designed to improve air quality and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Both RPAM and Fleet have baseline data required to assess the greenhouse gas emissions impact of their initiatives. The impact on total emissions is reported in the Annual Report, but not the specific impact of the initiatives. Emissions are not measured directly; they are calculated as a function of energy consumption and technology. •Responsibility and resources need to be assigned for the development and implementation of a strategy to encourage and facilitate efficient use of material and energy resources within the wider community.
2007
Pagevii
© 2010-2024 YouScribe