Judy Layzer/Stephanie Stern
Urban Sustainability Directors’ Interview Notes
July/August 2010
Name of interviewee: Kris Sweckard
Title/Department: Managing Director, Management Services
Office of Environmental Quality and Efficiency Team
Phone number: 214-670-5607
Email address: kris.sweckard@dallascityhall.com
Organization Website: http://www.greendallas.net/
Date of interview: August 6, 2010
Time: Start:
Finish:
10:00 am
10:40 am
Summary/ Key Points:
1. Dallas has an Office of Environmental Quality (including a Sustainability
Coordinator position) that coordinates the environmental and sustainability
programs and acts as a consulting group to other city departments (e.g. helps
the Equipment and Building Services Department figure out which new vehicles
to buy).
2. Dallas’ environmental programs (including the Office of Environmental Quality)
were developed as a reaction to a lawsuit by the EPA, which was settled in 2004.
They are also in a non-attainment area under the Clean Air Act, so there is a lot
of emphasis on air quality initiatives.
3. Dallas uses an Environmental Management System (mandated in the EPA
settlement) to track environmental impacts; this is also a tool for citywide
coordination since 13 departments are using this.
4. They are working with the regional on air and water quality issues and
transportation.
5. Dallas’ green initiatives have been emphasized (including by the current mayor)
as a way of attracting business, including their LEED-certified convention
center.
Before I launch into questions about [your city’s] approach to sustainability,
could you tell me just a bit about yourself—your background and how you came
to be in this position?
-Kris has been with the city for six years
-His background is more on the business side; he worked in change management, and
came to the city to do process improvement type work
-When director of environmental quality left in March 2010, he took this position too
(he used to just be in the efficiency team)
-The environmental work fits with personal values but he is new to the professional role
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[Tell me about the team that you oversee?]
-Kris is in charge of the Office of Environmental Quality; they are basically a consulting
group within the city
-For example, there is a separate Equipment and Building Services group, which does
performance contracts, energy procurement, and manages the city’s fleet (about 38% are
alternative fuel vehicles), they have an energy efficiency group
-This group might come to his team for help in purchasing new vehicles or designing a
new procurement agreement
-Storm water is managed by the Public Works and Transportation department,
someone else has air quality monitoring
[Do the departments come to you for consulting help or do you go to them?]
-More and more, other departments are seeking out their help as the other departments
see his group’s value
-The Office of Environmental Quality was established in 2004 as a result of a settlement
with the EPA (following a lawsuit where the EPA sued the city for being out of
compliance with the storm water regulations)
-Over the six years that the department has been in place, the other city departments
see their value more and more
-Dallas also has an Environmental Management System (EMS, also decreed by the
EPA), which 13 city departments have implemented
-Kris’ department facilitates the EMS that and does internal audits (they also have third
party auditors resulting from the EPA settlement) and his department has liaisons to
each city department
-The EMS is ISO certified (ISO 14001 gives the requirements for an EMS system,
allows city to identify environmental impacts and improve activities)
-All of the 13 city departments have an Environmental Management Representative
that is the liaison to the Office of Environmental Quality
-Very few cities have an EMS, especially one that is so widespread throughout many
city departments
-Kris’ department also trains city staff; they have about 100 courses and environment
management is a part of orientation for new employees
-The EMS was also a result of the EPA agreement, but they weren’t required to get it
ISO certified
-Each of the departments sets their own objectives and targets; they submit these to
Kris’ office each year in a memo from the department Director to Kris
-There is also a set of 20 citywide objective and targets; these came out of the initial
system set up (after the EPA settlement)-- during the EMS set up process each city
department set own goals and they found 20 that made sense to have on a citywide level
[Why don’t more cities use an EMS system?]
-Expensive
-Some cities are, but typically only for one aspect of their operations (e.g. some city uses
it for their port management)
-They are very popular internationally, but they haven’t caught on yet in the US
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-They do have a Sustainability Manager position, he reports to Kris (he is also part of
the Urban Sustainability Directors Network), the position was established about 1 year
ago
-Dallas is in the process of developing a sustainability plan, Kris just have a draft to his
boss yesterday
-Dallas is also participating in a regional effort to define a regional sustainability plan,
the cities in the area are comparing notes and trying to set up a coordinated effort
[Does the regional effort deal with different issues than the city level?]
-Yes, they are looking at different issues, including—air quality since the area is in an
EPA non-attainment region (under the Clean Air Act), transportation, water quality,
and commercial development
-Kris has found it very helpful to go to these regional meetings to hear about what the
other cities are up to (as a source of information/inspiration)
[What was the impetus for regional coordination?]
-He is not sure, the mayors of most of the cities got together and they discussed it
-The group will present results back to the group of mayors, this is coming from a high
level
-These issues have been talked for a while, so he’s not sure why it got off the ground
now
-The group’s goal to have regional plan together by the end of the calendar year
Organization
Can you describe what your city is doing with respect to sustainability? What
would you say are the key programs?
The Sustainability Plan has four areas:
1- Air quality is a big issue—Dallas has been working to meet the current EPA
standard (they are 1 ppm away), but the EPA is dropping the standard even lower, so
their target is moving just as they got closer
-Dallas is so spread out (geographically), people rely on cars and they are the biggest
source of emissions
-Transportation is a big component of the sustainability plan
2-Land use—the plan has components to protect open space, parks, the environment,
etc,
-He included Urban Heat Island here
3-Energy
-The whole plan tries to address both municipal operations and the impacts of residents,
especially in terms of energy use
4. Water
-Water quality, stormwater protection
5. Waste- recycling, composting
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-The city has a large landfill, but they are looking at opportunities to take advantage,
for example capturing methane to use for energy
-They also want to increase recycling
[What will the next steps be to move the sustainability initiatives forward?]
-They will present the plan to the relevant City Council subcommittees for final
adoption for the city
-The plan includes very specific measures and targets
-Kris’s office would be primarily responsible for implementation, and they will have to
continue to coordinate with other departments
Green initiatives from their website:
-GHG inventory
-Air quality, Sustainable Skylines
-Green buildings
-Energy efficiency
-Water
-Recycling
-Trees
-Biking and public transit (bike routes, DART and TRE trains, HOV lanes)
-Environmental Management System – goals for improving environmental quality
If the city has a sustainability plan/office/director: Do you know when the
city undertook its sustainability program/created its sustainability
office/created the position of sustainability director?
-Sustainability manager position was created about 1 year ago
If the city has a sustainability director (or equivalent, which is probably
whoever you are talking to): Can you describe your job—what you spend
your days doing?
Can you describe how your city is organized in terms of sustainability?
In particular,
o Which city offices/departments have primary responsibility for
each of the key elements of sustainability planning?
-See above (Kris’ department has primary responsibility, but they coordinate
with other departments)
o Do you have an office of sustainability or sustainability planning?
(It’s not called that, but I think it performs a similar function)
o Do you think having such an office would be helpful?
o Does your city have a sustainability plan? (Or maybe a climate
action plan?)
-Draft underway
o Do you have any mechanisms for coordinating the programs that
you consider to be part of the city’s sustainability (or climate)
efforts?
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-Each department reports to Kris each year (see above)
-They work with the environmental reps from each department,
quarterly meetings at least
-Coordination for the EMS requires some people in Kris’s office to be in
daily contact with other departments
o Do you have a sense that the plan serves as a guide for particular
programs? If so, can you give a couple of examples of how it’s been
used?
Can you think of any nonprofits in the city that support your sustainability
efforts?
-They partner with folks on events; e.g. Texas Discovery Gardens on upcoming event
-They have a partnership with EPA and a state organization for the Dallas Sustainable
Skylines initiative, EPA gave the initial funding, and Dallas will partner with businesses
and other organizations on implementation
-They have worked with community garden groups recently, since this has become a
hot topic
(He had a hard time with the question, which is probably an indication that non-profits
aren’t very active, but also could be that he’s new to the environmental work)
Impetus and Obstacles
[For cities that have a perceptible sustainability orientation]
Can you recall or do you know why your city got into sustainability in the first
place?
-It was driven by the settlement with the EPA and their non-attainment status
-The city wasn’t doing what is was supposed to, there were a lot of TV reports
(including one series for two weeks), but this has turned into an opportunity for Dallas
to become more green
-Because the programs are mandated, it provides insulation against budget cuts
How active has the political leadership been in promoting sustainability, or in
promoting particular programs?
-The mayor and council have been very supportive, one council member in particular
has been very active-- she sits on a lot of regional environmental boards
-The Mayor made on of his election platforms Dallas as a green city; partially this is a
way of attracting business, both in terms of Dallas-based business, but also hospitality
business—Dallas’ convention center was recently certified by LEED-Existing Buildings
-Kris thinks the green city focus has been very helpful in terms of attracting new
business
Can you describe the process by which you decide what sustainability programs
to undertake?
(I didn’t specially ask this, it seem clear that their sustainability programs are reactions
to the big problems—mostly air and water quality, and some copying from other cities)
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Off the top of your head, can you say what you think are the main obstacles to
your city’s sustainability efforts?
-Budget, especially in the last couple of years
-Size of the city—there are so many operations and different departments, it is hard to
coordinate everyone and get everyone on the same page and working together
[Is it just the size or is there also resistance?]
-He wouldn’t say resistance to the ideas, but all departments have had to cut a lot of
staff and resources, so they no longer have time for environmental initiatives
[I asked about public involvement/opinion]
-He hasn’t had much involvement with public yet, they are in lawsuit now over a green
cement policy, but he thinks that the citizens understand that industry often contributes
to environmental problems (e.g. the cement companies nearby)
-Another example—Dallas currently has no way to establish a community garden on a
vacant property, so they are trying to deal with this, but Kris thinks that the city has
been painted as evil government by garden enthusiasts
Information
What sources of information do you rely on in deciding how to tackle a particular
sustainability problem or how to design a particular program?
-He hasn’t had a lot of time to look for information
-He has gained a lot of knowledge from the regional coordination efforts, and has relied
on his staff’s knowledge and experience
-He looks at trade publications like Environmental Management mag.
-Online resources—he will Google for specific topics to look for anything relevant
What kinds of information would be useful to you, in what form, as you think
about advancing sustainability in your city?
-Nothing comes to mind
-He has looked at other city’s sustainability plans
Closing
Is there anything that struck you while we were talking that you would like to
mention before we finish?
-Nothing
Can you suggest anyone else I should talk to—either people in your city who can
flesh out answers to some of these questions, or sustainability planners in other
cities who might be helpful?
We’d like to keep you informed of what we’re doing and, from time to time, check
in about what you’re doing. But we don’t want to clog your inbox or take up too
much of your time. We are open to your ideas on the least intrusive way to
communicate.
-Email is best
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