Racial Equity Action Plan

don't do another website that no one will go to! fund local health and wellness groups and influencers on IG and TikTok to get the word out about actionable ways of building power for meaningful changes. Invest in those people to be the voice of the community.

prioritize grant-making to collaborative community groups that work between different orgs and communities in a local area.

informal trusted leaders who have small nonprofits or just make sure to get the word out in their communities.

please don't do a quiz, it is just another eye-rolling headache for employees instead of actually having them engage and build relationships with trusted informal leaders in environmentally disadvantaged communities

Be careful with initiatives that actively exclude groups based on their race.

What percent? What is meant by 'diverse?'

Favoring one community over another based on their race is racism.

Again, this assumes that 'whiteness' determines privilege and is injurious to all groups, not just whites. Language like this discredits your pursuit of equity and is in fact racist.

This assumes that racial disharmony originated in European cultures and that it doesn't exist in areas other than Europe. It also assumes that all Europeans are white, and that whites are responsible for racial disharmony. This is inherently racist and wrong. It projects that which you claim to be fighting with this program.

This whole concept is dated and frankly, racist. It assumes that all whites have something in common based solely on their skin color and that non-whites share something that whites don't have. This is by definition racist thinking and is injurious to everyone, regardless of their race.

Overall this entire plan seems to be a human resource restructuring of DOEE and how to make it more racially diverse. However, it is glaring to me that this plan does not include CONCRETE steps and actions the agency plans to take to correct injustice in this city. Look at the Ready2Play plan from DPR - that is a plan that has concrete steps and actions that will be taken. This seems to be an internal re-org plan. The question I have after reading this is: What is the DOEE actually going to *DO* about racial inequality in this city? How are you going to go out and help our citizens?

This seems to be the most critical piece of your plan and yet there is only 1 KPI - actions completed. It seems surprising there is only one possible performance measure. These findings and actions should be prioritized, measured by how many resources were dedicated to them, and how many were started. There are so many other measures I can think of, it seems disenchanting that DOEE plans to only look at one measure. This needs to be the biggest focus - action.

DOEE staff should also answer in performance reviews how they have promoted racial justice to further encourage staff to make sure they action what they learn.

Hi. Your plan cites high energy costs for certain wards, since they have lower average income than others. But your office itself, in pursuit of net zero warming emissions, is creating the high costs with its mandates for expensive, unreliable wind and solar and regulations against cheap, reliable fossil fuels.  

As I wrote in the Fall 2021 Palisades Conduit (link) the DC Public Service Commission identified $65 million in annual net zero costs in 2020. Then the mandate was only for 20 percent carbon dioxide offsets from wind and solar firms, but it is set to rise. to 100 percent by 2032.  

Net zero, as Steve Koonin says so eloquently in this debate video, is 
* scientifically unjustified (extreme weather events that could harm people or the economy are no more prevalent in the 70 years since 1950, when industrial emissions began to contribute to warming, than in the 70 years before that, when the rate of warming, all natural, was the same),

* immoral (because higher energy costs increase mortality directly by forcing poorer people to cut back on heating and cooling, and indirectly by hampering economic growth), 

* and a techno-economic fantasy. 

Check it out at link

With all best wishes and hopes for an end to the climate religion madness! Caleb S. Rossiter

Re Data and Benchmarking: What is your approach to benchmarking particularly as it relates to the goal of creating 'environments where District residents can thrive"? What are the measure of thriving you intend to use rather than simply measuring the absence of risk or adversity? In short, how will we measure in a way that continues to provide accountability to provide healthy spaces for District residents rather than merely mitigation of risk?

Example measures include not just reductions in asthma (mold exposure and particulate air pollutants) but also increase in attendance (school) and overall physical fitness for school children.

For community level measures-- we can look at exposure to pollutants AND increase in viable green spaces that can contribute to reduction of heat islands (trees per sq mile).

In short, benchmarking needs to give us a framing for success that goes beyond measuring what we want to remove. Equity requires that we measure the presence of investments and resources in place and by race that contribute to wellbeing.

What metrics are being used to track progress toward equity over time? How will these metrics be used to track both racial and place-based equity as it varies across the District?

How is DOEE prioritizing underserved communities? This plan mentions the fact that there are marginalized and communities of color that are underserved with many disparities. It also explains, in DOEE’s vision and mission, to improve the quality of life of District residents particularly in these communities. Where is the data in the document that shows the work being done? I’m aware of some of the partnerships and work in collaboration with CBOs and the community, but where does it indicate what and where the work was done? Examples of protecting and restoring the environment, the racial equity vision, where is the roadmap, (this was mentioned in this doc) and on how you will get there? Conserving natural resources - How is this being done and have there been any new natural resources found from any excavation for new development? What is the protocol if any new natural resources were/are found? How is mitigation being done in high pollution communities? What are the mitigating timelines and how can we find them if any have been made? Where are the examples of how the public was educated to secure a sustainable future in this document? What does the agency’s vision for change has to do with DOEE’s mission? How does these two, vision for change and the mission compliment each other and prioritize underserved communities and residents? How is this measured? How would we know and where would equity be intentionally integrated? Is this written in plain language for everyone to understand? Which policies and systems? Who determines this, the Equity Committee? Who is part of the Equity Committee and is the community aware of this committee? Do we as residents have access to them? We do know that some policies and systems put in place are racist and was not meant to help every resident and community in the District, so knowing these facts, which was also mentioned in this document, what policy or systems have been put into place or attempted to begin to put in place, to eliminate these disparities? DOEE’s office of Enforcement and Environmental Justice (CEEJ) launched the Enforcement Dashboard to share inspection and noncompliance with the public. How long does it take a facility that has been non compliant to get on the dashboard? We have seen non compliance in many facilities without this tool. What constitutes non compliance? The map on page 8 does not clearly show the communities in the shaded area. Is this done intentionally or are we as the community or residents of these communities supposed to know if our neighborhood is in the shaded or non shaded area? A great number of employees work at DOEE and live in Ward 5. Are they actively working to mitigate the pollution and environmental issues in Ward 5 because it’s in their backyards as well as ours? Many live in MD where their concerns are not as personal. Is this shown in their work? Pages 11-14 only indicates nothing substantial that the community can clearly see where work is being done to mitigate pollution and EJ issues. We appreciate you showing us this document and opening it up for comment, but as Dir. Jackson said, “there’s more work to be done”. (I would also like to point out that “Black” as it refers to people should have a uppercase “B” as it is written in the Glossary of Terms, “BIPOC”.) What is the ANC Outreach Plan? Does that consist of putting comments on this document? Who decides the Public Engagement Team and Outreach Team? What does “engagement” looks like referring to “public and community outreach and engagement”? Testing has been done and where is this mentioned? Odor Control Plans have been submitted by Fort Myer 1&2 and NEP months ago, where would we find the work being done with them? Knowing exactly whether a DOEE employee is married or not isn't a concern to us, but these questions are! They are very important to us and if they had to be asked, then there's more work that needs to be done on all levels!!

DC Initiative feels that the goals listed in Goal 4 are very modest goals for a 3-year timeline. All of these goals could be completed within the first year of this plan, with DOEE posting jobs to diverse outlets within no more than 6 months. The initial agency workforce analysis can be completed within 6 months, and at that point, specific goals should be established to diversify the workforce.

DC Initiative feels that the listed goals are very modest for a 3-year timeline. All of these goals could be completed within the first year of this plan so that input from the community could more rapidly be factored into DOEE’s work. Additionally, within 6 months, DOEE should be able identify all grant recipients and the criteria used for these grants, with a year to revise the criteria if needed.

We applaud this effort but are concerned about DOEE's capacity to do this effectively. We urge DOEE to provide more detail about the REIA process it will build. How will it be staffed? Will REIAs be made public? Will there be opportunities for community input into REIA development, or community review of the implementation of policy and program changes based on REIA findings? These details are critical for the agency’s REIAs to have their intended impact to improve equitable outcomes.

It would be helpful to link the indicators in this section to the Citywide REAP, which will be tracking Pediatric Asthma-related ER visits. Instead of taking 3 years to develop KPIs, why not use this one as well as other performance measures included in the 9 different strategic plans listed earlier? There are likely many excellent indicators that could be used for this plan, and which are already being tracked and reported elsewhere.

It seems that each of these plans has measurable indicators, but there is no connection between these and the REAP goals or measurable indicators. Instead of making a goal to set goals, why not aggregate the indicators in these plans and track them and their racial equity impact?

The plan that follows does not make any connection between these concerns and the goals or measurable indicators. It seems that this is a missed opportunity.

Research, Analytics, and Development Branch

Research, Analytics, and Development Branch

Somewhere we should reflect that analysis will be conducted right?

Is staff training on data sharing necessary? Should this instead be staff training on equity data usage and analysis?

All graphics seem to be low quality. I recommend ensuring only high quality images are used in the final draft

This graphic is low quality when downloaded. Would suggest using higher quality logo in the final version

Is there a plan to increase participation, especially among smaller neighborhood groups, if the initial round of engagement does not delivery enough responses?

The number of community groups who participate is one metric to be tracked, but this entire process would be better served by seeking out engagement with different types of groups- based on their priorities, size, location, communities they serve, etc- to achieve a more diverse range of voices involved in this process

Beyond training programs, what are some of the other "new business practices to reduce implicit bias in job recruiting" that can be implemented?

Is there a comprehensive list available for the public?

consider replacing “communities of color” with disfavored or disadvantaged communities

The Keep Cool DC plan is redundant (strategy 2.2 & 4.4 are essentially the same, same for 5.1 & 5.2 and others), lacks important climate resilience strategies such as ensuring all district residents have access to air conditioning during the hottest months, and unhelpfully recommends “opening windows” as a way to beat record breaking temperatures.

Do we have any info or data on how REIAs have impacted program design or implementation that we can incorporate here?

Has this plan been pushed out to the myriad racial equity organizations that exist within DC and surrounding areas? Obvious (to me) but not exhaustive initial list include: Black Lives Matter, DC Office of Racial Equity, Access Youth, Building Bridges Across the River, Critical Exposure, DC Greens, Dreaming Out Loud, Mamatoto Village, Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, Open City Advocates, PAVE, ScholarCHIPS, Washington Area Community Investment Fund. I am not suggesting to demand volunteer time from those that don't have it - rather I am asking if paid experts, some perhaps with direct lived experience, have been included to ensure their perspective and advice is heard.

How will these events be equitable? Will they occur during regular work hours? If not, in what ways will they accommodate needs for childcare or other things that compete for time/attention? Consider what advantages/disadvantages will accrue to those that participate (or don't participate).

What assurance is there that the new business practices will be more effective/better at achieving these goals?

Organizing 3-5 reoccurring opportunities seems repetitive. Organizing new event opportunities might have a better impact. If these events are already at low participation, it could impact the performance measurements. If something new is organized, there might be better results, and gives people a chance to think outside of the box.

Not just quantity, but also relevancy to the communities of interest.

Why do equity projects have to be relegated to a separate page? Why not highlight them with all other major projects along with all other avenues of media?

This appears to me to be one of the more critical components - ensuring a commitment to responding/addressing identified changes

Comparison of topics included to a benchmark or curriculum of desired topics?

What does that mean, what criteria are required to achieve and maintain this status?

How can the REAP address compensating participants in engagement? It's unclear what is and isn't possible with regard to compensation so guidance on that would be really helpful.

I think it looks like youre doing a good job on inside the agency equity, but the agency doesnt seem to be really doing much on the ground to work on specific problems of energy and environment we're dealing with that i can see, for instance working directly to stop pollution in Ward 5 and working more directly to stop the causes of climate change. i think you should work with orgs like Empower DC that are working on stopping pollution now. Work with the orgs in the Climate Commission. Why are the recycling laws not being enforced for DC businesses including restaurants? i think DOEE should be proactive in reaching out to stop pollution and you should be referring companies who abuse the environment for prosecution.

Is there work also being done internally to prepare to engage with communities who don't trust governmental agencies due to historic neglect? Attending a meeting is a great start but there are members of the community who may not be open to speaking with a government authority.

It is insufficient to simply award grants to groups. Small community groups are at a disadvantage with the current structure of DOEE grants because they are reimbursed after invoicing on deliverables. This assumes some level of existing capital, which a smaller org may not have. This can result in extreme hardship for a small org if reimbursement is delayed.