[Durham INC] Fw: paper reduction

Sat Jul 26 16:41:16 EDT 2014

Though  Durham has made huge inroads into the reduction of paper waste there remains a few areas whereby costly mailers could  be eliminated . I am passing along some correspondences with the Durham Water Quality Dept and 
Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Serviceregarding a request to follow up on paper reduction of the CCR Water Quality Report .

Please read to the bottom .

For your reference :
Paper Reduction Act of 2010 - You can find a lot of information here related to the act:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_infocoll, including information about improving implementation of the paperwork reduction act.  Here is a frequently asked questions document that may help:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/frequently-asked-questions-related-to-common-forms.pdf.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: HILLARY HONIG 
To: Eckert, Rachel 
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2014 4:26 PM
Subject: Re: paper reduction

Rachel -
Thanks for making an effort to reach Mr. A. Nelson Manager of Durham Water Quality Dept .  I hope you will  continue trying to reach him. 
Your insight of the Paper Reduction Act and stipulations are invaluable in aiding Mr Nelson in understanding various  preferable ,more affordable and  environmental  alternatives  in the distribution of the CCR  Water Report in Durham . 
These alternatives are far better  to the manner in which the CCR is currantly being distributed  and Mr Nelson has stated that 
though he would like to see a more cost effective and environmental approach to distribution ,
he is unaware of any alternatives .
Please stay in touch ,keep me posted . 
With appreciation ,
Hillary Honig Ensmnger
919-599-3503
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Eckert, Rachel 
  To: HILLARY HONIG 
  Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 1:45 PM
  Subject: RE: paper reduction

  Thank you for your response Hillary. I have already reached out to him to share the information, but got his voice mail so I'm just awaiting his return call.

  I'm happy to share what I found with him, and make the suggestions I've included in the message to you below.  Unfortunately beyond that, I cannot require local governments to change their current method of distributing the report.  Hopefully the opportunity to save resources and money will encourage the change.  Certainly expressed interest from citizens would be another driver.

  Best of luck,

  Rachel Eckert

  NC DENR

  Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service

  1639 Mail Service Center

  Raleigh, NC  27699-1639

  919-707-8132

  www.recyclenc.org

  rachel.eckert at ncdenr.gov

  *E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

  From: HILLARY HONIG [mailto:hbeans at frontier.com] 
  Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 1:40 PM
  To: Eckert, Rachel
  Subject: Re: paper reduction
  Importance: High

  Rachael -

  Thank You for the  information .

  Now that it  is confirmed the  responsibility  of distribution of  the CCR, Consumer Confidence Report ,is up to the local governments and not the State , I have come full circle .

  Yesterday I contacted the Durham Water Quality Mgt Dept to request that Durham consider implementing a more enviornmental approach to distributing  the EPA required CCR report annually . 

  I proposed the following : 

  1. To provide citizens with the choice to opt out of recieving a hard copy of the CCR annually by electing to recieve an electronic version  in the future .

  2.To include the CCR either as an inser in the Water Bill or as a part of the Quarterly Newsleter "Citizens Concerns " which is included in the Water bill already .

  3. To consider using a less expensive mailer for the CCR ... no need for gloss or high end paper stock . We are trying to reduce costs .

   Cutting back  is an easy fix since the mailer ,layout and printing is sizable . 

  Alvert Nelson ,the director of Durham's CCR ,for the City ,stated the mailer was being distributed based on State Regulations and   was unaware of other options that could reduce paper waste and tax payer money . 

  It would be appreciated if you would contact Mr. Nelson  directly and explain what it is that you found out regarding  possible options he might persue .

  Since this is a consumer/ environnmental concern  it  would be more effective if you communicated  with Mr. Nelson  directly .Particularly since your position with the State as " 

  Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service" is who he made reference as a reliable source for the concern and with whom he lis looking to communicate .

   I will contact him as well .

   His contact information is : 

  albert.nelson at durhamnc.gov

  919-560-4381    35248

  Thank you for assisting in reducing waste in NC . 

  Sincerely ,

  Hillary Honig Ensminger

    ----- Original Message ----- 

    From: Eckert, Rachel 

    To: hbeans at frontier.com 

    Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 11:42 AM

    Subject: RE: paper reduction

    Hillary, I spoke with the Raleigh Regional Office (http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/guest/regional-offices), the state office that requires that the water quality report be sent out to citizens.  As we suspected, the decision about how to send the report to citizens is made by the local governments and is not mandated by the state.  This makes sense since the resources across the state vary, allowing for them to use the most effective option with the resources they already have on hand.  Most local governments are likely still sending out the report as a paper doc, and many include it in their water bill as you suggested.  There are some local govs, particularly those that allow for the option to receive your water bill electronically, such as Aqua customers (like Raleigh, for example), that send it out electronically with an option to get a paper doc upon request.

    With these further details uncovered, it is clear the pressure will need to be applied at the local level to encourage Durham to distribute the water quality report more efficiently.  A first step could perhaps be to include the report in a mailing that is already taking place, such as the monthly water bill.  If electronic billing is already available, perhaps electronic report emailing will be an easy and obvious option.  I hope the Paperwork Reduction Act will be a useful tool to encourage the change.

    Hillary I hope these details give you all the information you need to encourage change within the city/county.  If I can assist you further please let me know.

    Thank you again for your efforts.

    Rachel Eckert

    NC DENR

    Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service

    1639 Mail Service Center

    Raleigh, NC  27699-1639

    919-707-8132

    www.recyclenc.org

    rachel.eckert at ncdenr.gov

    *E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

    From: Eckert, Rachel 
    Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 10:44 AM
    To: 'hbeans at frontier.com'
    Subject: paper reduction

    Paper Reduction Act of 2010 - You can find a lot of information here related to the act:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_infocoll, including information about improving implementation of the paperwork reduction act.  Here is a frequently asked questions document that may help:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/frequently-asked-questions-related-to-common-forms.pdf.

    I have left messages for two people in Durham and one at the state office to better understand the report.  I'm hoping I can talk to someone at the state level who can share examples of other communities that distribute the information electronically if requested. 

    I will provide you more details as soon as I hear back from the other contacts.

    Thank you for your interest in waste reduction.

    Rachel Eckert

    NC DENR

    Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service

    1639 Mail Service Center

    Raleigh, NC  27699-1639

    919-707-8132

    www.recyclenc.org

    rachel.eckert at ncdenr.gov

    *E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

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