Ecology agency options weighed

The Baltimore Sun

Howard County government appears headed toward having a stronger, higher-profile environmental presence, but a group of volunteers is struggling with the question of what form such an agency should take.

Pushing ideas to improve the environment is one thing, but having the power to make them happen is another, which is why members of the Commission on the Environment and Sustainability were examining the options this week at a meeting in the George Howard Building in Ellicott City.

Should county government have a new, full-fledged Department of the Environment? Or should there be a lower-profile office directly under County Executive Ken Ulman, who created the commission in February? A third option is a single environmental coordinator -- an idea that gained little favor during the session.

The commission is scheduled to make recommendations to Ulman on a number of environmental issues in a full report by late next month.

Most environmental issues are handled by the Division of Environmental and Community Planning, a small part of the Department of Planning and Zoning, while other county employees do environment-related work in a variety of other agencies.

With potential state budget cuts looming, Ulman said he gets "a little anxious about a new department" because it could involve additional expense.

"I'm keeping an open mind," he said.

Another issue is whether the commission should be made a permanent advisory body.

"I tend to be in favor of that," Ulman said.

Among commission members, the coordinator idea was dismissed early.

"A coordinator is limited to charm and charisma," said Mark Southerland, commission co-chairman and a professional ecologist.

Much of the discussion involved the best way for a government environmental leader to deal with county agencies that have different agendas.

Lee Walker Oxenham, conservation co-chair of the local Sierra Club chapter, said the real issue is power.

"The difference between an office and a department is who's got the clout at the table," she said.

She advocated for a full-fledged department, which would bring together county public works, planning and health agency workers whose work involves environmental issues.

"If we don't do it now, I don't see this ever changing," she said. "We have a moment in time."

Joshua Feldmark, the commission's executive secretary, pointed out that some offices, such as the county budget office, for example, have plenty of power.

"Heft isn't always the best -- sometimes it's agility and strength," he said. "I don't think we could create a Department of the Environment that could out-muscle Public Works or the Department of Planning and Zoning."

Jim Caldwell, a commission member and former director of Montgomery County's environmental department, led the discussion.

"There's no perfect model," he told the members. "We're not casting something in stone. We're just getting started."

But Bert Wilson, an independent energy adviser and a commission member, had doubts.

"I can't fathom how you can concentrate everything on the environment in one department," he said. "The office model seems to stand in the middle. That model seems to me the best possible way." A full department could develop over a period of years, he said.

Caldwell added another caution to the idea of a full department.

"It lets other departments wash their hands of environmental issues," he said.

Feldmark, a political ally of Ulman who could end up running whatever environmental agency is created, said the "issue of authority, I think, is the real issue."

He added: "What we have to figure out is how to imbue this entity with the authority to get done what needs to be done."

larry.carson@baltsun.com

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