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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 10357City of Palo Alto (ID # 10357) Policy and Services Committee Staff Report Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 6/11/2019 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Council Priority: Climate/Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Summary Title: Green Purchasing Audit Update Title: Staff Recommends the Policy and Services Committee Recommend the City Council Accept the Green Purchasing Audit Status Update From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works Recommendation Staff recommends that City Council accept the attached Status Report on the City Auditor’s Green Purchasing Practices Audit Recommendations. Background In April 2017, the City Auditor’s Office issued an audit on the City’s Green Purchasing Program. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the City of Palo Alto complies with applicable green purchasing requirements in its purchases. The audit report presented one finding with a total of eight recommendations. Discussion Staff from Public Works, Administrative Services, Utilities, Information Technology,and City Manager's Office have worked together to complete or make progress on most of the Auditor’s recommendations. Details are covered in Attachment A–Green Purchasing Audit Matrix June 11, 2019 to summarize the progress made to date. Attachments: ·Attachment A: June 11 19 Green Purchasing Audit Update_final_5 29 19 STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 1 The City Manager has agreed to take the following actions in response to the audit recommendations in this report. The City Manager will report progress on implementation six months after the Council accepts the audit report, and every six months thereafter until all recommendations have been implemented. Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date Finding: The City does not always comply with applicable green purchasing requirements in purchases 1.The City Manager’s Office should clearly define the department(s) responsible for implementing green purchasing policies, determine if additional staffing and funding is needed to implement the policies, and provide the responsible department(s) with the authority to implement green purchasing ASD/CMO Concurrence: Agree Target Date: August 1, 2017 Action Plan: Staff will prepare a document identifying the responsibilities, funding, and staffing needs as suggested. In progress. June 2019 Management Update: Roles, responsibilities and staffing needs were drafted by PWD, CMO and ASD in Fall 2017. To date, it has not been possible to locate additional staff time or consultant funds to address all the Green Purchasing needs. Additionally, the Chief Procurement Officer position was also vacant for several months. Now that the position has recently been filled, Administrative Services, Public Works and the City Manager’s Office are discussing staffing options and an appropriate work plan given staff resource constraints. PWD and CMO can allot six hours combined monthly towards Green Purchasing. The new Chief Procurement Officer is exploring whether a few hours of staff time per month can be contributed to the effort after all Purchasing staff vacancies are filled. June 2018 Management Update: Roles, responsibilities and staffing needs were drafted by PWD, CMO and ASD. Funds for a 0.5 contract position have been requested as part of the FY 2019 budget and were not approved. Attachment A STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 2 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date across the City. The responsible department(s) should then: 3. Write and distribute consolidated procedures to implement green purchasing policies, including the 10 different areas in the EPP Policy and update existing policies and procedures to reflect current requirements, including recycled paper and p-card guidance. CMO/ASD/PWD Concurrence: Agree Target Date (see related Action Plan targets below): a) July 1, 2017 b) September 1, 2017 c) April 22, 2018 d) Ongoing. Action Plan: a) Short term (12-18 months): Identify funding and/or staff to implement. This could be via consultant services or Office of Sustainability staff. b) P-Card: Confirm proposed revisions to P-Card guidelines, and integrate into PCard Guidelines, training, and approval process. c) Revise Recycled Paper Policy and procedures and develop an integrated City- wide paper reduction and In progress/ Some Action Plan items completed as noted in prior update June 2019 Management Update: a) In progress. See answer to question #1 under Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date. b) Ongoing. The paper policy and two fleet procurement policies were revised. Additional policies will be revised as needed, including the Green Purchasing Policy. June 2018 Management Update: a) Staff requested a 0.5 contracted position for FY19 to help implement Green Purchasing Program which was not approved. b) Completed. Staff revised P-Card Guidelines to reflect procurement requirements relating to zero waste, pollution prevention and other environmental policies. STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 3 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date recycled-content paper procurement plan. d) Draft/implement/revise policies and procedures as needed. c) Completed. Staff have updated the Procurement of Recycled Paper and Recycled Paper Products Policy as suggested and renamed it the Paper Reduction and Procurement of Environmentally Preferable Paper Products Policy. This policy is currently under review by the CMO before it is added to the online policy manual. d) The paper policy and two fleet procurement policies were revised. 4. Educate staff on green purchasing policies and procedures through various means, which could include citywide emails, p-card and other training, department staff meetings, and new employee orientations. ASD, CMO, PWD Concurrence: Agree Target Date: Ongoing as milestones in this document are achieved. Action Plan: Ongoing as milestones in this document are achieved. In progress. June 2019 Management Update: Staff education is an ongoing need. Since the last June 2018 Green Purchasing Audit update, Zero Waste worked with IT and computer suppliers Toshiba and HP to reduce non-recyclable packaging. Zero Waste convinced Toshiba to reduce the amount of non-recyclable packaging by redesigning their computer packaging to be more paper based and worked with HP to change their packaging to be more recyclable. Zero Waste was able to get HP to commit to taking back any non-recyclable packaging material as required in the City’s purchasing Terms and Conditions. In FY2020, pending Purchasing staffing levels and the prioritization of other Green Purchasing priorities, Zero Waste will provide outreach support to ASD to reduce printing throughout the City. ASD will lead the effort with the assistance of Zero Waste. June 2018 Management Update: Some outreach has already been done, and outreach will be an ongoing task. Efforts to date include: STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 4 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date  Don’t Sprint to Print email campaign from Zero Waste group;  PCard guidelines and training have been revised to reflect prohibited purchases;  Purchasing is developing educational material in the City’s “Comearound” self-training tool which will be completed by July 1, 2018;  Provided training to IT staff on April 24, 2018) about City policy to purchase EPEAT Certified products (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Discussion about additional education and outreach beyond what has already been done will begin after FY20219 budget approval when potential contracted staff availability has been determined. STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 5 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date 5. Evaluate the quality, performance, and cost of 40 percent postconsumer fiber paper towels, monitor the janitorial contractor’s use of cleaning supplies and paper products to ensure compliance with the green purchasing contract requirements, and evaluate the feasibility of including other green products such as Green Seal certified soap and green can liners in the next janitorial contract, as appropriate. PWD/Facilities Concurrence: Agree Target Date (see related Action Plan targets below): a) April 22, 2018 (see 3c) b) Ongoing c) September 1, 2017 Action Plan: a) Include evaluation of custodial paper products under 3c. b) Continue to monitor custodial contractor’s use of Green Seal products. c) Analyze more environmentally preferable options for trashcan liners. Completed, but not all actions can currently be implemented in FY 2020. June 2019 Management Update: a) Partially completed–not all tasks can be completed at this time. The City’s custodial contractor is now using Green Seal certified toilet paper and 100% recycled content toilet seat covers throughout City facilities, and hand towels are now 20% post- consumer content. Higher content paper towels will need to be considered for the FY 2021 budget as costs for these are $23,000 greater than what is currently purchased. Upper management decided not to pursue higher post-consumer recycle content for paper towels because the cost to benefit ratio could not be justified at this time. Opportunities to pursue more competitive pricing could be considered in FY2020 factoring in other Green Purchasing priorities. b) Ongoing. Two types of hand soaps are currently used – one is Green Seal Certified and the other is Eco Logo Certified. c) Completed. This task cannot be implemented at this time. Trash can liners with 70% post-consumer recycle content were evaluated and deemed acceptable. These liners meet EPA standard for recycle content. The cost to changeover to these liners is $8,000 annually with the City’s custodial contractor. The request for additional funding for these liners was approved at the first phase of the FY 2019 budget process but retracted by upper management during the budget process because the additional funding and cost to benefit ratio was not acceptable. The change also would have required a contract change and Council approval. STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 6 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date June 2018 Management Update: 5a) In progress. City’s custodial contractor is now using Green Seal certified toilet paper and 100% recycled content toilet seat covers throughout City facilities, and hand towels are now 20% post-consumer content. Higher content paper towels will need to be considered for the FY 2020 budget as costs of higher recycled content paper towels are $23,000 higher than what is currently purchased. 5b) Ongoing. Two types of hand soaps are currently used – one is Green Seal Certified and the other is Eco Logo Certified. 5c) In progress. Trash can liners with 70% post-consumer recycle content were evaluated and deemed acceptable. These liners meet EPA standard for recycle content. The cost to changeover to these liners is $8,000 annually with the City’s custodial contractor. The request for additional funding for these liners was approved at the first phase of the FY 2019 budget process, and if approved by Council will be used as standard practice as soon as the contractor can transition them in beginning July 2018. 6. Evaluate if the new e-procurement system and proposed enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or other specialized ASD/PWD Concurrence: Agree Target Date (see related Action Plan targets below): a) December 1, 2017 b) September 1, 2018 Action Plan: a) Form City-wide stakeholder committee to recommend a) In progress. June 2019 Management Update: a) Green Purchasing ERP specifications were submitted to IT and ASD in fall 2017. Interviews with ERP candidates occurred in late January 2018. Due to the high cost of all proposals, all bids were rejected. STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 7 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date software can help with tracking and reporting green purchases. As part of the planned transition of the Annual Performance Report to the City Manager’s Office, determine what green purchasing performance measures to track and report on, such as the number and percentage of green products purchased and their environmental benefits. The Sustainable Procurement Playbook for Cities provides green purchasing performance measures for ERP system to track number and percentage of green products purchased. If ERP system cannot achieve this, consider other options. b) Identify best indicators to track environmental performance for select contracts and services (e.g., less GHG, waste reduction). b) Not started. The City is considering alternatives to upgrade the existing SAP ERP system (https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/69985). b) This task has not been started due to insufficient staffing, competing priorities, and the ERP project being on hold. It is time- intensive to create, educate, monitor and report environmental impact indicators, and so this task would need to be prioritized while factoring in other Green Purchasing and department responsibilities. STATUS OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES – ISSUED 4/13/17 June 11, 2019 Update Page 8 Recommendation Responsible Department(s) Original Target Date and Response Status Implementation Update and Expected Completion Date potential criteria for what to track. 7. To the extent possible, require vendors to provide data on the amounts of green products and services that the City purchases from them annually. ASD/PWD Concurrence: Agree. Target Date (see related Action Plan targets below): a) September 1, 2017 b) Ongoing Action Plan: a) Identify selected services and goods requiring vendor data and specify data needed. b) Monitor and enforce data collection. Not started for 7a and 7b. June 2019 Management Update: a and b) Given the current staffing levels, ERP resource constraints discussed above and competing priorities, this action has not been pursued.