Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                                        A RESOLUTION

                                             25-728

                   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                        December 3, 2024

To declare the existence of an emergency, due to congressional review, with respect to the need to

       amend the Office of District Waterways Management Establishment Act of 2022 to make

       the process for Mayoral appointment of members of the District Waterways Advisory

       Commission consistent with that of similar commissions, to add the Department of Parks

       and Recreation as an ex-officio non-voting member of the District Waterways Advisory

       Commission, to adjust the District Waterways Advisory Commission meeting schedule, to

       allow sufficient time for engagement with stakeholders and the District Waterways

       Advisory Commission in development of the Advisory Plan, and to provide the District

       Waterways Advisory Commission with authority to determine whether the Advisory Plan

       needs to be updated and extend the update period to at least every 3 years, and to amend

       the Confirmation Act of 1978 to make a conforming amendment.

        RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

resolution may be cited as the “Office of District Waterways Management Establishment

Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”.

        Sec. 2. (a) Section 2(a) of the Office of District Waterways Management Establishment

Act of 2022, effective March 22, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-336; D.C. Official Code § 8-191.01(a))

(“Act”), created the Office of District Waterways Management (“ODWM”) with a mandate to

plan, promote, advocate for, and facilitate stakeholder cooperation for the diverse uses of and

access to the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, the Washington Channel, and adjacent property. The

Act also established a District Waterways Advisory Commission (“Commission”), composed of

various stakeholders and subject matter experts, which will advise ODWM and develop and adopt

a District Waterways Advisory Plan (“Advisory Plan”) to create a strategic vision for District

waterways and adjacent property.

        (b) ODWM plans to engage a consultant to co-facilitate meetings of the Commission and

assist with public outreach efforts and the drafting of the Advisory Plan. To do so, ODWM must

issue a request for proposals (“RFP”) that adheres to the Act, but important adjustments to the Act

are needed to increase flexibility and streamline implementation.

        (c) The Act outlines a timeframe of one year for the Commission to adopt an Advisory

Plan and requires the plan to be updated at least every 2 years. ODWM’s extensive market research

shows that 2 years is a more realistic timeframe for developing the initial Advisory Plan given the

broad scope of topics that the Advisory Plan must address and the extensive stakeholder and public

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outreach and engagement that will be necessary. A 3-year frequency for updating the plan is more

reasonable than 2 years so that ODWM can have more time to implement the plan before working

with the Commission to update it.

         (d) The Act dictates that the Commission meet at least once a month. Current and potential

ex-officio Commission members have consistently told ODWM that they prefer bi-monthly

meetings, especially as these are voluntary roles being taken on by working professionals.

Additionally, given the Commission's large size, providing for bi-monthly meetings with more

frequent engagement as needed will allow greater flexibility to coordinate schedules and thus

ensure more robust engagement with Commission members.

         (e) The Act further requires specific procedures to be followed for Council approval of

mayoral appointees, with a 90-day active approval period. However, the Commission is similar to

other bodies whose Council approval procedures involve a 45-day passive approval period. The

Commission could begin its work more quickly if the mayoral appointees could be approved under

the alternative Council approval procedures.

         (f) Emergency legislation is necessary to permit ODWM staff to issue an RFP with more

realistic parameters in a timely fashion and to allow mayoral appointees to join the Commission

more expeditiously.

        Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute

emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Office of District Waterways Management

Establishment Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a

single reading.

       Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

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