Drafter
Clerk 04/28/2011
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AN ORDINANCE relating to environmentally preferable computer and electronics recycling, amending Ordinance 12045, Section 10, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.100 and Ordinance 9240, Section 18, as amended, and K.C.C. 10.16.180, adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 4.56 and adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 10.16.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Computer systems and monitors contain toxic metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and bromated flame retardants. Heavy metals can cause damage to humans and animals at very low concentrations and tend to accumulate in the food chain.
2. Recycling electronic equipment conserves resources and keeps toxic materials out of the landfill. Glass, plastic and metals can be recycled and used again in other products. Many of the heavy metals can also be recycled and safely reused, which can reduce the environmental impacts and worker safety risks of mining for virgin metals.
3. Currently there are no local or federal regulations that prohibit the export to developing nations of toxic materials and wastes generated from unwanted electronic equipment such as computers, televisions and printers.
4. Many developing nations have no environmental or worker safety protections and are not prepared to safely disassemble, process and recycle or dispose of the hazardous elements contained in electronic equipment.
5. King County has a policy interest in recycling electronic equipment in compliance with standards that will prevent the trade of toxic wastes, ensure national self-sufficiency in waste management through clean production, reduce toxic materials use and support the principles of global environmental justice. Currently, one such set of principles has been adopted by a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, the Basel Action Network. These principles are known as the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment. Other comparable standards may be developed and issued by other organizations and could be used to implement the policy interest stated in this subsection.
6. Computers, monitors, televisions and cell phones are prohibited from disposal in King County.
7. King County agencies recycled more than ninety thousand pounds of computer and electronic equipment in 2010. The material was recycled by a contractor that meets the principles of the Basel Action Network e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment.
8. The benefits of meeting these principles include safe on-site handling of hazardous materials; workplace toxins monitoring; and accountability for the entire downstream recycling chain for the toxic materials.
9. King County departments are not currently prohibited from recycling computers and electronic equipment with contractors that do not meet these principles.
10. Current requirements for public auction of used King County equipment do not specifically require that electronic equipment must be functioning and in good working order to be auctioned, creating the potential for nonworking equipment to be disposed of or recycled improperly.
11. Ensuring environmentally responsible recycling of electronic equipment is consistent with the King County Strategic Plan, namely: the objectives to monitor and improve environmental quality and reduce exposure to hazardous materials; promoting desirable environmental practices by individuals and businesses; and minimizing the county's operational environmental footprint.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
NEW SECTION. SECTION 1. There is hereby added to K.C.C. chapter 4.56 a new section to read as follows:
In any sale by the county of electronic equipment, including, but not limited to, monitors, televisions, central processing units, circuit boards, power supplies, laptop computers, peripherals, video cassette recorders, digital video discs, cables, keyboards, mice, fax machines, printers, cell phones, telephones and stereos, the equipment shall be functioning and in good working order.
NEW SECTION. SECTION 2. There is hereby added to K.C.C. chapter 10.16 a new section to read as follows:
A. Departments shall use recyclers that meet the Basel Action Network e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment or comparable standard for all their nonworking computer and electronic equipment. These standards must include, but are not limited to:
1. Demonstrating that no hazardous e-waste is exported to a country that is not a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for refurbishment or recycling;
2. No prison or child labor are used in the recycling process;
3. Safe on-site handling of hazardous e-waste and monitoring of workplace toxins; accountability for the entirety of toxic materials throughout the downstream recycling chain; and
4. Provision of site-closure plans for those sites associated with recycling processes where potentially hazardous processing technologies have been used.
B. For the purposes of this section, computers and electronic equipment includes, but is not limited to, monitors, televisions, central processing units, circuit boards, power supplies, laptop computers, peripherals, video cassette recorders, digital video discs, cables, keyboards, mice, fax machines, printers, cell phones, telephones and stereos.
C. The procurement and contract services section of the department of executive services will ensure that an electronics recycling contract is available for all King County agencies to use. In preparing such an electronics recycling contract, the procurement and contract services section shall assure that standards other than the e-Stewards standards used by recyclers have been determined by the solid waste division of the department of natural resources and parks to be comparable.
SECTION 3. Ordinance 12045, Section 10, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.100 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
A. All sales of real and personal property shall be made to the highest responsible bidder at public auction or by sealed bid except when:
1. County property is sold to a governmental agency;
2. The county executive has determined an emergency to exist; or the county council, by ordinance, has determined that unique circumstances make a negotiated direct sale in the best interests of the public;
3. County real property is traded for real property of similar value, or when county personal property is traded for personal property of similar value;
4. The facilities management division has determined that the county will receive a greater return on real property when it is listed and sold through a residential or commercial real estate listing service;
5. County personal property is traded in on the purchase of another article;
6. Property has been obtained by the county through the proceeds of grants or other special purpose funding from the federal or state government, wherein a specific public purpose or purposes are set forth as a condition of use for the property, that purpose or purposes to be limited to the provision of social and health services or social and health service facilities as defined in chapter 43.83D RCW, and it is deemed to be in the best interest of the county, in each instance, upon recommendation by the county executive and approval by the county council, that in order to fulfill the condition of use, the county may sell or otherwise convey the property in some other manner consistent with the condition of use((; provided that in the event such property is conveyed pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, the conveyee or conveyees shall be limited)); however, the county may only convey the property to private, nonprofit corporations duly organized according to the laws of the state of Washington, which nonprofit corporations are exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c) as amended, and which nonprofit corporations are organized for the purpose of operating social and health service facilities as defined by chapter 43.83D RCW;
7. The county property is sold for on-site development of affordable housing which provides a public benefit, provided that the developer has been selected through a request for proposals;
8. It is deemed to be in the public interest to restrict the use of the project for provision of social or health services or such other public purposes as the county deems appropriate;
9. The facilities management division for real property and the fleet administration division for personal property, in consultation with the county executive and the county council, may, in the best interests of the county, donate or negotiate the sale of either county surplus personal property or real property, or both, with bona fide nonprofit organizations wherein the nonprofit organizations provide services to the poor and infirm or with other governmental agencies with whom reciprocal agreements exist. Such transactions ((will)) shall be exempt from the requirements of fair market value, appraisal, and public notice. Where a department has identified personal property that is appropriate for surplusing to nonprofit organizations, the department shall utilize the fleet administration division to manage the surplusing process, and fleet administration shall ensure that the personal property is in good working order, that county data and inventory tags are removed and that consistent records of donations and sales are retained. The facilities management division or fleet administration division, as applicable, also may, in the best interest of the county, procure services to support King County in lieu of payment with nonprofit organizations who provide services ((which)) that will benefit the public. Such transactions are based upon the recommendation of the facilities management division or fleet administration division, as applicable, and the department having custodianship of the property. The facilities management division or fleet administration division, as applicable, shall maintain a file of appropriate correspondence or such information which leads to a recommendation by the division to the county executive and the county council to undertake such transactions, and such information shall be available for public inspection at the facilities management division or fleet administration division, as applicable. The facilities management division or fleet administration division, as applicable, may also seek reimbursement from the benefiting organization for the administrative costs of processing the surplus property;
10. The county property is a retired passenger van being made available in accordance with subsection D. of this section; or
11. The county property is located in a historic preservation district within the Urban Growth Area and is sold to a nonprofit corporation or governmental entity for one-site mixed use development consistent with historic preservation requirements, which includes affordable housing and which may also include market rate housing, retail or other uses, and which is selected after a competitive request for proposal process.
B. The county may, if it deems such action to be for the best public interest, reject any and all bids, either written or oral, and withdraw the property from sale. The county may then renegotiate the sale of withdrawn property, providing the negotiated price is higher than the highest rejected bid.
C. In any conveyance of real property that requires construction of affordable housing in development of the property, the executive shall include covenants so that:
1. At least with respect to that construction, the prevailing rate of wage, as defined in RCW 39.12.010, ((will)) shall be required to be paid to all worker classifications for which the state Department of Labor and Industries has established a prevailing rate of wage; and
2. At least with respect to that construction, state-certified apprentices for construction ((will)) shall be required to be used across the trades, including women, at-risk youth or people of color, with a fifteen percent apprentice utilization goal.
D. Whenever the procedures of a grant agency having an interest in real or personal property requires disposition in a manner different from the procedures set forth in this chapter, the property shall be disposed of in accordance with the procedures required by this chapter unless the grant agency specifically requires otherwise.
E. Each year, the transit division shall make available retired passenger vans for exclusive use by nonprofit organizations or local governments that are able to address the mobility needs of low-income, elderly or young people or people with disabilities. Each agency selected to receive a van must enter into an agreement with King County that provides that the agency will accept the van "as is" without guarantee or warranty expressed or implied and shall transfer title as prescribed by law before use. The council shall allocate the vans by motion to nonprofit organizations or local governments based upon the following criteria:
1. Demonstrated capacity to support ongoing van operation, including assured funding for licensing, insuring, fueling and maintaining the van;
2. Ability to provide qualified and trained drivers;
3. Specific plans for use of the van to transport low-income, elderly or young people or people with disabilities, and assurance that the use shall be available to those persons without regard to affiliation with any particular organization;
4. Geographic distribution of the van allocations in order to address the mobility needs of low-income, elderly or young people or people with disabilities countywide; and
5. Ability to support county's public transportation function by reducing single occupancy vehicle trips, pollution and traffic congestion; supplementing services provided by the county's paratransit system and increasing the mobility for the transit-dependent for whom regular transit might not always be a convenient option.
SECTION 4. Ordinance 9240, Section 18, as amended, and K.C.C. 10.16.180 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
The procurement and contract services section is responsible for:
A. Assigning appropriate personnel to fulfill the requirements of this policy;
B. Preparing or revising bid documents and contract language where necessary to implement this chapter;
C. Researching opportunities for procurement of recycled and other environmentally preferable products and communicating these to appropriate county departments for evaluation and purchase;
D. Collecting data on purchases by departments of recycled and other environmentally preferable products; and
E. Preparing and submitting a report to the solid waste division each year by March 31, describing the progress of departments in implementation of the environmental purchasing policy, including the following elements:
1. Quantities, costs and types of recycled and other environmentally preferable products purchased, and quantities of computers and electronics recycled;
2. A summary of savings achieved through the purchase of recycled and other environmentally preferable products;
3. A summary of program promotional efforts; and
4. Recommendations for changes in procurement policies.