Civic Roam

Powered by 🌱Roam Garden

MMR - FY20 - Department of Environmental Protection

  • Page Type:: Document Section
  • Parent Document:: Mayor's Management Report - Fiscal Year 2020
  • Content::
    • Roam Embed::
    • Obsidian Embed::
    • Raw Text::
      • DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
      • PROTECTION Vincent Sapienza, Commissioner
      • DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | Page 255
      • WHAT WE DO
      • The Department of Environmental
      • Protection (DEP) protects public
      • health and the environment by
      • supplying clean drinking water,
      • collecting, and treating wastewater,
      • and reducing air, noise and
      • hazardous materials pollution. The
      • Department manages the City’s
      • water supply, which provides more
      • than one billion gallons of high
      • quality drinking water daily to more
      • than half the population of New
      • York State, It builds and maintains
      • the City’s water distribution network,
      • fire hydrants, storm and sanitary
      • sewage collection systems and
      • Bluebelt and green infrastructure
      • systems, and manages 14 in-City
      • water resource recovery facilities
      • as well as seven water resource
      • recovery facilities in the upstate
      • watershed. DEP also implements
      • federal Clean Water Act rules and
      • regulations, handles hazardous
      • materials emergencies and toxic
      • site remediation, oversees asbestos
      • monitoring and removal, enforces
      • the City’s air and noise codes, bills
      • and collects on approximately
      • 836,000 water and sewer accounts
      • and manages citywide water
      • conservation programs.
      • FOCUS ON EQUITY
      • The Department of Environmental Protection has the critical mission to enrich the
      • environment and protect public health for all New Yorkers by providing high quality
      • drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise,
      • and hazardous materials pollution. In July, 2015 DEP announced a new series of
      • programs to provide additional assistance to its most vulnerable customers. The City
      • froze the minimum charge, preventing any increase in water and sewer charges for
      • many single-family homeowners and undertook a major expansion of the Home
      • Water Assistance Program (HWAP), a billing program that provides a credit to lowincome homeowners who qualify for the federal Home Energy Assistance Program.
      • In 2016, the Department undertook a further expansion of the HWAP credit to
      • include additional low-income senior and disabled homeowners who receive a New
      • York City Department of Finance property tax exemption. Then, in Fiscal 2018, DEP
      • implemented the Multifamily Water Assistance Program (MWAP), which provides a
      • bill credit to multifamily buildings that conserve water and enter into an agreement
      • to keep rents affordable. In Fiscal Year 2020, DEP continued both the freeze of
      • the minimum charge and the income-tested HWAP credit. In addition, the system
      • has for many years offered a bill amnesty program, in which high water charges
      • that are attributable to leaks that are fixed receive a partial reduction in charges.
      • The Department’s two major bill credit programs together provide assistance to
      • almost 90,000 households each year, covering approximately 237,000 New Yorkers,
      • including both renters and owner-occupants.
      • OUR SERVICES AND GOALS
      • SERVICE 1 Ensure the sufficiency, quality and security of the City’s
      • drinking water supply.
      • Goal 1a Comply with all federal and State drinking water quality standards.
      • Goal 1b Assure the integrity of the drinking water supply and distribution
      • systems.
      • SERVICE 2 Maintain the City’s water delivery and sewer collection
      • systems.
      • Goal 2a Resolve emergencies and perform preventive maintenance and
      • required repairs to the water distribution and wastewater collection
      • systems in a timely manner.
      • SERVICE 3 Treat wastewater and sewage to protect water quality in
      • the receiving waters surrounding the City.
      • Goal 3a Maintain high levels of compliance with federal and State treatment
      • standards for wastewater and sewage entering receiving waters.
      • SERVICE 4 Bill and collect revenue for water and sewer usage.
      • Goal 4a Ensure that customer billing is accurate, transparent and fair.
      • Goal 4b Meet revenue targets established by the NYC Water Board.
      • SERVICE 5 Enforce City laws relating to air pollution, noise pollution
      • and hazardous materials.
      • Goal 5a Investigate complaints in a timely manner.
      • Page 256 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
      • HOW WE PERFORMED IN FISCAL 2020
      • SERVICE 1 Ensure the sufficiency, quality and security of the City’s drinking water supply.
      • Goal 1a Comply with all federal and State drinking water quality standards.
      • By regularly collecting water samples at nearly 1,000 water quality sampling stations throughout the City and conducting
      • analyses for a broad spectrum of microbiological, chemical and physical measures of quality, the Department ensures that
      • all federal and State standards for drinking water, including those for coliform bacteria, are consistently met. In Fiscal 2020,
      • DEP collected 36,300 samples from the City’s distribution system and performed approximately 456,500 analyses, meeting
      • all state and federal monitoring requirements. Additionally, approximately 262,500 analyses were performed on 15,000
      • samples, and 2 million robotic monitoring measurements were recorded from the upstate water supply watershed. The
      • Department continues to diligently optimize treatment and New York City’s water continues to meet all applicable standards.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Samples testing positive for coliform bacteria (%) 0.47% 0.31% 0.36% 0.25% 0.14% * * Down Down
      • « In-City samples meeting water quality standards for coliform
      • bacteria (%) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Neutral Up
      • Acres of land solicited in watershed area 45,569 34,475 20,613 44,236 8,848 * * Down *
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • Goal 1b Assure the integrity of the drinking water supply and distribution systems.
      • While overall enforcement activity has been declining for several years as there has been better compliance with the
      • Department’s rules, the further decline during the reporting period was probably fueled by a decrease in visitors due to
      • the COVID-19 pandemic.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Water supply - Critical equipment out of service (%) 1.0% 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% 0.4% * * Down Down
      • « Facility security checks 293,199 286,589 270,831 312,500 308,235 275,000 275,000 Neutral Up
      • Overall enforcement activity 1,658 1,893 1,377 1,328 1,159 * * Down *
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • SERVICE 2 Maintain the City’s water delivery and sewer collection systems.
      • Goal 2a Resolve emergencies and perform preventive maintenance and required repairs to the water distribution
      • and wastewater collection systems in a timely manner.
      • By proactively coordinating inspections with the Department of
      • Transportation, the Department was able to reduce the number of street
      • cave in complaints received by 18 percent and reduce the time to make
      • these conditions safe to 1.2 days, a 36 percent improvement over the
      • performance in the prior period. Seven additional staff/supervisors were
      • hired in FY18 to coordinate with the Department of Transportation to
      • proactively investigate and discover infrastructure defects earlier, allowing
      • repairs to be made before a street failure or collapse occurs.
      • The Department’s focus on a more frequent inspection cycle as well as
      • the significant increase in catch basin cleanings during the last three years
      • helped to reduce the number of complaints received related to clogged
      • catch basins by 38 percent. Staff have also focused on reducing the
      • repairs backlog, which has also contributed to the reduction in complaints
      • received.
      • 0
      • 200
      • 400
      • 600
      • FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20
      • Water Main Breaks
      • 521
      • 459
      • 397
      • 428
      • 371
      • DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | Page 257
      • New York City experienced the fewest water main breaks in any year on record during the reporting period with 371 breaks.
      • This represents a 19 percent reduction from the previous period and a 40 percent drop from Fiscal 2000, when there were
      • 621 reported breaks. While fluctuations in the number of water main breaks are expected year to year due to weather and
      • other factors, the Department makes efforts to reduce the potential for water main breaks through pressure management,
      • programmatic pressure regulator maintenance, utilization of predictive modeling, as well as prioritizing replacement of
      • mains with the highest history of breakage.
      • The catch basin inspection target was modified from 100% to 50% in Fiscal 2020. Historically, the Department had been
      • inspecting catch basins once every three years. Local Law 48 of 2015 mandated the annual inspection of all DEP catch
      • basins for three years beginning with Fiscal 2017. This law sunset at the end of Fiscal 2019 and the Department has now
      • right-sized the inspection frequency to once every two years.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • sewer backup complaints received 10,469 12,133 11,303 11,965 10,768 * * Neutral *
      • sewer backup complaints resolved - Confirmed (on City infrastructure) 2,503 2,649 2,389 2,177 2,051 * * Down Down
      • – Unconfirmed (not on City infrastructure or unfounded) 7,960 9,489 8,904 9,796 8,707 * * Neutral *
      • « sewer backup resolution time (hours) 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.1 7.0 7.0 Down Down
      • Street segments with confirmed sewer backup in the last 12
      • months (% of total segments) 1.1% 1.2% 1.0% 0.9% 0.9% * * Down Down
      • « Street segments with recurring confirmed sewer backups in
      • the last 12 months (% of total segments) 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.6% 0.6% Down Down
      • Street cave-in complaints received 4,174 3,847 3,769 3,769 3,103 * * Down Down
      • Average time to respond to street cave-in complaints and make
      • safe (days) 4.6 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.2 * * Down Down
      • Water main breaks 397 428 521 459 371 * * Neutral Down
      • Water main breaks per 100 miles of main in the last 12 months 5.7 6.1 7.4 6.6 5.3 * * Neutral Down
      • « Average time to restore water to customers after confirming
      • breaks (hours) 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.9 6.0 6.0 Up Down
      • « Broken and inoperative hydrants (%) 0.52% 0.54% 0.40% 0.46% 0.39% 1.00% 1.00% Down Down
      • « Average time to repair or replace high-priority broken or inoperative hydrants (days) 2.9 2.5 2.9 2.5 2.3 5.0 5.0 Down Down
      • Catch basin complaints received 8,020 8,942 7,673 10,662 6,613 * * Neutral Down
      • « Catch basin backup resolution time (days) 4.0 5.0 6.9 7.8 7.8 9.0 9.0 Up Down
      • Catch basins surveyed/inspected (%) 31.7% 98.3% 99.3% 103.4% 53.1% 50.0% 50.0% Up *
      • Catch basins cleaned 30,778 52,057 39,098 49,005 40,631 * * Up *
      • « Backlog of catch basin repairs (% of system) 0.7% 1.8% 3.8% 4.4% 2.8% 1.0% 1.0% Up Down
      • Leak complaints received 3,642 3,673 4,367 3,791 3,212 * * Neutral *
      • « Leak resolution time (days) (City infrastructure only) 10.2 10.0 10.2 8.4 9.6 12.0 12.0 Down Down
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • Page 258 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
      • SERVICE 3 Treat wastewater and sewage to protect water quality in the receiving waters surrounding
      • the City.
      • Goal 3a Maintain high levels of compliance with federal and State treatment standards for wastewater and
      • sewage entering receiving waters.
      • In order to better identify maintenance and replacement cycles and increase equipment reliability on wastewater resource
      • recovery equipment, the Department utilizes predictive maintenance methods, such as measuring mechanical wear on
      • equipment parts and using thermographic cameras to examine electrical systems. In Fiscal 2020, the percent of critical
      • equipment out-of-service (% below the minimum) remained well below the target of five percent at 1.6 percent.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • « Water resource recovery facility (WRRF) effluent meeting State
      • Pollutant Discharge Elimination Standards (%) 99.5% 99.8% 99.7% 99.6% 99.9% 100.0% 100.0% Neutral Up
      • Harbor survey stations meeting applicable waterbody standards
      • for dissolved oxygen (%) 90% 91% 92% 90% 89% 89% 89% Neutral Up
      • WRRFs - Critical equipment out-of-service (% below minimum) 2.1% 1.8% 1.5% 1.0% 1.6% 5.0% 5.0% Down Down
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • SERVICE 4 Bill and collect revenue for water and sewer usage.
      • Goal 4a Ensure that customer billing is accurate, transparent and fair.
      • Automated meter reading technology allowed the Department to produce accurate billing based upon actual usage,
      • reducing the proportion of estimated bills issued to just 2.4 percent.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • « Estimated bills (%) 3.0% 2.8% 3.0% 2.8% 2.4% 4.0% 4.0% Down Down
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • Goal 4b Meet revenue targets established by the NYC Water Board.
      • Effective collection tools and accurate billing based upon actual usage allowed the Department to collect $3.8 billion in
      • revenue during the reporting period, which was just 0.6% below the target established by the NYC Water Board despite
      • the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Total revenue collected ($000,000) $3,852.6 $3,852.0 $3,602.3 $3,824.8 $3,800.0 $3,816.1 $3,320.7 Neutral Up
      • « Total revenue as percent of target (%) 104.5% 104.3% 99.8% 101.4% 99.6% 100.0% 100.0% Neutral Up
      • Accounts receivable - Total balance ($000,000) $1,666 $1,633 $1,709 $1,741 $1,810 * * Neutral Down
      • Billed amount collected in 30 days (%) 63.1% 60.8% 60.5% 62.0% 61.1% * * Neutral Up
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | Page 259
      • SERVICE 5 Enforce City laws relating to air pollution, noise pollution and hazardous materials.
      • Goal 5a Investigate complaints in a timely manner.
      • The average time it took the Department to close air, noise and asbestos
      • complaints declined by 27, 23 and 28 percent respectively during the
      • reporting period due to the expanded use of electronic inspection and
      • reporting software. At the same time, the Department continued to meet
      • and beat its targets for responding to these complaints. The number of
      • complaints received declined during the reporting period largely due to the
      • closure of construction activities and many commercial businesses due to the
      • COVID-19 pandemic.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Air complaints received 9,858 8,807 8,276 8,295 7,789 * * Down *
      • Air complaints responded to within seven days (%) 95% 96% 97% 99% 100% 88% 88% Neutral Up
      • « Average days to close air quality complaints 4.0 2.5 4.2 3.9 2.9 7.0 7.0 Neutral Down
      • Noise complaints received 61,784 58,892 61,342 61,967 46,956 * * Down *
      • « Average days to close noise complaints 5.6 4.3 4.8 4.1 3.2 7.0 7.0 Down Down
      • Noise complaints not requiring access to premises responded to
      • within seven days (%) 97% 98% 99% 99% 100% 88% 88% Neutral Up
      • Asbestos complaints received 1,855 1,425 1,338 1,902 1,019 * * Down *
      • « Average days to close asbestos complaints 0.34 0.34 0.74 0.91 0.65 1.00 1.00 Up Down
      • Asbestos complaints responded to within three hours (%) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Neutral Up
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • AGENCY-WIDE MANAGEMENT
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Total violations issued 14,753 16,149 12,851 21,394 19,839 * * Up *
      • Violations admitted to or upheld at the Environmental Control
      • Board (%) 93.8% 92.8% 91.5% 90.0% 89.0% * * Neutral Up
      • Collisions involving City vehicles 380 413 398 427 241 * * Down Down
      • Workplace injuries reported 352 359 238 158 40 * * Down Down
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • 0
      • 13000
      • 26000
      • 39000
      • 52000
      • 65000
      • Noise Complaints Received
      • FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20 0.0
      • 4.0
      • 8.0
      • 12.0
      • 16.0
      • 20.0
      • Average Days to Close
      • FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20
      • Noise Complaints Received and
      • Average Days to Close
      • 61,784 61,342 61,967 58,892
      • 4.8 4.1
      • 5.6
      • 4.3
      • 46,956
      • 3.2
      • Page 260 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
      • AGENCY CUSTOMER SERVICE
      • Performance Indicators Actual Target Trend
      • Customer Experience FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • E-mails responded to in 14 days (%) 93% 100% 100% 100% 100% 95% 95% Neutral Up
      • Letters responded to in 14 days (%) 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 95% 95% Neutral Up
      • Calls answered in 30 seconds (%) 73% 79% 72% 68% 84% 76% 76% Neutral Up
      • Average customer in-person wait time (minutes) 5 4 4 4 NA 5 5 NA Down
      • Completed customer requests for interpretation 13,685 13,783 13,848 14,548 NA * * NA *
      • Visitors rating customer service at borough centers as good or
      • better (%) 95.0% 93.0% 95.0% 96.0% 90.0% 90.0% NA Up
      • CORE customer experience rating (0-100) 100 97 95 NA 99 90 90 NA Up
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • Performance Indicators Actual Target Trend
      • Response to 311 Service Requests (SRs) FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Percent meeting time to first action - sewer Maintenance - Catch
      • Basin Clogged/Flooding (6 days) 91% 89% 86% 84% 90% 85% 85% Neutral *
      • Percent meeting time to first action - sewer Maintenance - sewer
      • Backup (0.25 days) 90% 88% 89% 91% 92% 85% 85% Neutral *
      • Percent meeting time to first action - Water Maintenance - Hydrant Running (2 days) 85% 86% 82% 76% 89% 85% 85% Neutral *
      • Percent meeting time to first action - Water Maintenance - Hydrant Running Full (1 day) 88% 89% 86% 77% 90% 85% 85% Neutral *
      • Percent meeting time to first action - Water Maintenance - Leak
      • (0.7 days) 79% 81% 77% 82% 87% 85% 85% Neutral *
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
      • AGENCY RESOURCES
      • Resource Indicators Actual¹ Plan²
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5yr Trend
      • Expenditures ($000,000)³ $1,267.2 $1,435.9 $1,432.1 $1,433.0 $1,464.7 $1,489.5 $1,438.8 Up
      • Revenues ($000,000)4 $27.3 $26.3 $29.3 $27.0 $19.9 $21.3 $19.2 Down
      • Personnel 5,946 6,011 6,099 6,195 6,105 6,367 6,426 Neutral
      • Overtime paid ($000,000) $40.6 $49.9 $44.5 $48.8 $45.6 $44.6 $45.8 Neutral
      • Capital commitments ($000,000) $1,590.1 $2,490.6 $1,925.2 $2,031.5 $1,029.4 $2,305.1 $2,727.6 Down
      • ¹Actual financial amounts for the current fiscal year are not yet final. Final fiscal year actuals, from the Comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, will be reported
      • in the next PMMR. Refer to the “Indicator Definitions” at nyc.gov/mmr for details. ²Authorized Budget Level ³Expenditures include all funds “NA” - Not Available * None
      • 4DEP revenues shown here do not include any of the approximately $1.5 billion the City receives annually from the NYC Water Board in reimbursement for operations & maintenance and in rent.
      • NA
      • DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | Page 261
      • SPENDING AND BUDGET INFORMATION
      • Where possible, the relationship between an agency’s goals and its expenditures and planned resources, by budgetary unit
      • of appropriation (UA), is shown in the ‘Applicable MMR Goals’ column. Each relationship is not necessarily exhaustive or
      • exclusive. Any one goal may be connected to multiple UAs, and any UA may be connected to multiple goals.
      • Unit of Appropriation
      • Expenditures
      • FY19¹
      • ($000,000)
      • Modified Budget
      • FY20²
      • ($000,000) Applicable MMR Goals³
      • Personal Services - Total $583.9 $617.8
        • 001 - Executive and Support $41.7 $42.7 All
        • 002 - Environmental Management $30.3 $28.3 5a
        • 003 - Water Supply and Wastewater Collection $221.1 $225.9 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 5a
        • 007 - Central Utility $79.9 $88.0 1a, 4a, 4b
        • 008 - Wastewater Treatment $210.8 $232.9 2a, 3a
      • Other Than Personal Services - Total $849.1 $846.9
        • 004 - Utility $644.1 $699.1 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 5a
        • 005 - Environmental Management $142.4 $80.8 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 5a
        • 006 - Executive and Support $62.6 $67.0 All
      • Agency Total $1,433.0 $1,464.7
      • ¹Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2019. Includes all funds. ²City of New York Adopted Budget for Fiscal 2020, as of June
        1. Includes all funds. ³Refer to agency goals listed at front of chapter. “NA” Not Available *None
      • NOTEWORTHY CHANGES, ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS !
      • • The indicator ‘Acres of land solicited in watershed area’ is being discontinued. The recent National Academies of
      • Science, Engineering and Medicine review of the New York City Watershed Protection recommended moving away
      • from this metric in recognition of the maturation of the land acquisition program. Consequently, the metric is not a
      • meaningful gauge of the success or rate of the Department’s overall efforts to protect water quality.
      • • Due to improvements in water quality over the last two decades the metric ‘Percent of harbor survey stations meeting
      • the fishable standard of 5mg/L for dissolved oxygen’ has outlived its usefulness, as high attainment is consistently
      • achieved, with differences in the attainment levels driven by weather conditions rather than water quality. Since this
      • metric no longer reflects improvements made in water quality, the Marine Science Section is working on developing a
      • metric that will better reflect yearly aggregate improvements in water quality, likely through the definition of a water
      • quality index that incorporates multiple parameters currently being measured by the City’s Harbor Survey program.
      • ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
      • For more information on the agency, please visit: www.nyc.gov/dep.
      • Page 262 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
MMR - FY20 - Department of Environmental Protection