Ecology Works!

At Ecology, we’re always looking for ways to save time and money, improve services to our customers, and promote “green” environmentally-friendly work. Some are big changes and others are small, "under the radar" reforms, but they add up to better business across the board.

This is sustainable transformation that protects the environment, promotes public health, supports sustainable economic growth and creates jobs for the long term.

Also see our Business Efficiencies - We're listenting and it shows page.

Working Now

During our internal budget development process, we identified more than six single-spaced pages of “efficiencies” and “cost-cutting” measures. Many have already been implemented. Others are good ideas we’re working to implement.

Improvement Made	Program Contact	Benefit
Water Resources Advisory Committee Meeting Reductions	Water Resources Program	Ecology’s Water Resources Advisory Committee traditionally met once a month. This group now meets every other month, which has reduced our meeting expenses and staff time associated with meeting preparation and presentations.
February 14, 2011 update
Performance Based Managed Print Services	Administration/IT	Ecology has used a performance based Managed Print Services contract for the past five years. The contract requires the payment of liquidated damages if agreed upon print device uptime or print service levels are not met. A third party vendor is also used to track service levels to avoid any disputes that might arise if service levels are not met and damages must be paid. This Managed Print Services contract will be re-bid later this year with the liquidated damage provisions in it. This contract has allowed Ecology to avoid purchasing or leasing printer type devices and then only pay for the actual print output we use.
Print Awareness Software	Administration/IT	We implemented an agency wide print awareness service so that individual employees would become aware of the number of unnecessary or low value prints being made. The software tells you how much it costs to print every document and tracks the total number of prints an employee makes. The software has made a significant change in employee print practice across the agency. Overall print volume is down by approximately 20% thereby reducing the amount of paper consumed and the costs we pay for printing.
February 2, 2011 update
Voluntary Cleanup Program Invoicing Improvement	Administration/Receivables	The Voluntary Cleanup Program invoicing was converted to our agency billing system and saves significantly on staff time. We have consistent monthly invoicing and increased revenue collection, and can more effectively track and follow up on delinquent accounts with fewer manual processes.
Ecology HQ Building East Wall & Garage Repair	Administration/Facilities	We entered into an agreement with the original builder (Mortenson) to make the needed repairs to the Lacey building’s east wall and garage. The agreement recognized the work was to correct a combination of design and construction problems as well as normal wear and tear maintenance. This approach cut the cost to the agency in about half and got the work done quicker. The original estimates totaled $15M. The project was completed for $7M.
January 18, 2011 update
On-Call Economic Analysis	Administration/Governmental Relations	Economic analysis workload associated with rule-making is highly variable. We have hired an “on-call” economist to help out during peak workloads. The use of an “on-call” employee reduces our costs because we only pay the person when we have extra economic analysis work that needs to be done.
Electronic Training Request System	Administration/Human Resources	We developed an electronic employee training registration system to streamline the process of making training requests, improve data tracking, and eliminate paper forms and associated file space.
January 3, 2011 update
Energy Performance Contracting	Administration/Facilities	As part the effort to make state facilities more carbon neutral and energy efficient, Ecology is using the Energy Performance Contracting process to finance building improvements that can be paid for out of the guaranteed energy savings. These measures will save 509 MT CO2e each year (8% of Ecology emissions). The $89,000 annual savings in utility bills and $23,000 annual savings in operational costs (replacing light bulbs, fewer paper towels, etc.) will be used to repay the financed improvements.
Legislative System Electronic Improvements	Administration/Governmental Relations	Streamlined tracking of legislative bills through use of Web technology, bill analysis, fiscal notes, and hearing schedules and to provide easy access to legislative – related information.
Printing Reduction	Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program	HWTR Publications are now being printed ‘on demand’, not stockpiled for future demand. Publication stockpiles go out of date and then must be recycled. In addition all publications should be posted online so they are viewable through paperless means.
See More Ecology Works! updates...

In The Works

Future improvements and efficiencies we are looking into or are currently developing.

Streamlining Purchasing & Payables — We’re looking at enhancements to the purchase tracking system to streamline accounts payable processes to increase functionality for the tracking and payment of agency purchases. This would help ensure payments are made promptly on received goods and services, prevent duplicate payments, and enhance reporting capabilities. An asset component could also be added to the system to assist in tracking agency inventory.
Reducing Telephone Expenses — We are positioning the agency to move to voice-over-IP for telephone service. This will take an up-front investment, but would significantly reduce monthly costs for telephone service.
Reducing Long Distance Telephone Expenses — We’re working to develop a “risk-based” review of agency scan charges. This will eliminate the need for distribution, review, and approval of nominal charges, saving printing, paper costs, and staff time across the agency.
Finding Information More Quickly — We would be much more efficient if all documents were available electronically in an indexed and searchable system. Not only would staff be able to find information quicker, having documents available electronically would cut down our response time for public records requests. Development of the indexing system and scanning paper records requires a significant up-front investment. However, there would be savings in the long-term.