Council adopts Harpers Ferry nondiscrimination assurance requested by EPA

The Harpers Ferry Town Council on Sept. 11 voted 4-0 to adopt a nondiscrimination assurance document supplied to the town by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and to insert the name of Councilmember Christian Pacheconis on page 7 as requested.

Town staff told council members the form follows EPA guidance and is intended to allow the town to comply with federal nondiscrimination requirements when federal funding is involved. Councilmembers discussed whether to incorporate language from the town’s human-rights ordinance into the EPA form and were advised by staff and counsel that it would be preferable to adopt the federal assurance as written and add local nondiscrimination language into contract and vendor documents instead.

Councilmembers agreed to the change adding Christian Pacheconis’s name on page 7 and adopted the assurance by unanimous vote. Staff said the version before council incorporated the final edits suggested by the EPA after a recent review.

Council discussion included a check for the correct inclusion of names and a brief review of where local human-rights provisions will be applied: staff recommended leaving the federal assurance in the EPA-prescribed form and embedding Harper’s Ferry ordinance language in procurement and contract language going forward.

Clarifying details: the adopted document was described as the EPA-provided nondiscrimination assurance; council requested addition of Christian Pacheconis’s name on page 7. Council chose not to insert local ordinance language into the EPA template, and staff indicated local human-rights language would be added to contract clauses where appropriate.