The Council of the District of Columbia on Jan. 7 adopted an emergency declaration and an amended temporary act to clarify how the Climate Commitment Amendment Act of 2022 applies to District-owned heating equipment, allowing the executive to make necessary repairs to existing fossil-fuel-based heating and water-heating appliances during a temporary period.

Councilmember Charles Allen, sponsor of the clarification, said the executive’s current interpretation appeared to prohibit repair, reconstruction or replacement of components or units of existing combustion-based space- and water-heating systems — a reading he and others disputed. Allen said he had not yet received a formal legal opinion from the executive explaining that interpretation and that he intended the emergency declaration to be an interim, 90-day solution to prevent children and building occupants from being left in cold classrooms and facilities while the parties resolve the legal question. “I don't feel comfortable leaving kids in cold classrooms while we resolve this legal debate with the executive,” Allen said.

Allen noted the Department of General Services (DGS) estimated there are about 162 boiler systems managed by DGS across approximately 117 DC public schools; other agencies also manage additional systems. Councilmember Louis George offered an oral amendment, agreed to as friendly, to limit the scope of the exception by replacing the word “systems” with “appliances” in the amendment nature of a substitute, language the chair accepted and the council approved.

The council said the package is intended as a temporary clarification so the executive can carry out necessary repairs during cold months while the council and executive settle on a shared statutory interpretation or pursue permanent legislative changes. The emergency declaration, the amended emergency act and a related temporary amendment were adopted unanimously.