Prince William Board of County Supervisors creates Sustainability Commission
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently created a sustainability commission that will have the authority to make recommendations to the board for a Community Energy/Sustainability Master Plan.
The master plan will provide guidance for the County to meet its energy efficiency and regional greenhouse and carbon emission reduction goals while considering economic development goals, population projections as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion, among other things.
The commission will include eight members. Each of the seven Prince William County Supervisors will appoint one member to represent their magisterial districts. The Prince William County Chair at-Large will appoint one member. Desired appointees will have academic, professional, non-profit, or other work experience in sustainability-related fields.
Commission members will elect a chair and vice-chair among themselves along with any other officers the commission deems appropriate and establish its own rules and procedures. The commission members’ terms of service are coterminous, meaning the terms run, or coincide, with board members’ terms.
The county executive will provide staff support to the commission to include relevant directors or their designees as necessary.
The commission will make and submit a report to the board within 12 months showing its progress on making recommendations to the Community Energy/Sustainability Master Plan.
The board’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan included two new strategic areas of environmental conservation and sustainable growth to “Promote and expand the preservation and protection of natural resources and processes, and promote environmental justice,” and “Establish Prince William County as a leader in promoting sustainable growth that ensures the social, economic, and environmental health of the County.”
As a public body, the commission will be subject to open meeting requirements as set forth by the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. Commission records will be subject to FOIA requests.
The board included funding for such a commission in its fiscal year 2022 budget.
