Pollution Control

Administrative Support Program

Statewide Outcome(s):

Administrative Support program supports the following statewide outcome(s).

A clean, healthy environment with sustainable uses of natural resources.

Context:

Administrative Support provides management, financial and business support services for the MPCA’s environmental program delivery from its St. Paul and seven regional offices. Administrative Support includes the Commissioner’s Office, legislative relations, accounting and financial management, human resources, communication, building management, fleet services, and business systems. The MPCA Citizens’ Board expenses are also funded through this budget program.

The Administrative Support structure for the MPCA has changed over time from a decentralized system housed separately in divisions to one of thoughtful centralization of key functions. Examples of centralized services include contracts, information services, records and document management, fleet management and supply purchasing. From an efficiency perspective combining these functions has provided improved efficiencies in managing key services to the environmental programs.

Activities funded under this program directly support accomplishment of the Excellence in Operations goals stated in the MPCA’s Strategic Plan. See: MPCA Strategic Plan - Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/about-mpca/mpca-overview/agency-strategy/mpca-strategic-plan.html). The Excellence goals include:

·        Providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees, volunteers and visitors.

·        Managing agency operations to support the agency’s environmental work and core operations in effective and efficient manner.

·        Achieving excellence through application of appropriate tools and best practices.

·        Providing a reliable information management system that supports the agency and its partners in effective and efficient environmental work.

Authorized appropriations for Administrative Support in FY 2012-2013 totaled 12 percent of the MPCA’s authorized biennial budget. Funding sources: 96.30 percent Special Revenue, 0.02 percent General, and 3.68 percent other sources. See: MPCA Administrative Support Spending http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/about-mpca/mpca-overview/agency-strategy/financial-transparency/mpca-authorized-spending-by-program.html?menuid=&redirect=1.

Strategies:

Administrative Support directly serves the MPCA environmental programs and the general public by providing the underlying information and management systems necessary for effective and efficient program operations. The services primarily support internal agency staff; although, the impact is felt by external parties.

The MPCA’s environmental programs require a broad range of services to be effective. By using continuous improvement techniques and smart planning, the MPCA has improved permit timeliness, improved data and information availability to the general public, improved contract and grant management, and general reduction of costs in managing buildings and fleet. For instance, engaging in regular process improvement efforts the number of contracts has increased over the past four years due to new funding sources to support new programs, at the state and federal levels, and yet, MPCA contract staff complement has remained stable. This staff in FY 2011 issued more than 1000 contracts for over $100 million while supporting MPCA staff and contractors/grantees in meeting state and federal laws.

Access to MPCA Citizens’ Board meetings and the ability to participate in public hearings or advisory teams, has been enhanced through the use of online tools such as webcasting meetings or using interactive tools like video meetings. The MPCA has partnered with counties, state agencies, and building owners to accomplish money saving initiatives such as shared space and reduction in energy use. The MPCA looks to continue these types of initiatives in the forms of shared vehicles between governmental units, online services for public comments, and improved linkage to the public and regulated parties through an online permitting system.

Of particular importance to the MPCA is upgrading its legacy data systems, because many were designed over 17 years ago and are not easily maintained to current technology standards. The replacement of these systems offers new efficiency and data improvement opportunities by allowing online permitting, tracking permit progress, and developing and interactive portal to allow citizens and regulated parties to engage MPCA staff in a smarter and more efficient process. Additionally, the MPCA expects to provide its staff the ability to use mobile devices and eliminate data duplication and paper translations when working with individuals during monitoring, site investigations, inspections or permit review. Not only will this improve transaction times, it allows MPCA staff to focus on the interested parties concerns and solve problems.

The MPCA expects its system upgrades will also allow for a mobile and diverse workforce, which will not be tied to a specific building but are focused on the provided service. The recruitment and retention of staff requires that the MPCA stay current with its technology options.

Results:

Performance Measures Notes:

Performance achievements are recognized in cost savings; for example, by saved workers compensation, increased productivity, reduced supply costs, and reduced lease rentals or fleet costs. Efficiency is often measure by return on investment – either improving production at lower costs or by reducing expenditures across all agency programs.

1.      The OSHA incident rate is a measure of safety at a workplace. It represents the number of injuries serious enough to report to OSHA per 100 people working. The OSHA incident rate is tracked in the MPCA’s Human Resources office. The Performance Measures are reflective of 2010 and 2011 actual data.

2.      The online portal for use by regulated parties to pay certain fees was expanded in 2012. Previous to 2012, only certain application fees (construction and industrial stormwater permits, and pesticide permits) were paid online. Now all annual permit fees and all online permits may pay online. For annual fees, which is includes fees related to permits and pollution prevention fees, were added in 2012, represent nearly about $25 million in collections, and are the most fees collected by the MPCA. These fees represent about 80% of all revenues collected by the MPCA. The goal is to have all fee payers using the MPCA’s online payment option by 2015.

3.      The MPCA is working to improve its fleet utilization rate. The MPCA has a fleet of 138 vehicles and tracks mileage and usage rates. A usage rate equals the number of days of the available business days that all vehicles were in service. The efficient use of its fleet will allow maximum use at least cost. Calendar year 2010 represents the first year with data to track utilization. The current year is Calendar year 2011. In addition to improved usage, since 2009, the MPCA has decreased its fleet by 14 vehicles without service interruption; resulting in a savings of $20,000 per month.

The MPCA has been actively moving to a paperless operation in order to support a flexible work environment and make public documents available to the public online. The appropriate measure for this effort is under development to ensure it reflects the move from a dispersed stored, hard copy system to an integrated electronic system.