The City of Salem began its resource conservation focus in 2006. City Council requested a staff report outlining steps the City could take to conserve energy and preserve resources within City departments and programs.  This resulted in the report, Energy Conservation Summary: Accomplishments and Ongoing Activities 2000 to July 2007. In March 2008, Councilor Clem made a motion to reformat the staff report into an Environmental Action Plan. At this time, staff began analyzing the practices of City Departments and recognized opportunities to reduce waste, conserve resources, and prevent pollution occur throughout all City operations and the community itself.

Through the guidance of policies, procedures, and various projects, the City continues in these efforts today. On going efforts can be seen in the following ways:

• The Sustainable Business Operations Policy
• Fleet Services reduction in the number of vehicles consuming diesel fuel
• Fuel Conservation Policy
• EarthWISE certification of city-occupied buildings
• Securing of grant funds to implement updates to city-owned building, such as low flow toilets and other improvement projects 
• The installation of water meters at the Public Works Operations complex to monitor water consumption
• Stormwater management reporting and permitting processes