UPDATE: Council president Richard Conlin, who was rumored to be the source of the proposal, says that although “it’s perfectly valid to put [OSE] on the table,” he doesn’t “think it’s going to happen.”

The city’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment could be eliminated or drastically downsized by the city council, as part of an effort to restore some of the direct service cuts proposed in Mayor Greg Nickels’s budget. The city, like the county, is facing a shortfall in sales-tax revenues that is only expected to worsen over the next few years; in addition, real estate excise taxes, which apply to real-estate sales and fund capital projects, have more or less evaporated.

OSE is widely regarded as one of the city’s biggest recent success stories. Currently, the office is working to implement the Seattle Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce Seattle’s greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050. OSE is also in charge of the Urban Forest Management Plan, which maintains, preserves and protects in-city forests; the Restore Our Waters strategy, which promotes stream, creek, and shoreline restoration; and the Green Building Task Force, which is pushing to increase energy efficiency in all new buildings by 20 percent.

The council is considering three proposals, which could be adopted separately or together. The first would cut OSE’s budget for professional services by $75,000, which would mean cuts to the office’s climate-change and urban forestry programs. The second would require OSE to come up with a tool to help the city quantify the climate impact of various legislative proposals—a new, unfunded responsibility. The third and most significant would eliminate OSE and consolidate some of its functions into the mayor’s Office of Policy and Management, saving $250,000 and eliminating at least two jobs (including OSE director Mike Mann’s; Mann did not return a call for comment.)

A report created by city council staff acknowledges that getting rid of OSE would “arguably ‘lower the profile’ of the Climate Change and Green Seattle initiatives. That’s an understatement, according to environmental advocates (and, naturally, the mayor’s office). “I don’t get it,” says Michael McGinn, head of the Seattle Great City Initiative. “The OSE has been a source of really positive change. … Considering the leadership that’s come out of that office, I don’t know what the rationale for cutting it would be.” As an internal memo issued by the mayor’s office put it, “The issues around environmental protection and addressing global warming are becoming more relevant for municipalities, not less.”

On the other hand, OSE is hardly the only city department being targeted for budget cuts. For example, the council is also proposing to eliminate the Office of Economic Development and shift its duties to the Office of Housing—eliminating 12 positions and saving an estimated $1.1 million a year. Other OED programs, including the Office of Film and Music and programs that provide job training for low-income people, would move to the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Human Services Department.

For more on potential changes to the mayor’s budget proposal, check out the council’s budget page.