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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-07-2019 6-b - Proposed Formation of a Climate Committee 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 7, 2019 Action Agenda Item No. 6-b SUBJECT: Proposed Formation of a Climate Committee DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Commissioner Mark Marcoplos, (919) Proposed Membership 245-2130 Ad Hoc Committee Notes from January Brennan Bouma, (919) 245-2626 29, 2019 Assembly of Governments Donna Baker, (919) 245-2130 Meeting PURPOSE: To discuss the potential formation of a Climate Committee and review and consider approving a proposed membership composition. BACKGROUND: At the January 29, 2019 Assembly of Governments meeting, Commissioner Mark Marcoplos presented an update from the Climate Change Ad Hoc Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee is a group of elected officials who came together in the fall of 2018 in the wake of hurricane season to explore opportunities to accelerate collaborative action on climate change. The members of the ad hoc committee are: Council Member Rachel Schaevitz (Chapel Hill), Aldermen Sammie Slade (Carrboro), Commissioner Jenn Weaver (Hillsborough), and Commissioner Mark Marcoplos (Orange County). The Ad Hoc Committee presented a report outlining relevant climate change commitments and highlighted climate change mitigation actions from each of their jurisdictions. During the discussion of the report, Ad Hoc Committee members confirmed that climate change was a top priority for all of their respective Boards and expressed a desire to establish a more formal and inclusive committee as soon as possible. The members suggested that that a newly- formed committee should be supported by staff and include representatives from both school systems, the University of North Carolina, and include input from County residents. It was acknowledged that the composition and charge for the new committee would need to be discussed and approved by the boards of the constituent jurisdictions. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with discussion of a potential Climate Committee. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goal is applicable to this item: 2 • GOAL: ESTABLISH SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE LAND-USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes and educational levels with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, policies, and decisions. Fair treatment means that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss the potential formation of a Climate Committee, review and consider approving a proposed membership composition, and provide direction to staff. 3 Attachment 1 Proposed Membership: Organization Representatives # Orange County BOCC Sustainability Director, Commissioner 2 Hillsborough Designated staff, Commissioner 2 Carrboro Sustainability Director, Alderperson 2 Chapel Hill Sustainability Director, Council person 2 CHCCS Sustainability Director, Board member, 3 student OCS Designated staff, Board member, student 3 UNC Sustainability Director, Student 2 OWASA Sustainability Director, Board member 2 CH-Carrboro NAACP Representative, youth 2 Northern Orange NAACP Representative, youth 2 Orange/Chatham Sierra Representative 1 Club NC Cooperative Extension Representative 1 Durham Tech Representative, student 2 4 Attachment 2 Ad Hoc Climate Committee Report— Jan. 29, 2019 Our intention is to jump-start the process of creating a collaborative effort among the municipal governments, the school systems, UNC, and residents that will yield unprecedented progress on climate change issues. In that spirit, here is some information, questions, and suggestions that could be useful in the next phase of climate change response. Rachel's Chapel Hill & CHCCS report: Carbon Emissions: Chapel Hill's first goal for climate action was a commitment to reduce carbon emissions from operations 60% from 2005 levels by the year 2050. This was enacted in 2005, and based on our last greenhouse gas emissions report from 2015, the Town is 6.7% below 2005 levels on a per capita basis. In 2017, the Council passed a resolution<http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view id=21&clip id=3181&m eta id=168458> stating that the Town will do its part to meet the Paris Agreement - a 26-28% carbon reduction from 2005 levels by 2025. Solar: While solar would likely be a component of reaching the two aforementioned goals, there are no ratified Council goals specifically for solar. We also work with the SolSmart<https://www.townofchapel h i I l.org/town-hall/departments-services/plan n ing- and-sustainability/solar> program - a federal initiative that provided technical assistance aimed at helping Chapel Hill enhance opportunities for local solar energy generation. For example, through this project we managed to reduce permitting delays for solar and have been tracking this progress as a performance metric. Our advisory board, the ESAB, is currently discussing a goal that would require rooftop solar on all new development (they are also discussing the UNC Cogen plant and an interest in accelerated movement toward lower carbon and/or renewable fuels.) Electric Vehicles: The Town does not have a formal policy or ordinance that specifies the number of required charging stations for a development. That said, staff is evaluating a petition from the Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board that suggests that for parking lots of 50 spaces or more, at least 3% have EV charging stations and 20% be EV ready (meaning conduit and electrical paneling). The Town and County have established several publically available charging stations<https://www.townofchapelhill.org/town- hall/departments-services/planning-and-sustainability/sustainability/electric-vehicles- charging-stations>, which have been developed as demonstration projects. Also, when a development comes before Council for an up-zoning or Special Use Permit, we 5 negotiate for EV charging spaces, solar conduit, etc. but there is no formal policy, nor can we require these things by law. Climate Adaptation Chapel Hill is working with the Triangle Regional Resiliency Assessment<http://www.tecog.org/regional-resiliency-assessment.aspx>. This is a partnership with Durham and Orange County, and the cities of Durham, Cary and Raleigh. This work identifies both climate and non-climate threats for which we can develop local and regional action plans to address. Green Building: Council has a formal policy for new development to be 20% better than ASHRAE (an energy performance target) and recently passed an ordinance requiring new Town buildings to be both LEED Silver and meet the AIA 2030 Challenge. CHCCS ally: Dan Schnitzer ( dschnitzer(a�_chccs.k12.nc.us<mailto:dschnitzer(a�_chccs.k12.nc.us>) Dan has led the charge to improve waste diversion within the school system. This is something Chapel Hill partnered on last year as part of a grant with the state to add more composting stations. Sammy's Carrboro Report & suggestions: • Carrboro has a "Community Climate Action Plan" which is citizen-driven. The plan recommends that Carrboro adopt a goal of a 50% reduction in per capita greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, cutting the carbon footprint in half over the next decade for the entire community. https://www.townofcarrboro.org/928/Community-Climate-Action-Plan • Carrboro's original commitment was a goal of 7% annual energy use reduction. • "Goals should line up with science, not what we think we can do." • In anticipation of money becoming available to counter climate change, we should have "shovel-ready" projects. • Can the County's '/2 cent sales tax for economic development be tapped into? Mark's Orange County Report 1) On June 6th 2017, the Board of Orange County Commissioners passed a resolution to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 26 and 28 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels. 6 2) On September 5th 2017, the Board of Orange County Commissioners adopted a resolution to transition to a 100% renewable energy based economy by 2050. 3) On June 5th,2018, the Board approved a request from the Commission for the Environment for Orange County to join the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy 4) On January 22nd 2019, the Board voted 6-1 to request that Rep. David Price support Alexandria Ocasio — Cortez' call for a Select Committee on a Green New Deal As a result of these resolutions, Orange County is: ❑ Nearing completion of our first annual community scale greenhouse gas emission inventory and report. (Within 1-year) ❑ Assessing climate hazards and vulnerabilities (within 2 years) — complete, moving into reporting phase ❑ Identifying ambitious, measurable and time-bound targets to reduce/limit greenhouse gas emissions (within 2 years) — complete, see Paris agreement ❑ Plan to address climate change mitigation / low emission development, climate resilience and adaptation, and access to sustainable energy, including provisions for regular (annual or biennial) progress reports. (within 3 years) — NEED PLANS, we hope to use the GHG inventory and Triangle Regional Resilience Assessment to springboard into climate action / renewables / adaptation planning starting in 2019. Orange County Sustainability Group - bimonthly meetings support and expand on this work. (Three reps from the OC Commission for the Environment, one from NCWARN, Orange County Sustainability Director Brennan Bouma, and Mark Marcoplos.) Efland EMS sub-station • Will include a rooftop photovoltaic system ($100,000 budgeted for about a 60kw system) • Intended to serve as a pilot for "a new standard of including photovoltaic systems in all new construction". 7 County new capital projects to include solar • For example, the new Detention Center, Environmental and Agricultural Center, and accompanying maintenance building are all slated to have sizeable solar generating systems. Battery storage • County staff is tracking the technological advances and benefits of battery storage. • 1 believe we need to do a pilot project asap and will look for ways to advance this. Settlers Pointe commercial development • Local developer Jim Parker of Summit Engineering agreed to my request that all companies choosing to locate in the development will be required to have a cost/benefit analysis done by a solar installer prior to construction. Solar water heating • Currently in the list of options for the County's new Detention Center and Agriculture & Parks facility. • The County is looking into the feasibility of solar water heating at 24-hour occupied fire stations. No-idling initiative • A campaign to educate drivers that, if they will be stopped for more than seven seconds, it is cost-effective to turn off their engines. This is currently being discussed by our Commission on the Environment, with a focus on school drop- off and pick-up times. It should be expanded to reach drivers at all drive-thrus in the County. 8 Added thoughts from Mark: Here's the CleanPath 2025 Report and related info. It's a blueprint for achieving A lot of good work went into this and I believe it is foundational work that we can build upon. https://www.ncwarn.org/our-work/clean-path-2025/ • Clean Path 2025 will save NC billions of dollars Duke Energy plans to spend building unneeded power plants and other outdated infrastructure. • Clean Path 2025 will create thousands of jobs while helping all customers save money. • This strategy can replace all fossil fuel power— rapidly—with proven clean energy, battery storage and energy-saving programs. • Action Teams are already operating in 7 key counties (including Orange), and local governments are responding. Jenn's Hillsborough Report and suggestions: • In September of 2017, Hillsborough passed a clean energy resolution (defined as carbon/pollution-free in resolution) committing to 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. This resolution is knowingly largely inspirational. We do not know how Hillsborough will meet those goals, but we felt action was necessary to point us in that direction and we will do the best we can. • Given our lack of capacity in terms of budget allocation or perhaps more importantly, staff, to steer this commitment, we allocated $8000 to Triangle J to do some contracted work. They gave two presentations, one to the community with the results of the study done on energy use in town operations and another aimed to staff. • Commissioner Ferguson is our rep to Triangle J and keeps Hillsborough involved and informed on Cog sustainability/climate change/resiliency efforts. • In a bit of a holding pattern now as we lack resources to commit to further action at this time, though Triangle J thinks they can help us prepare in the coming year to apply for some grants. We had to pass a couple opportunities by because we couldn't guarantee we'd be able to follow through with grants even if awarded. They are researching other funding options/partnerships. • Participating in the Environmental Defense Fund's Cities Initiative, Triangle J represented Hillsborough at first three meetings and Mayor Stevens (and other 9 OC mayors) went to last one. We are hopeful EDF will keep this initiative moving. • Other efforts: Hillsborough invested in a major sewer plant upgrade in 2014 that in addition to producing some of the cleanest effluent in the nation back into the Eno, reduced electricity use significantly. • Implemented a Storm Water utility to mitigate runoff (which seems ever rising). • Long time commitment to slowly but surely make Hillsborough more walkable for all of our neighborhoods. There are enormous financial challenges to this, not least of which is the state owns most of the roads and funds only a tiny fraction of bike/ped projects. Small towns often can only get bike lanes (striped, unprotected) when DOT builds new or improves roads. (The CMAQ grant that largely funded the last phase of River Walk projected that just that last section connecting to West Hillsborough/Eno Mountain Rd would have significant emissions reduction.) • Several other items, listed here https://www.hillsboroughnc.gov/qovernment/about-town- government/environmental-initiatives/ How might towns and county collaborate? • Keep environmental justice as a central tenet of all climate change mitigation and resiliency efforts. • Sharing information. If one learns of program or funding opportunity, share info and seek to pair/triple/quadruple with other jurisdictions for projects. For example, the work Carrboro has done working toward a composting program could hopefully be shared so that staff in the other municipalities does not have to repeat everything.. (Seems like eventually county-wide composting would make more sense than city by city) • Transportation, always. • Each jurisdiction might take time to examine any land use regulations that make it more difficult to move toward lower/zero emissions, share that info with each other. Especially look for places that county and municipalities may be in conflict or undermining each other. • Support system-changing efforts, even though local government is typically more direct service. For example, the Food Council - all about building resilient, equitable communities. The scale of climate change requires that approach. 10 • Think big and brave, even if it sounds out there. It is better to rule out unfeasible ideas than to never express them. • Sketch out vision for getting county and towns to STAR ratings a la https://Iawrenceks.org/star/. Hillsborough by itself will likely not be able to fund official recognition, but could be good to have relevant, achievable, county-wide community goals. • Hold forums for the communities that are topical. Local government cannot do it all, but it has power to convene. County could host in concert with local elected and/or relevant staff. • Commit to fostering local government culture of collaboration, not competition. it doesn't do any of us much good to be first at anything when the world is on fire. We need each other.