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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE Agenda 02082021 AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment February 8t", 2021 7:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting Time Item Title 7:30 I. Call to Order 7:31 II. CFE 2021 Officer Election CFE Members will elect Officers(Chair&Vice Chair)to serve for the 2021 term. 7:36 III. Additions or Changes to Agenda 7:38 IV. Approval of Draft Minutes —January 11t"1 2021 The CFE will consider approval of minutes from the last meeting.Action needed (Attachment 1) 7:40 V. CFE Activities - 2021 The CFE will discuss current activities. 7:50 VI. Development Project Review Process The CFE will discuss lessons learned from the last project it was asked to weigh in upon from the Orange County BOCC and how to improve that process moving forward. 8:05 VII. PowerPoint on Resolutions and the Work of the CFE Brennan Bouma will give a PowerPoint presentation on the difference between a resolution and an ordinance.The CFE will discuss ideas that members have for possible resolutions to put forward to the Orange County BOCC.The CFE will also discuss a proposed resolution on health effects of climate change for potential consideration by the Orange County BOCC. (Attachment 2) 8:50 VIII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: • Future of CFE Committee break out discussions Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 IX. Adjournment *Next Meeting Date: March 8r, 2021;if requested by CFE(Virtual) CFE Activities — 2021 Item Committee/Person(s) Next Responsible Steps Rights-of-Way B. Saul Subcommittee formation approved by CFE at Subcommittee January 2020 meeting. Review and update of Land Resources Ongoing review by committee and staff. Forest Management Policy Climate Action Plan B. Ward Initial work has begun to lay out scope and format. B. Bouma With GHG Inventory completion and successful application for LEED for Cities and Communities Grant, planning can begin in earnest. Seeing CFE assistance in climate action generation and community engagement. Carbon Fee & Dividend / B. Ward Review again in Fall 2020. Fossil Fuel Divestment A. Parry resolution(s) Coordination with Planning Dept. Duke Energy IRP Letter B. Bouma Recent Achievements CFE Meeting Ground Rules (Adopted 9/12/11) 1. Keep to agenda topic under discussion 2. Share relevant information 3. One person speaks at a time after recognition by the Chair 4. Everyone is invited to participate in discussions - no one person should dominate discussions 5. Strive to reach consensus first before voting Attachment 1 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary January 11, 2021; 7:30 pm wrtual Go To Meeting Present: Kim Piracci (Acting Chair), Jaya Nair, Elizabeth McWhorter, Frank Binkowski, Kim Livingston, Bill Ward, Jeremy Marzuola,Carrie Fletcher, James Eichel, Eric Scheier Absent: Bradley Saul, Alan Parry, Lynne Gronback Staff: Brennan Bouma, Chris Himi, Wesley Poole, David Stancil, Craig Benedict I. Call to Order Piracci called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. 11. Additions or Changes to Agenda None III. Approval of Draft Minutes from December 14th, 2020 Motion by Binkowski; seconded by McWhorter; none opposed; motion passed. IV. CFE Activities—2021 CFE Chair/Vice Chair decided previous to meeting that lack of updates to activities and necessity to move to first item precluded this item. V. Efland Station Environmental Review - D. Stancil presented a brief PowerPoint to summarize charge of the BOCC to the CFE review, items/information/public comment provided by staff, and potential options for CFE consideration. - Kim Piracci began discussion with allowances for each individual member to ask questions to County Planning Director related to project; Topics of concern included water usage, water system capacity, storm water control measures, air pollution and emission standards, EV charging stations,potential spills and catastrophic response, protected/critical watershed boundaries, open space requirements, - C. Himi provided documents as requested for additional review by CFE members and staff - After much deliberation and discussion over the formation of a letter utilizing a draft provided by Bill Ward prior to the meeting, with amendments provided by Bradley Saul prior to meeting, CFE members deliberated their individual and collaborative talking points to be included in said letter. Frank Binkowski made a motion to allow CFE draft recommending the BOCC not approve the rezoning request. Seconded by Elizabeth McWhorter; none opposed. Staff will draft letter with CFE members utilizing all of the above and have the CFE approve the draft via email within next business day. Page 1 of 2 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary January 11, 2021; 7:30 pm Virtual Go To Meeting VI. Annual Report and Work Plan-Discussion - Himi presented the final draft with edits and addition provided since last meeting. CFE briefly discussed final edits and wording. Motion made to approve final draft for submission to BOCC. Motion to approve Bill Ward; seconded by Jeremy Marzuola; none opposed; motion passed VII. Updates and Information Items - B. Bouma provided a brief update regarding the Duke Energy Integrated Resource Plan public comment period and work with E. Scheier and B. Ward to draft a letter for review at next meeting. - W. Poole provided an update regarding current members, vacancies, attendance records, and need for action at next meeting in regards to elections of chair/vice chair, and new member nominations. VIII. Adjournment McWhorter motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:12 pm; seconded by Ward; none opposed; motion passed. Page 2 of 2 Attachment 2 Resolution to protect Orange County Residents from the Devastating Impacts to Public Health of Climate Change Based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention Climate Effects on Health (https://www.cdc.aov/climateandhealth/effects/) WHEREAS climate change has increased the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods in the United States and these extreme events are increasing human injury and death; and WHEREAS climate change is projected to harm human health by increasing ground-level ozone and/or particulate matter air pollution in some US locations. Estimates that assume no change in regulatory controls or population characteristics have ranged from 1,000 to 4,300 additional premature deaths nationally per year by 2050 from combined ozone and particle health effects; and WHEREAS climate change will potentially lead to both higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons, causing more people to suffer more health effects from pollen and other allergens. Climate change will potentially lead to shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, warmer seasonal air temperatures, and more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. These changes can affect: • when the pollen season starts and ends and how long it lasts each year, • how much pollen plants create and how much is in the air, • how pollen affects our health (the"allergenicity" of pollen), • how much pollen we're exposed to, and • our risk of experiencing allergy symptoms. and WHEREAS climate change is increasing the vulnerability of many forests to wildfires and is also projected to increase the frequency of wildfires in certain regions of the United States thus increasing impacts on public health. Smoke exposure increases respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations; emergency department visits; medication dispensations for asthma, bronchitis, chest pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory infections; and medical visits for lung illnesses.Area burned by wildfires has increased across the United States over the past two decades, and 2020 is particularly bad ; and WHEREAS climate change has induced extreme heat events in many cities, including St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cincinnati that have suffered dramatic increases in death rates during heat waves. Unusually hot summer temperatures have become more common across the contiguous 48 states in recent decades, and extreme heat events are expected to become longer, more frequent, and more intense in the future. As a result, the risk of heat-related deaths and illness is also expected to increase ; and WHEREAS climate change has increased the frequency of heavy precipitation events for some U.S. regions, and is projected to increase in all U.S. regions. These extreme precipitation events have contributed to increases in severe flooding. Floods are the second deadliest of all weather-related hazards in the United States, accounting for approximately 98 deaths per year, most due to drowning; and WHEREAS climate change induced climate variability can sometimes result in vector/pathogen adaptation and shifts or expansions in their geographic ranges. Such shifts can alter disease incidence depending on vector-host interaction, host immunity, and pathogen evolution. Whether a changing climate in the U.S. will increase the chances of domestically acquiring diseases such as dengue fever is uncertain due to vector-control efforts and lifestyle factors, such as time spent indoors, that reduce human-insect contact; and WHEREAS climate change is expected to globally threaten food production and certain aspects of food quality, as well as food prices and distribution systems. While the U.S. will be less affected than some countries, the nation will not be immune. Many crop yields are predicted to decline because of the combined effects of changes in rainfall, severe weather events, and increasing competition from weeds and pests on crop plants. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, heavy spring rains across the nation in 2019 caused nearly 20 million acres of farmland to not be planted. Farmers incurred, collectively, billions of dollars in losses, disrupting rural economies across the country as well as the communities they support. In August, 2020 a derecho crossed Iowa flattening about 850,000 crop acres and damaging or destroying an estimated 57 million bushels of Iowa grain storage capacity; and WHEREAS climate change induces extreme weather events that can have deleterious effects on mental health. High levels of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder affected victims of Hurricane Katrina, and similar observations have followed floods, heat waves, and wildfires. Following disasters, mental health problems increase,both among people with no history of mental illness, and those at risk —a phenomenon known as "common reactions to abnormal events"; and WHEREAS the health of friends and family of Orange County residents has already been compromised. If climate change is allowed to grow unabated, Orange County residents will soon directly suffer from the devastating impacts to public health of climate change. THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners will exercise their full statutory authority to protect the residents of Orange County from the threat to public health posed by climate change.