SPECIAL CALLED JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE HYBRID MEETING FORMAT March 30th at 6pm City Hall, Council Chambers 301 West 2nd Street, Austin, Texas CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Kaiba White, Chair (Resource Mgmt. Commission) Audrey Barrett (Environmental Commission) Melissa Rothrock (Zero Waste Advisory Commission) Diana Wheeler (Urban Transportation Commission) Fisayo Fadelu (Community Development Commission) Karen Magid (Austin Travis County Food Policy Board) Christy Williams (Water & Wastewater Commission) Alexis Taylor (Economic Prosperity Commission) Richard DePalma - (Parks & Recreation Board) David Carroll (Design Commission) Alberta Phillips (City Council) Karen Hadden (Electric Utility Commission) Solveij Praxis (Planning Commission) For more information, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/jsc AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely by telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation. To register please email Zach Baumer (zach.baumer@austintexas.gov). 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) February 23, 2022 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee 2. NEW BUSINESS a) Chair Election – (Discussion and/or possible action) b) Airport fuel tank expansion presentation (Discussion and/or possible action) c) Austin Climate Equity Plan Implementation Update, Zach Baumer, Office of Sustainability – (Discussion and/or possible action) d) JSC FY22-23 Budget Recommendations– (Discussion and/or possible action) e) Departmental presentation schedule and committee questions– (Discussion and/or possible action) f) Working Group Updates – (Discussion and/or possible action) g) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions – (Discussion and/or possible action) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Ongoing updates on Austin Climate Equity Plan implementation • Ongoing updates on community and climate resilience ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Zach Baumer at the Office of Sustainability at 415-694-3111, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Sustainability Committee Recommendation 20220330-2D – FY 2022-2023 Budget Recommendations The Joint Sustainability Committee recommends that the Austin City Council prioritize improving sustainability and reducing GHG emissions when allocating federal infrastructure funds. The Joint Sustainability Committee recommends that the Austin City Council allocate funds for: • Outreach to the Austin business community to share information and provide tools to improve sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals and strategies in the Austin Climate Equity Plan; and • Antiracism and equity training for those involved in implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan; and Implementing recommendations for an alternate location for ABIA fuel tank farm; and • • Robust community engagement to implement the Austin Climate Equity Plan; and • Each department to track and report metrics on implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan; and • A Community Solar subsidy, funded by the Energy Efficiency Services fee; and • Research and development of a system as part of Austin Energy Green Building program to reduce the use of toxic building materials. Date of Approval: _____March 30, 2022____________ Motion to approve (Commissioner Wheeler), second (Commissioner Praxis). Record of the vote: 7 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Attest: Zach Baumer, Staff Liaison
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Sustainability Committee Recommendation 20220330-2B – Airport Jet Fuel Tank Farm THE AUSTIN JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE recommends that The City Manager be directed by Austin City Council to instruct the Department of Aviation to execute and oversee the following: • Strike authorization from the 2020 ABIA Fuel Farm EA to relocate the fuel facility to the west side of the Airport and until further authorization, limit all expansion of fuel storage to the current footprint only; Identify at least three possible alternative locations to where the fuel facility could be relocated in phase two of the implementation, not including the west side location identified as the Proposed Action in the 2020 ABIA Fuel Farm EA; • • Prepare a preliminary draft Environmental Assessment considering these possible alternative • fuel facility locations for purposes of receiving public input; Include in the EA a robust environmental justice analysis with the contribution from the City of Austin’s Equity Office and local Environmental Justice experts; • Provide for robust City of Austin-led public participation, including meaningful engagement with the affected communities, on the preliminary draft EA, and • Bring back to City Council for approval, the Proposed Action alternative, prior to publishing the EA for notice and comment pursuant to NEPA. Date of Approval: _____March 30, 2022____________ Motion to approve (Commissioner Hadden), second (Commissioner Phillips). Record of the vote: 7 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Attest: Zach Baumer, Staff Liaison
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 RESOLUTION NO. WHEREAS, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on January 1, 1970, and requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions; WHEREAS, NEPA guarantees that the relevant information concerning environmental impacts will be made available to the larger audience, including the general public, that may also play a role in both the decision-making process and the implementation of that decision; WHEREAS, under NEPA, all federal agencies are to prepare detailed statements assessing the environmental impact of and alternatives to major federal actions significantly affecting the environment, and these statements are commonly referred to as Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Environmental Assessments (EA), with the possibility of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI); WHEREAS, an EA for the “Fuel Farm Improvements” at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) was published in March 2020, and a FONSI was signed on April 6, 2020; WHEREAS, the ABIA Fuel Farm EA was not posted for public notice and comment, nor did the preparers of the Fuel Farm EA seek out or receive any public comments before preparing the Fuel Farm EA, nor did they make available to the public a draft of the EA before finalizing and publishing; WHEREAS, the ABIA Fuel Farm EA considered only the No Action alternative and the Proposed Action alternative; Page 1 of 6 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 WHEREAS, the ABIA Fuel Farm EA’s Proposed Action is in two phases: (1) an expansion within the footprint of the existing fuel farm involving an additional interim fuel delivery truck offload rack and a new ground service equipment fuel service station, consisting of two, separate 10,000-gallon above ground tanks, one for diesel and one for gasoline, and (2) development of the fuel farm in on the west side of the existing runway, consisting of two 1.5-million- gallon fuel storage tanks, new offload racks, and supporting infrastructure and equipment; WHEREAS, the ABIA Fuel Tank EA’s Proposed Action specifically states that “[t]he existing fuel tanks will remain in operation until airfield improvements require them to be removed”; WHEREAS, on October 30, 2018, during a regular Council work …
Austin Climate Equity Plan Implementation Update March 30, 2022 1 Topics ● JSC Working Group / Ongoing Community Input ● Departmental Schedule & Questions 2 JSC Oversight implementation ● JSC will continue to function as a public v enue for B&C rev iew of departmental actions / ● JSC will continue to hav e the Implementation Working Group ● Working to increase the usefulness, functionality, and accountability driv en by the JSC – see departmental schedule & pre-defined questions ● Still need to define the Purpose / Scope of a new community input group 3 Implementation "Community Group" ● Stand-alone from the B&C System ● Similar in ways to the steering committee; made up of JSC members, citizens, and City Staff ● Allows for more flexibility and to pay community members for their time ● Must have a clearly defined purpose, not overlapping with other groups ● Hiring a consultant to facilitate 2 meetings and get the group to define audience, scope, purpose, strategy, etc. 4 Pending Questions ● Determining the role of this group ● Joint definitions of success between Staff and Community ● Who is the community? Who is the audience? What is the mechanism for action? ● Dev eloping strategies to engage different sectors of the community based on a Stakeholder Power Mapping Analysis ● Centering and adv ancing equity. This will be done through the Climate Ambassadors. ● Lev eraging support from large businesses and organizations. What is the best ● Ensuring the City implements the plan to its fullest extent is important, but how do we influence community action by businesses, organizations and indiv iduals beyond the Other means? mechanism for this? city’s purview? 6 Stakeholder Power Mapping 5 Departments, Schedule, and Questions ● We only have time for 2 briefings max per meeting ● 30 questions is not feasible– We recommend 5 as guidance / direction ● The JSC can only really ask for a presentation, not answers in writing, there's a line between gathering information to inform recommendations and creating work 7 Draft Schedule for Briefings Month Department April 2022 Economic Development / Austin Airport May 2022 Austin Resource Recovery / Innovation Office June 2022 Purchasing Office / Capital Contracting Office July 2022 Housing and Planning / Austin Public Health August 2022 Austin Water / Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Program Office September 2022 Equity Office / Small and Minority Business Resources October 2022 November …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Resource Management Commission Recommendation No. 20220322-008 Resolution on City of Austin 2022-2023 Budget Recommendations Whereas in a memo dated February 2nd, Kerri Lang, City of Austin Budget Officer, requested feedback on the City’s FY 2022-23 budget from Boards and Commissions by March 31st, 2022. Whereas the Resource Management Commission would like to provide feedback and recommendations regarding certain items on the FY 2022-23 budget. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Resource Management Commission has the following comments and recommendations regarding the City of Austin FY 2022-23 Budget: 1. Customer Energy Solutions (Green Building Program): Austin Energy staff are requesting “$50,000 to hire a firm to look at an existing database of hazardous materials, add to it, and develop a calculator to direct decision making for building designers based upon healthy material typology. The tool will provide the information necessary to allow a project team to identify which materials should be prioritized to maximize the long-term health benefits to building occupants.” The RMC supports this budget request, as both the RMC and Austin Energy staff are interested in exploring ways to incentivize the use of healthy materials and reduce the use of hazardous materials in building construction. The RMC recommends that the consultant work with a community advisory group assembled by the RMC and Austin Energy staff and that this process not preclude a more near-term solution to address this issue. 2. Customer Energy Solutions (Community Solar): The Resource Management Commission recommends that a Community Solar subsidy sufficient to allow for deployment of additional Community Solar installations on the local distribution grid in line with the criteria previously adopted by the RMC, funded by the Energy Efficiency Services (EES) Fee be included in Austin Energy’s FY 2023 Customer Energy Solutions budget. This subsidy will improve transparency and will enable equitable deployment of local rooftop solar. All customers pay the EES fee, which supports both energy efficiency and solar programs at Austin Energy, including residential solar rebates for those who install solar on their homes. Using some of those funds to support the Community Solar program will give renters, multifamily dwellers, lower-income and middle- income residents, those with poor credit, and those with rooftops unsuitable for solar greater ability to participate in a program that can utilize available roof space for solar. In addition to equity benefits, this reduces overall environmental impact by reducing land use for energy production …
Item 1 JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MEETING MINUTES March 30, 2022 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a hybrid meeting on March 30, 2022 via videoconferencing and at City Hall, Council Chambers, 301 West 2nd Street, Austin, Texas Chair Kaiba White called the Board Meeting to order at 6:14 pm. Board Members in Attendance: Kaiba White Chair, Diana Wheeler Vice Chair, Richard DePalma, Karen Hadden, David Carroll, Solveij Rosa Praxis, Alberta Phillips, Board Members Absent or Unconfirmed: Alexis Taylor, Karen Magid, Audrey Barrett, Melissa Rothrock, Fisayo Fadelu, Christy Williams City Staff in Attendance: Zach Baumer, Phoebe Romero CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION The speakers who registered in advance for public comment have three minutes each to address items on the agenda at this time. • Dale Bula energy and transportation. • Brandi Clark Burton o Discussed the opportunity with the new Infrastructure Bill to transition to clean o Discussed the need to allocate resources to reach out to small and medium businesses in Austin regarding climate action. of Commerce. o Discussed the Good Traveler Program and the opportunity to have a regional • Scott Johnson offset program. • Amanda Carillo • Alicia Trejo o Resident of McCall Lane; opposes the proposed jet fuel tank farm, which would be 430 feet from her home. Is concerned with health problems and lack of notice. o Resident living near the proposed jet fuel tank farm; opposes the proposal. Is very concerned about her family and children, and health effects of polluted air. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) February 23, 2022 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee • Motion to approve (Commissioner Hadden), second (Commissioner Praxis). Record of the vote: 7 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. 2. NEW BUSINESS a) Chair Election – (Discussion and/or possible action) • Commissioner DePalma nominates Commissioner White, second by Commissioner Hadden. Record of the vote: 7 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. b) Airport fuel tank expansion presentation (Discussion and/or possible action) • Overview on issue from Daniel Llanes, organizer with PODER and River Bluff Association chair • Noted parallels between Tank Farm located in the Govalle neighborhood and is concerned about the lack of notice; believes it’s a moral issue. • Organizers worked with Council Member Fuentes to draft a resolution to relocate the jet fuel tank farm. Commissioner Hadden put together a draft resolution based off Council Member Fuentes’ resolution. • Commissioner Hadden read the …
