JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE HYBRID MEETING FORMAT September 27th, 2023 at 6pm Permitting and Development Center, Room 1401/1402 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr, Austin, TX 78752 Some members of the Committee may be participating by videoconference Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via 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. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, call or email Zach Baumer at (zach.baumer@austintexas.gov or 415-694-3111). CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Kaiba White, Chair (Electric Utility Commission) Diana Wheeler, Vice Chair (Urban Transportation Commission) Charlotte Davis (Resource Mgmt. Commission) Haris Qureshi (Environmental Commission) Melissa Rothrock (Zero Waste Advisory Commission) Bertha Delgado (Community Development Commission) Larry Franklin (Austin Travis County Food Policy Board) Chris Maxwell-Gaines (Water & Wastewater Commission) Kelsey Hitchingham (Economic Prosperity Commission) Stephanie Bazan (Parks & Recreation Board) Jon Salinas (Design Commission) Vacant (City Council) Alice Woods (Planning Commission) Rodrigo Leal (Mayor’s Representative) Anna Scott (Mayor’s Representative) Heather Houser (Mayor’s Representative) Yureisly Suarez (Mayor’s Representative) Christopher Campbell (Mayor’s Representative) For more information, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/jsc AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL 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. DISCUSSION 1. Austin Carbon Footprints – Phillip Duran, Office of Sustainability. 2. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grants opportunity – Rohan Lilauwala, Office of Sustainability. 3. 2024 JSC Meeting Schedule. 4. Updates from the Planning Commission. 5. Updates from the Urban Transportation Commission. 6. Updates from the Water and Wastewater Commission. 7. Updates from the Resource Management Commission. 8. Updates from the Electric Utility Commission. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 9. Approval of minutes from the August 23rd meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee. 10. Discussion and Possible Recommendation to Council on Priority policy and program recommendations from JSC working groups on Austin Climate Equity Plan Implementation. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 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 …
JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MEETING MINUTES Sep 27, 2023 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a hybrid meeting via videoconferencing and at AE Headquarters. Acting Chair Diana Wheeler called the Board Meeting to order at 6:05 pm. Board Members in Attendance in Person: Diana Wheeler, Alice Woods, Jon Salinas, Yure Suarez, Rodrigo Leal, Chris Maxwell-Gaines, Chris Campbell Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Lane Becker, Heather Houser, Melissa Rothrock, Kaiba White, Charlotte Davis Board Members Absent: Kelsey Hitchingham, Haris Qureshi, Larry Franklin, Bertha Delgado City Staff in Attendance: Zach Baumer CALL TO ORDER 9. Approval of minutes from the July 26th meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee. Motion by White, seconded by Suarez. Approved unanimously (10-0, Maxwell-Gaines and Campbell off dais) PUBLIC COMMUNICATION Scott Johnson (air quality advocate) spoke on the importance of sustainable purchasing to encourage improved air quality Monica Guzman (Go Austin/Vamos Austin) spoke on the need for neighborhood circulators/shuttles in the Rundberg area of North Austin. 1. City of Austin Carbon Footprints, Phillip Duran, Office of Sustainability White: Great news that we got more funding for this department that needs even more Discussions of pros and cons of using 100-year Global Warming Potential measures vs funding for the large job it does. 20-year GWP Discussion on how to communicate consumption-based emissions 2. Climate Pollution Reduction Grants – Rohan Lilauwala, Office of Sustainability Unclear about whether GHG reductions include Scope 1-3 emissions 4. Updates from the Planning Commission – Alice Woods PC joint meeting with Council on Oct 26 to discuss changes to Land Development Code, voted by PC on Nov 14, Council on Dec 14. Impacts have positive sustainability impacts. Encourages JSC to pass resolution in support of the item. Wants to explore sustainability guide – can help provide objective source of environmental information. 5. Updates from Urban Transportation Commission – Diana Wheeler Encourages defending Project Connect, uses examples of other cities. Congress Ave urban design plan update 6. Updates from Water/Wastewater Commission – Chris Maxwell-Gaines Austin Water external review to improve organization effectiveness and resilience Water supply – Austin at stage 2 water restrictions since Aug 15 7. Updates from Resource Management Commission – Charlotte Davis RMC considering resolution around AE Green Choice – repurpose program towards dispatchable renewable energy and storage 8. Updates from Electric Utility Commission – Kaiba White …
Joint Sustainability Committee RECOMMENDATION 20230927-010 Date: September 27, 2023 Subject: Priorities for accelerating implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan Motioned By: Rodrigo Leal Seconded By: Christopher Campbell Recommendation The Joint Sustainability Committee recommends that additional emphasis be placed on implementing the goals and strategies in the Austin Climate Equity Pan (ACEP), to give our community a chance to meet the goals of the plan. The committee recommends that the City Council, city management, and appropriate city departments start work immediately to implement the following list of strategies identified as priorities. Tracking and Reporting Recommendation: 1. The Office of Sustainability should publish a schedule of official updates to the Climate Equity Plan implementation dashboard, including metrics on the specific sub-strategies within the plan and more formalized equity accounting, to enable the public to see progress toward Austin’s climate equity goals. Recommend biannual or quarterly updates. All city departments should be instructed to provide timely updates with sufficient detail to enable these updates. [ACEP] Sustainable Buildings Recommendations: 2. City Council should (after appropriate stakeholder engagement by Austin Energy and Development Services) adopt the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), with a local amendment to require space for a heat pump hot water heater, as quickly as possible. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 3. City Council should update the Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure Ordinance (ECAD) to require energy efficiency upgrades to multifamily and commercial buildings that perform poorly on energy audits. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 4. City Council should consider incorporating the use of the Passive House standard and/or Living Building Challenge standard into a density bonus program when the existing density bonus programs are consolidated. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 5. City Council should establish a policy to explicitly promote or incentivize the Passive House and/or Living Building Challenge standards throughout the City of Austin RFP and building funding scoring metrics (stating preference for and/or adding points to scoring for meeting these standards). [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 6. Austin Energy should create a pilot program, possibly utilizing funds from Austin Energy’s Energy Efficiency Services fee or grants, to demonstrate the efficacy of certified Passive House and/or Living Building Challenge multifamily projects. Recommend funding $3,000 per unit for first 1000 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units to certify and create a report detailing construction cost increases …
Carbon Footprint Update September 2023 1 Austin’s Carbon Emissions 2 Carbon Accounting Protocols International leader on climate science For communities, like the Austin area For organizations like COA, CapMetro 3 Carbon Emission “Scopes” “BURN” “BUY” “BEYOND” Fuels you burn directly Transportation fuel Water and space heating fuel Electricity District Energy Indirect offsite emissions Everything else Production and delivery of goods and services Can occur anywhere in the world Hard to measure Traditional Carbon Footprint 4 Carbon Footprint Boundaries City of Austin Daily Operations Austin Extra-territorial Jurisdiction Municipal Carbon Footprint Community-wide Carbon Footprint 5 Austin’s Carbon Emissions 6 City of Austin Municipal Footprint Boundary Sources Electricity Natural Gas District Energy City Vehicles Refrigerants Carbon Offsets City of Austin Daily Operations GreenChoice Energy since 2012 Space and water heating City Hall, Central Library, Austin Convention Center Fleet, emergency aircraft, mileage reimbursements Estimate based on fleet and facility purchase orders Local tree plantings, Airport and Convention Center 7 City of Austin Municipal Footprint CITY OF AUSTIN Municipal Carbon Footprint Net emissions in 2022 44K Metric Tons CO₂e Electricity Natural Gas District Energy City Vehicles Refrigerants Offsets Link: COA Municipal Carbon Footprint Dashboard 8 City of Austin Municipal Footprint 2022 Net Emissions: 44k metric tons CO₂e 9 Local Community-wide Footprint Boundary Sources Electricity Natural Gas Transportation Refrigerants Industrial Waste Austin Energy Texas Gas Service, Atmos Energy, UT Power Plant Google EIE, Red Line and freight, in- boundary aviation Community-wide estimate based on population Semi-conductor manufacturing, other processes Austin Water wastewater, local landfills, flaring Austin Extra-territorial Jurisdiction If the emissions occur here, we try to capture them 10 Local Community-wide Footprint COMMUNITY-WIDE FOOTPRINT Carbon emission trends by source COVID-19 Link: Local Community-wide Carbon Footprint Dashboard 11 Local Community-wide Footprint Emissions Peaked in 2011 COMMUNITY-WIDE FOOTPRINT Progress towards net-zero by 2040 11.8 MT CO₂e in 2021 Natural Gas Electricity Transportation Industrial Refrigerants Waste 12 Local Community-wide Footprint 2021: 11.8 million metric tons CO₂e 13 Consumption-based Footprint “BURN” “BUY” “BEYOND” Fuels you burn directly Transportation fuel Water and space heating fuel Electricity District Energy Indirect offsite emissions Everything else Production and delivery of goods and services Can occur anywhere in the world Hard to measure Consumption-Based Footprint 14 Consumption-based Footprint What is a consumption-based emissions inventory? Our consumption-based emissions inventory (CBEI) is an estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions from the production and delivery of the goods and services used by the entire community. Sources like utilities …
Joint Sustainability Committee RECOMMENDATION 20230726-XXX Date: September 27, 2023 Subject: Priorities for accelerating implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan Motioned By: Seconded By: Recommendation The Joint Sustainability Committee recommends that additional emphasis be placed on implementing the strategies in the Austin Climate Equity Pan, to give our community a chance to meet the goals of the plan. The committee recommends that the City Council, city management, and appropriate city departments start work immediately to implement the following list of strategies identified as priorities. Sustainable Buildings Recommendations: 1. City Council should (after appropriate stakeholder engagement by Austin Energy and Development Services) adopt the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), with a local amendment to require space for a heat pump hot water heater, as quickly as possible. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 2. City Council should update the Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure Ordinance (ECAD) to require energy efficiency upgrades to multifamily and commercial buildings that perform poorly on energy audits. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 & 3] 3. City Council should create a density bonus (that stacks on top of Affordability Unlocked bonus and other bonus programs) to incentivize the use of the Passive House standard and/or Living Building Challenge standard. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 4. City Council should establish a policy to explicitly promote or incentivize the Passive House and/or Living Building Challenge standards throughout the City of Austin RFP and building funding scoring metrics (stating preference for and/or adding points to scoring for meeting these standards). [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 5. Austin Energy should create a pilot program, possibly utilizing funds from Austin Energy’s Energy Efficiency Services fee or grants, to demonstrate the efficacy of certified Passive House and/or Living Building Challenge multifamily projects. Recommend funding $3,000 per unit for first 1000 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units to certify and create a report detailing construction cost increases vis a vis utility savings and other benefits. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies 1 and 3] 6. Austin Energy should split the Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) program into one track that applies to Smart Housing and a “standard” track for all other development. Allocate funding and staff to administer these programs. Create incentives and/or provide a density bonus for Smart Housing to meet the requirements of the “standard” AEGB program. [Sustainable Buildings Goal 1, Strategies …
Joint Sustainability Committee RECOMMENDATION 20230726-XXX Date: September 26, 2023September 25, 2023September 6, 2023 Subject: Priorities for implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan Motioned By: Seconded By: Description of Recommendations to Council Transportation Electrification Recommendations: 1. The Joint Sustainability Commission recommends that Austin Energy, in collaboration with CapMetro and City of Austin Department of Transportation and Public Works, define and then conduct an Electric Vehicles (EV) Community Needs Assessment with a focus on the Eastern Crescent, Rundberg (North Austin, North Lamar, Georgian Acres), and Dove Springs. Assessment should build on community engagement and feedback (such as leveraging an Ambassadors program and partnering with entities such as TxETRA) to address mobility challenges in these regions and consider other electric mobility options such as buses, shuttles, and carsharing. 2. The Joint Sustainability Commission recommends that Austin Energy will provide develop city-wide incentives for buying and leasing new and used EVs targeted only to those who qualify for the Austin Energy Customer Assistance Program (CAP). 3. The Joint Sustainability Commission recommends that Austin Energy will facilitate the createion of a coalition of organizations and a paid ambassadors program (e.g., Climate Ambassadors), to provide stipends to individuals and organizations that already have trust in the community to provide EV education. Education shouldwill encompass: clarifying the EV charging process, raising awareness about available incentives, and increasing community involvement by connecting systematically excluded groups with job and training/education opportunities in the EV field. 2 Transportation Electrification Rationales: 1. Austin Energy identified this as a high equity impact strategy. The Austin Climate Equity Plan notes that conducting a community EV Community Needs Assessment will assist in identifying the intersections of mobility challenges, transportation electrification, and racial and economic justice. The assessment will inform an EV adoption growth plan that will be supported by enhanced communications efforts and incentives. [Transportation Electrification Goal 1, Strategy 1] 2. Even though there are federal and state-wide incentives that have made EVs more affordable and comparable to internal combustion engine vehicles, current incentives are not targeted to low-income communities. Also, EV adopters tend to belong to higher income population groups. Therefore, a city-wide incentive toward low-income communities can level the playing field, promote a just and equitable transition to EVs and accelerate EV adoption city-wide. This would be considered a high equity and high emission reduction impact recommendation. [Transportation Electrification Goal 1, Strategy 2] 3. A lack of education around available tax …
Joint Sustainability Committee RECOMMENDATION 20230726-XXX Date: September 27, 2023 Subject: Priorities for implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan Motioned By: Seconded By: Recommendation Description of Recommendation to Council Natural Systems and Food & Product Consumption Recommendations: 1. The Office of Sustainability should publish a schedule of official updates to the Climate Equity Plan implementation dashboard, including metrics on the specific sub-strategies within the plan and more formalized equity accounting, to enable the public to see progress toward Austin’s climate equity goals. Recommend biannual or quarterly updates. All city departments should be instructed to provide timely updates with sufficient detail to enable these updates. 2. The disposal rate goal in the Austin Resource Recovery Zero Waste Plan should decline over time, rather than remain steady as indicated in the draft plan. 3. The near-term goals of The Austin Resource Recovery Zero Waste Plan should be redefined as a timeframe of 0-2 years to better align with the goals of the ACEP, instead of near-term being defined as 0-5 years as indicated in the draft plan. 4. Office of Sustainability should work with relevant City departments, potentially including Austin Public Health, to begin a stakeholder process to develop educational campaigns and incentives to promote healthy, low-carbon, protein-rich food choices within the retail space and non-retail programs (Mobile Markets, Healthy Food Pantries and pop-ups, etc.). This may include a local program similar to Double Up Food Bucks for protein-rich plant foods (such as beans, lentils and soy). Direct incentives to grocery stores and affordable restaurants (which could be in the form of coupons available to customers) should also be considered. The Office of Sustainability should pursue any available options for outside funding, including an EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, in addition to city funding. Rationale: Natural Systems and Food & Product Consumption Recommendations 1. More data and information and more frequent updates to the dashboard is needed to better gauge Austin’s stated progress on climate goals. Data gaps, in particular on the Climate Equity Plan implementation dashboard, exist. Status of progress is only shown down to the “strategy” level, but each “strategy” in the plan actually includes multiple strategies. Reporting on the status of each sub-strategy is needed. Status of the actual implementation is sometimes out of date, and often doesn’t include any information about who is leading an initiative or who to contact to get more information or get involved. Additionally, …
Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Office of Sustainability Approach - Sep 2023 Partners • Part of Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2021 • Funds targeted at states, MSAs, and tribal governments • Two phases • Planning • Implementation CPRG Planning Grants ● $1 million in non-competitive funding to the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for regional climate planning ● City of Austin (Sustainability) leading process ● AECOM supported grant application ● Outputs ○ Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) (due Mar 1, 2024) ○ Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) (due mid-2025) ○ Status Report (due mid-2027) 3 City of Austin Travis County CAPCOG City of Kyle Hays County CAMPO City of Buda Bastrop County Clean Air Force Partners City of San Marcos City of Lakeway City of Round Rock City of Pflugerville SPEER Movability Alliance Sierra Club Lone Star Clean Fuels 4 Planning Grant Application Timeline ● May: Applied for grant ● Jun-Aug: Worked with EPA ● Oct: Project kicks off ● Sep: Received notice of award, council approval, job postings up 5 PCAP Timeline 6 CPRG Implementation Funds - Opportunity ● $4.3 billion for general competition ● Expectation of 30 to 115 grants ranging between $2 million and $500 million ● Measures proposed must be in PCAP and focused on GHG reductions ● We can submit two applications: one individual, and one as lead of a coalition ● We can also participate in other coalitions ● Deadline is April 1, 2024 7 CPRG Implementation Funds - Goals 1. Implement ambitious measures that will achieve significant cumulative GHG reductions by 2030 and beyond 2. Pursue measures that will achieve substantial community benefits (such as reduction of criteria air pollutants (CAPs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)), particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities; 3. Complement other funding sources to maximize these GHG reductions and community benefits 4. Pursue innovative policies and programs that are replicable and can be “scaled up” across multiple jurisdictions. 8 CPRG Implementation Funds - Evaluation Criteria Overall Project Summary and Approach Impact of GHG Reduction Measures Environmental Results – Outputs, Outcomes, and Performance Measures Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities Job Quality Total Programmatic Capability and Past Performance Budget and Timely Expenditure of Grant Funds 45 60 30 35 5 30 45 250 9 Prep Work for Grants - Interdepartmental Meetings ● We’ve been having monthly conversations with 20+ departments ● Tracking opportunities ● Identifying projects and looking for opportunities for …
JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MEETING MINUTES August 23, 2023 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a hybrid meeting via videoconferencing and at AE Headquarters. Acting Chair Kaiba White called the Board Meeting to order at 6:10 pm. Board Members in Attendance in Person: Charlotte Davis, Rodrigo Leal, Yure Suarez, Kaiba White, Haris Qureshi Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Stephanie Bazan, Jon Salinas, Diana Wheeler, Melissa, Rothrock, Heather Houser, Christopher Campbell, Anna Scott Board Members Absent: Larry Franklin, Alice Woods, Kelsey Hitchingham, Chris Maxwell- Gaines, Bertha Delgado Observing: None City Staff in Attendance: Zach Baumer 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. 5. Approval of minutes from the July 26th meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee. Motion by Qureshi, seconded by Davis. Approved unanimously (12-0) 1. Office of Sustainability Budget - Zach Baumer, Office of Sustainability Qureshi: Will you continue to fund Climate Ambassadors? Baumer: Yes with additional staff will find a way to continue to support ambassadors. White: Met with Rodney Gonzales and made the recommendations clear / simple / easily fundable. Question looming about Temp to Perm Admin or Engagement staff? Baumer: Will follow up. Scott: Do we know exactly why this additional funding was received? White: Great news that we got more funding for this department that needs even more funding for the large job it does. 2. EV charging infrastructure education and workforce development – Larry Franklin, Black Lives Veggies – Item Skipped 6. Discussion and Possible Recommendation to Council on composting and recycling services at multifamily residential properties. – Kaiba White - Kaiba White summary of presentation - Discussed Recommendation to Council - Davis: What about enforcement? - White: Code enforcement officers. - Rothrock: Will be a slow rollout, no enforcement for a year. - Davis: Education, are there additional requirements above and beyond signage / information to educate folks how to use it? - White: Signage and also materials given to residents - Suarez: Who ends up paying for this, and trash valet, will they compost? - Discussion: unsure, recommendation doesn’t address. - Going to council next month. Houser motion – Scott – 2nd. Vote = 12-0 adopted. 7. Discussion and Possible Recommendation to Council on Priority policy and program recommendations from JSC working groups on Austin …
