Versión en español a continuación. Regular Meeting of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission Wednesday, October 14th 2020 Zero Waste Advisory Commission to be held Wednesday, October 14th, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in‐person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (Tuesday , October 13th 2020) by Noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting To speak remotely at the October 14th, 2020 Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at (512) 974‐2435 Dwight.Scales@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (the day before the meeting). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to Dwight.Scales@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If this meeting is broadcast live, residents may watch the meeting here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch‐atxn‐live Reunión del Zero Waste Advisory Commission FECHA de la reunion (October 14th, 2020) La junta se llevará con modificaciones de distanciamiento social Se permitirán comentarios públicos por teléfono; no se permitirá ninguna entrada en persona. Todos los oradores deben registrarse con anticipación (October 13th, 2020 antes del mediodía). Todos los comentarios públicos se producirán al comienzo de la reunión. Para hablar de forma remota en la reunión, los residentes deben: • Llame o envíe un correo electrónico al enlace de la junta en (512)974‐2435 dwight.scales@austintexas.gov a más tardar al mediodía (el día antes de la reunión). La información requerida es el nombre del orador, los números de artículo sobre los que desean hablar, si están a favor / en contra / neutrales, y un número de teléfono o dirección de correo electrónico. • Una vez que se haya llamado o enviado por correo electrónico una solicitud para hablar al enlace de la junta, …
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Sustainability Committee Recommendation 20200826-2A Supporting the Austin Climate Equity Plan WHEREAS, the City Council passed Resolution No. 20150604-048 adopting the Austin Community Climate Plan and creating the Joint Sustainability Committee; and WHEREAS, the Austin Community Climate Plan includes a schedule for reporting and updates, with a full plan revision in 2020; and WHEREAS, the harmful effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires, are worsening in the Austin area and around the world; and WHEREAS, the “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” issued in 2018 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change illustrates that keeping the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius will help to avoid severe effects of climate change, including ecosystems collapsing, that will very likely occur if warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius; and WHEREAS, low-income communities and communities of color in Austin and around the world are the most impacted by extreme weather and pollution despite having contributed least to the drivers of climate change and pollution; and WHEREAS, harmful land use and the refusal to create or enforce real environmental regulations continue to disproportionately expose communities of color to environmental harms, leading to unjust quality of life outcomes both historically and today; and WHEREAS, low-income communities and communities of color must be prioritized to receive the disproportionate benefits of the transition to a pollution-free society to remedy disproportionate harm done historically and presently; and WHEREAS, if we design and implement programs to serve low-income communities and communities of color, we will positively impact all residents in the Austin area; and WHEREAS, the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set a goal of “keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius”; and WHEREAS, current international, federal, state and local commitments to greenhouse gas reduction fall short of what is needed to keep average global warming to either 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Emissions Gap Report 2019” illustrates the significant magnitude in the gap between international commitments and needed emissions reductions; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin is a member of C40 Cities, a network of global cities committed to addressing climate change; and WHEREAS, C40 Cities has developed guidance for cities on setting greenhouse …
To: From: Zero Waste Advisory Commission Ken Snipes Director Austin Resource Recovery Date: October 14th, 2020 Subject: Director’s Monthly Report to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission Clean Creeks Program Austin Resource Recovery and the Watershed Protection Department have begun working together to develop the newly established Clean Creeks Program. ARR will be hiring eight dedicated full-time employees that will focus on general litter abatement in creeks. Watershed Protection will provide ARR with priority cleaning areas based on customer complaints and known high-litter areas around drainage culverts. Watershed’s contractor will continue to clean encampments located in creeks. Homeless Encampment Cleanings FY 21 To address the timely clean-ups of encampments, Austin Resource Recovery is creating a dedicated crew to provide daily collection at the 28 Violet Bag sites. ARR is also planning an expansion of the Violet Bag program and plans to closely mirror the number of sites that Public Works maintains each month (approximately 60 sites). Public Works will continue to provide monthly cleanings to approximately 60 encampment sites. Also, ARR and Public Work are partnering to develop a self-cleaning pilot at two encampment sites that will encourage residents to clean the area and place unwanted items in a dumpster. Starting in October, the three-month pilot will be conducted at the Highway 71/Packsaddle Pass and Highway 183/Cameron Road sites. The pilot will be evaluated to determine overall success and the information reported to City Council. Recycle and ReUse Drop-Off Center As the positive cases are declining and Austin-Travis County has moved to Stage 3 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines, ARR has re-opened the Recycle and ReUse Drop-Off Center for appointment only services. RRDOC staff continued to perform home pick-up services of household hazardous waste for the customers already scheduled through September. The appointment drop-offs at the RRDOC began Tuesday, September 8th, and continued Monday through Friday throughout the month. The RRDOC appointment program expanded to include Saturdays starting October 3rd, 2020. The current 6 days per week schedule will continue until further changes in the COVID-19 guidelines. Customers will be required to wear a mask and will be asked to keep social distancing in mind while dropping off their items. Resumption of Brush and Bulk Collections Beginning the week of October 12th, brush collection routes will resume, and bulk collection will resume the week of October 26th. Customers will receive postcards in the mail informing them of their scheduled collection date. Back …
. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION Recommendation Number: (20201014‐2B): Resolution Supporting the Austin Climate Equity Plan WHEREAS, the City Council passed Resolution No. 20150604‐048 adopting the Austin Community Climate Plan and creating the Joint Sustainability Committee; and WHEREAS, the Austin Community Climate Plan includes a schedule for reporting and updates, with a full plan revision in 2020; and WHEREAS, the harmful effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires, are worsening in the Austin area and around the world; and WHEREAS, the “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” issued in 2018 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change illustrates that keeping the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius will help to avoid severe effects of climate change, including ecosystems collapsing, that will very likely occur if warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius; and WHEREAS, low‐income communities and communities of color in Austin and around the world are the most impacted by extreme weather and pollution despite having contributed least to the drivers of climate change and pollution; and WHEREAS, harmful land use and the refusal to create or enforce real environmental regulations continue to disproportionately expose communities of color to environmental harms, leading to unjust quality of life outcomes both historically and today; and WHEREAS, low‐income communities and communities of color must be prioritized to receive the disproportionate benefits of the transition to a pollution‐free society to remedy disproportionate harm done historically and presently; and WHEREAS, if we design and implement programs to serve low‐income communities and communities of color, we will positively impact all residents in the Austin area; and WHEREAS, the Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set a goal of “keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre‐ industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius”; and . WHEREAS, current international, federal, state and local commitments to greenhouse gas reduction fall short of what is needed to keep average global warming to either 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Emissions Gap Report 2019” illustrates the significant magnitude in the gap between international commitments and needed emissions reductions; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin is a member of C40 Cities, a network of global cities committed to addressing climate change; and WHEREAS, C40 Cities has developed …
Zero Waste Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes October 14th, 2020 The Monthly Meeting of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission convened through Video Conference on Wednesday, October 14th, 2020, due to COVID-19 Disaster Declaration for all Texas Counties. The following are the meeting highlights. For detailed information please visit: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/87209 CALL TO ORDER Chair Acuna called the Commission Meeting to order at 6:17 pm Board Members in Attendance: Gerry Acuna, Lisa Barden, Jonathan Barona, Cathy Gattuso, Amanda Masino, Melissa Rothrock, Ian Steyaert, Kaiba White Board Members not in Attendance: Janis Bookout (Membership pending) Staff in attendance via WebEx: Ken Snipes, Richard McHale, Gena McKinley, Donald Hardee, Andy Dawson, Ron Romero, Amy Slagle, Raymond Benavidez, Jaime Germany Terry, Dwight Scales, Chair Acuna opened with comments, 1. APPROVAL OF August 12th MEETING MINUTES Chair Acuna entertained a motion to approve the August 12th, Meeting minutes. Commissioner Lisa Barden made the first motion for approval of the minutes. A second motion was provided by Commissioner Amanda Masino Item passed Unanimously 2. NEW BUSINESS • • 2a Discussion and Action – Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) FY19 Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey Presentation by Claudia Nava and Liz Jambor Liz Jambor and Claudia Nava with Austin Energy’s Data Analytics team presented the Annual ARR Customer Satisfaction Survey The Data Analytics and Business Intelligence group within Austin Energy serves as the third party for ARR. The idea is to take the data, do the analytics and give the big picture insights so that teams can then turn that information into action items to better serve their customers. We collect research data and customer survey data. We also combine that with a lot of other data from other platforms We are able to pull ARR customers and tie that information to Census data or economic data to make sure that we are getting a representative sample every time we do a survey. We’re going to talk specifically about ARR today. We are gathering awareness and satisfaction insights, but also supporting strategic outcomes that the group might have. We build on existing data and we also communicate the impact of those results. We started back in 2015 by conducting a phone survey, since then we’ve moved the survey to on-line. In FY19 we had over 1000 responses. That’s a very good sample for any statistical analysis. As we’ve seen in the past, we don’t have al to of Spanish completions. We …
