Loading...
SC 1-16-20 PacketCITY OF CUPERTINO SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION AGENDA Environmental Education Center, 22221 McClellan Road Thursday, January 16, 2020 4:00 PM Special Meeting NOTICE AND CALL FOR A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CUPERTINO SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a special meeting of the Sustainability Commission is hereby called for Thursday, January 16, 2020 commencing at 4:00 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center at 22221 McClellan Road, California 95014. Said special meeting shall be for the purpose of conducting business on the subject matters listed below under the heading, “Special Meeting." PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1.Subject: Minutes from December 19, 2019 Recommended Action: Approve minutes from December 19, 2019 A - Draft Minutes POSTPONEMENTS ORAL COMMUNICATIONS This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the commission on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three (3) minutes. In most cases, State law will prohibit the commission from making any decisions with respect to a matter not listed on the agenda WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS OLD BUSINESS 2.Subject: Sustainability Speaker Series planning Recommended Action: Discuss and decide next steps for Sustainability Speaker Series Page 1 01/16/20 1 of 25 Sustainability Commission Agenda January 16, 2020 NEW BUSINESS 3.Subject: Green Building Ordinance and options for addressing emissions impact of concrete in construction Recommended Action: Discuss and consider options to complete the Green Building Code Update FY 2019-20 Work Program Item 4.Subject: Letter in support of efforts to restore the Arctic Recommended Action: Review and discuss sample resolution A - Sample Resolution B - Written Communications STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS ADJOURNMENT In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), anyone who is planning to attend the next meeting who is visually or hearing impaired or has any disability that needs special assistance should call the City Clerk's Office at 408-777-3223, 48 hours in advance of the meeting to arrange for assistance. Upon request, in advance, by a person with a disability, meeting agendas and writings distributed for the meeting that are public records will be made available in the appropriate alternative format. Also upon request, in advance, an assistive listening device can be made available for use during the meeting. Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the members after publication of the agenda will be made available for public inspection. Please contact the City Clerk’s Office in City Hall located at 10300 Torre Avenue during normal business hours. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please be advised that pursuant to Cupertino Municipal Code 2.08.100 written communications sent to the Cupertino City Council, Commissioners or City staff concerning a matter on the agenda are included as supplemental material to the agendized item. These written communications are accessible to the public through the City’s website and kept in packet archives. You are hereby admonished not to include any personal or private information in written communications to the City that you do not wish to make public; doing so shall constitute a waiver of any privacy rights you may have on the information provided to the City. Members of the public are entitled to address the members concerning any item that is described in the notice or agenda for this meeting, before or during consideration of that item. If you wish to address the members on any other item not on the agenda, you may do so during the public comment. Page 2 01/16/20 2 of 25 CITY OF CUPERTINO Legislation Text Subject: Minutes from December 19, 2019 Approve minutes from December 19, 2019 File #:20-6859,Version:1 CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 10/16/2020Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ 01/16/20 3 of 25 1 CITY OF CUPERTINO SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION Environmental Education Center, 22221 McClellan Road Thursday, December 19, 2019 4:00 p.m. MINUTES PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At 4:05 p.m. Chair Weber called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Anna Weber, Gary Latshaw, Vignesh Swaminathan, Angela Chen, Meera Ramanathan (arrived after Oral Communications). Absent: None. Staff: André Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager; Ursula Syrova, Environmental Programs Manager; Gilee Corral, Climate and Utilities Analyst. Guests: Member of the public. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft minutes of November 21, 2019 meeting were reviewed. Vice-Chair Latshaw moved and Commissioner Chen seconded to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously with Commissioner Ramanathan absent. POSTPONEMENTS - None. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Frank Geefay (Cupertino resident) talked about concerns over the future of Cupertino’s recycling program in light of China and other southeast Asian countries limiting acceptance of recyclables due to contamination, and his desire for Cupertino to reduce plastic disposable bottles and move toward a Zero Waste approach. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS – None. OLD BUSINESS – None. NEW BUSINESS 2. Subject: Update from Environmental Programs Division staff on Household Hazardous Waste Program and Recology's recycling processing cost increase Ursula Syrova, recently promoted to Environmental Programs Manager, provided an update on the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program and Recology and answered clarifying questions from the Commission. General points from the staff update: - Door to door HHW service ended at the end of 2018; City is amending agreement with Recology to request a refund plus expenses from using the County program. 01/16/20 4 of 25 2 - Staff reviewed Recology’s increased cost/rate increase request (to cover increased expenses related to China’s National Sword policy) with a consultant and agreed it was reasonable. The rate increase would extend through the term of our current agreement expiring in January 2021. - The HHW and rate increase items would likely go to Council in February and if approved, the rate increase would go into effect on Recology’s next billing cycle. - Staff are in the design phase for a new franchised hauler agreement, working with a consultant to consider any needed changes to compost service, recyclables, etc. Other topics and questions raised during discussion included: - Zero Waste Plan, how to address disposables, Zero Waste outreach and the Commission’s role. - Producer responsibility, what can be recycled and what the numbers mean on plastics, where / how public park trash is disposed. - Use of Greenwaste for composting, consideration of the SMaRT Station in Sunnyvale and split cart for food scraps. - Guidance on how compostable foodware is treated, Bay Area regional discussions on to-go reusable solution system planning, City of Berkeley’s leadership in this area. Chair Weber opened public comment and the following individual spoke: Frank Geefay (Cupertino resident) spoke in favor of establishing a formal Zero Waste strategy and program, his concern on how to address junk mail, and his concern of a lack of public understanding of the changes in recycling programs. Chair Weber moved and Commissioner Ramanathan seconded to move Staff Updates before item #3. The motion carried unanimously. STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS Staff updates: Sustainability Manager André Duurvoort gave an update on the reach code adoption process and answered clarifying questions. Items reviewed included: - Results of presentation to the Chamber of Commerce and feedback received on the draft ordinance. - Brief review of how the commercial kitchens / restaurant exemption was developed and how the exemption would have affected new builds in Cupertino. - Results of the Council First Reading of the reach code draft on Dec. 17; Council requested stronger language in the draft ordinance: removed restaurant and standalone ADUs exemption, adjust to all electric covering all building types, exceptions are junior ADUs, i.e. garage conversion, technical exemption for laboratories, if no electric alternative. - Review of the official review process and timing for the California Energy Commission (CEC). Only the energy-related portions of the ordinance need CEC approval. About six cities have received CEC approval for their reach codes so far. After Jan. 1, the CEC process is anticipated to shorten from 60 days to 15 days. Duurvoort anticipates the following timeline: o January 21: Council Second Reading and adoption of draft ordinance. o February (after Second Reading): ordinance submitted to the CEC for review. 01/16/20 5 of 25 3 o February / March: Enforcement begins. Gilee Corral gave a brief update: - Staff changes: Lauren Anderson has left the City; the Environmental team will be recruiting for two Environmental Programs Assistant positions. - Newsletter: Sustainability team’s CivicSpark AmeriCorps Fellow, Vanessa Shin, developed an e- newsletter; the first issue was just released by email to the City’s listserv for environmental news. 3. Subject: Staff update on Buy Clean California Act policy development and Bay Area low carbon concrete codes initiatives Corral updated the Commission on the Buy Clean Act policy implementation progress at the state level and local progress of low carbon concrete codes policy development. The Commission briefly discussed the topic, raising issues including: - Concern about lifecycle emissions, pollution, and unsustainability associated with concrete. Options to recycle / reuse asphalt preferable to using concrete. Consider this as an issue for the Commission to take up in the future (Swaminathan). - Could continue the Commission’s current Work Program item on Buy Clean into the next fiscal year (Weber). - Duurvoort offered to give a staff report on the Green Building Ordinance for the Commission before the item goes back to Council. Chair Weber moved and Commissioner Ramanathan seconded to add a discussion on the Green Building Ordinance and the impact of concrete to the January 16th Commission meeting. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Subject: Sustainability Commission Proposals for FY 2020-21 City Work Program Corral gave an overview of the Work Program process. The Commission briefly discussed main topics to address and how to select the proposals. Considerations / ideas included: - Engagement with youth, essay contest (Weber). - Consider our bandwidth, assume more community involvement during Commission discussions (Swaminathan). - Engagement, grants program, legislative advocacy (Ramanathan). - Decarbonization (Latshaw, distributed Written Communications). - Education around recycling, more educational opportunities, support City’s priorities. Noted education as #1 topic (Chen). Commissioner Chen left at 6:06 p.m. - Staff suggested looking at decarbonization, CAP update and engagement. - Housing, how to address state housing mandates in a sustainable way (Swaminathan). Chair Weber opened public comment and the following individual spoke: Frank Geefay (Cupertino resident) spoke about affordability of housing, how to reduce vehicle miles traveled, desire to reduce traffic and have housing for people that work in Cupertino. 01/16/20 6 of 25 4 Chair Weber closed public comment and the Commission continued the discussion, raising additional issues: - How to incorporate issues raised by the community during public comment, i.e. protected tree ordinance (Weber). Staff advised the Commission to keep in mind the priorities of the Commission and Council when considering these issues. At the suggestion of Commissioner Ramanathan, the Commission agreed to keep a running list of ideas raised by the public for review during the Work Program proposal development process. Staff will create and update this list. - Consider recommending support of efforts to restore the Arctic, expressed top concerns as decarbonization and natural gas usage (Latshaw). Commission briefly discussed the Arctic suggestion and agreed to add the Arctic draft letter of support to the January agenda; Vice-Chair Latshaw will draft a letter for review. He left at 6:47 p.m. After an extensive discussion, the Commission agreed their proposals for the Commission Work Program for FY 2021, indicating their top three in ranked order; the proposals were recorded on screen in an Excel spreadsheet, wording reflected in table below: Project/Task Project Objective Driven by mandate, law, or Council priority/direction? Measurement Criteria 1. Community outreach, education, and youth engagement Student essay contest, tabling at Earth Day Festival, and Speaker Series Events (at least one event). Work with schools to involve students in City's CAP and sustainability initiatives. Complete student essay contest and at least one Sustainability Speaker Series event. Draft a plan for Commission to engage more actively with local schools. 2. Support CAP 2.0 and Adaptation Plan development Recommend strategies for involving the community in the CAP 2.0 and Adaptation Plan development. Support staff's CAP 2.0 / Adaptation Plan process with strategies to involve public input. 3. Zero Waste Policy Review regional efforts on restricting single use / disposable items. Consider local ordinance to restrict single use / disposable items. Zero Waste Policy Recommendation to City Council on policy to prohibit or restrict single use / disposable items in the City. Decarbonization strategy for existing buildings Study policy options for limiting natural gas usage in existing buildings. Identify best practices around decarbonization. Create a best practices list of policies and / or strategies for accelerating decarbonization in existing buildings. Buy Clean state policy progress and Bay Area local model codes on embodied emissions in concrete Staff to continue to provide quarterly updates on state Buy Clean policy progress. Review model code for potential local adoption via Cupertino's Green Building Ordinance. Monitor the issue and determine if City action should be taken. 01/16/20 7 of 25 5 Housing and sustainable land use policy Collaborate with other Commissions to study land use, watershed protection, and sustainable housing policy. Track state legislation on housing density. Monitor this issue and determine if future City action should be taken. Commissioner Ramanathan moved and Chair Weber seconded to submit the proposals as recorded to the City Manager for consideration for the City Work Program for FY 2021. The motion carried unanimously with Vice- Chair Latshaw and Commissioner Chen absent. 5. Subject: Sustainability Speaker Series planning Corral reviewed the City of Sunnyvale Sustainability Commission’s suggestions for ideas to collaborate on an event in FY 2021: California’s Carbon Neutral Future (proposed speaker Jared Blumenfield, CalEPA) and What Moves You - Active, Shared and Electric Transportation (proposed speaker Jeff Tumlin, Nelson Nygaard Consulting). Corral recommended that if the Commission decides to pursue another event for FY 2020, to select a no / low-cost event and establish a subcommittee to plan it. Commissioner Swaminathan moved and Commissioner Ramanathan seconded to add the Sustainability Speaker Series topic to the January meeting agenda, to discuss the collaboration with Sunnyvale and decide on a subcommittee. The motion carried unanimously with Vice-Chair Latshaw and Commissioner Chen absent. STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS (continued) Commission updates: Commissioner Swaminathan reported that his business won a contract with the City of Cupertino to work on the McClellan Road protected bike lane. He will recuse himself on any discussions related to this project in the future. He also noted an update from VTA – that bus service 523 will begin a high-speed corridor service from Caltrain Sunnyvale to De Anza and the San Jose Berryessa BART station soon. ADJOURNMENT- 7:48 p.m. 01/16/20 8 of 25 CITY OF CUPERTINO Legislation Text Subject: Sustainability Speaker Series planning Discuss and decide next steps for Sustainability Speaker Series File #:20-6891,Version:1 CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 10/16/2020Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ 01/16/20 9 of 25 CITY OF CUPERTINO Legislation Text Subject: Green Building Ordinance and options for addressing emissions impact of concrete in construction Discuss and consider options to complete the Green Building Code Update FY 2019-20 Work Program Item File #:20-6892,Version:1 CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 10/16/2020Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ 01/16/20 10 of 25 CITY OF CUPERTINO Legislation Text Subject: Letter in support of efforts to restore the Arctic Review and discuss sample resolution File #:20-6893,Version:1 CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 10/16/2020Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ 01/16/20 11 of 25 Draft of Resolution Requesting the Federal Government to Establish a Program to Restore the Arctic sea ice and Arctic Region Whereas, the City of Cupertino has made significant progress in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. We are acknowledging that the current levels of greenhouse gases have already put the collapse of the Arctic ice and Arctic Region in danger or collapse. Whereas, response of the global community has been tragically inadequate to the warnings of climate scientists to reduce and eliminate the emissions of greenhouse gases that increase global temperatures, causing sea level rise and melting of sea and land ice. Whereas, the increase in global temperatures has caused the decline of Arctic sea-ice cover by more than 75% over the last 40 years. This decline has resulted in major disruptions throughout the globe and threatens the future of mankind unless rectified. Whereas, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change said has said at the 2019 COP25 conference: “This year, we have seen accelerating climate change impacts, including increased droughts, storms and heat waves, with dire consequences for poverty eradication, human health, migration and inequality. “The world’s small window of opportunity to address climate change is closing rapidly. We must urgently deploy all the tools of multilateral cooperation to make COP25 the launchpad for more climate ambition to put the world on a transformational path towards low carbon and resilience.” Whereas the decline of the Arctic sea-ice and snow cover will continue even under the most aggressive greenhouse-gas emission reduction targets. Whereas, the Arctic sea-ice and snow cover decline puts at risk several vital ocean and climate systems critical for the human race to produce adequate food, acquire clean water, avoid infectious diseases, and establish stable habitat. The following global systems are in jeopardy: • Arctic Sea-Ice & Snow Reflectivity which has been an important moderator of global warming, Containment of frozen methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) in the Arctic seabed, • Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (a probable stabilizing factor in global weather patterns and sea levels), • Prevention of the Melting of Tundra Permafrost causing the release greenhouse gases, • Containment of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the 01/16/20 12 of 25 Draft of Resolution Requesting the Federal Government to Establish a Program to Restore the Arctic sea ice and Arctic Region • Stability of the Polar Jet Stream to inhibit extreme global weather events. Whereas, the above systems are critical to avoiding destructive storms, hurricanes, and cyclones; precipitous sea level rise; droughts; food sources; heat waves; spread of diseases; and other hazardous events. Whereas, this dramatic loss of Arctic sea-ice is a destabilizing force in the Arctic that threaten our national security in several ways: • Superiority of our presence in the Arctic Region • Valuable military installations due to sea level rise and intensified storms (including Norfolk Naval Base), • Weapons performance and munitions stability due to rising temperatures, and • Exceeding the capacity of our military establishment to address environmental and societal collapses throughout the world. Whereas, the United States has been a leader in scientific research in the Arctic region. Whereas, the United States has been a front-runner over the last century in the development, manufacturing, and implementing many life-improving innovations. These innovations include airplanes, electric lights, polio vaccines, antibiotics, television, internet, telecommunications, space exploration, and other innovations. Be it Resolved then, as urgently stated by the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change, that the United States in concert with other countries embark on a sizeable program of research, prototyping, and eventually implementing measures to stabilize the Arctic sea-ice and Tundra Region. Such a program should consider, but not limit itself, to distribution on the sea-ice of highly reflective microspheres, marine cloud brightening, artificial enhancement of Arctic ice thickening, and others protective measures. 01/16/20 13 of 25 01/16/20 14 of 25 Call for Restoration of the Arctic International Program for Cupertino Sustainability Commission January 16, 2019 By Gary Latshaw In cooperation with Retired NASA Ames Scientists: Stan Farkas, Phil Russel, Steve Zornetzer, and Anthony Strawa 01/16/20 15 of 25 10 years to an Ice-Free Arctic 2019 second lowest average sea ice volume since 1979 01/16/20 16 of 25 Map of Arctic Region 01/16/20 17 of 25 Restore Arctic Ice and Snow Restoring Arctic Permafrost thereby containing decomposition of buried vegetation Containing Methane Hydrates Laying on Arctic Coastal Seabed Constraining the Greenland Ice Sheet Melt by Cooling Northern Hemisphere Temperatures Maintaining Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation thereby Stabilizing North Atlantic Weather Patterns Reducing Global Heating by Improving Reflectivity Comprehensive Result: Constraining the Rate of Sea Level Rise Multiple Earth Systems at Risk from Arctic Disintegration Disruption of Polar Vortex causing extreme weather events 01/16/20 18 of 25 Substantial Global Heating •More Heat Absorption in open ocean and thin ice 01/16/20 19 of 25 Formation of Rivers in Greenland •Greenland’s Ice Melt Rate Has Now Accelerated To A Whopping 234 Billion Tons Of Ice Lost Per Year •Forbes, jan 12, 2020 01/16/20 20 of 25 Atlantic Meridional Overturn Circulation (AMOC) •10-15% slow down 01/16/20 21 of 25 Methane Release reaching surface •Methane Hydrate Disintegration •Potential of 0.6 C Global Warming Alone 01/16/20 22 of 25 Bursts of Methane from Thermokarst Lakes •Unexpected contribution 01/16/20 23 of 25 Wandering Polar Jet Stream •More severe weather •Unpredictable Weather complicating agriculture •More Melting 01/16/20 24 of 25 Ask The Government of the United States must aggressively implement a broad international program of RESARCH on the condition Arctic Sea Ice and Region, and establish and implement a program to RESTORE the Sea Ice and other aspects of the region. 01/16/20 25 of 25