SUBJECT: Consent
Title
A Resolution Of The Board Of Trustees Of The Town Of Erie Approving The Support Of The 2021-2022 Colorado Communities For Climate Action Policy Statement Update
Body
DEPARTMENT: Administration
PRESENTER: Malcolm Fleming, Town Administrator
TIME ESTIMATE:
only required for non-consent items
FISCAL SUMMARY: N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board of Trustees support Colorado Communities for Climate Action’s updated 2021-2022 Policy Statement.
End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The Town of Erie became a member of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA) in 2020. As a member, the Town has had the opportunity to weigh-in on the development of the 2021-2022 CC4CA Policy Statement, which is updated on an annual basis to adjust the policy positions of the organization.
CC4CA held its all-member annual retreat to review and finalize the Policy Statement on June 4, 2021. The retreat, and the many months of work by CC4CA's Policy Committee and Board of Directors (on which every member jurisdiction is represented) prior to the retreat, provided the opportunity for all members to share input on each of the policy positions and the statements were modified accordingly. CC4CA members did a significant amount of work to finalize the proposed statement based on the input of all member Councils and Boards and to gain the approval of all members present at the retreat. At this time, all members of CC4CA are asked to formally ratify the updated Policy Statement.
A summary of the updates are listed below:
Substantive Updates
a) Add a new item on solid waste, wastewater, and agricultural waste (which will now be Policy Position #24):
24. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from water treatment, wastewater treatment, solid waste, and agricultural activities.
b) Add a new item on water conservation (which will now be Policy Position #28):
28. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience associated with water management through water conservation,
efficiency, reuse, adaptation and low impact development strategies.
Minor/Clarifying Proposed Updates
c) Change the language on the fifth General Policy Principle from:
Prioritizing policies that put people at the center of decision-making, minimizing disparities in growing the clean economy, especially for historically marginalized communities, and enhancing equitable outcomes for all.
…to the language recommended by CC4CA's Equity Working Group:
Prioritizing policies that put equity at the center of decision-making by addressing systemic environmental and governance inequities based on race and socioeconomic status and by justly transitioning and growing the clean economy.
NOTE: This language was crafted by CC4CA's ad-hoc Equity Working Group between March and May in a careful, collaborative process.
d) Add "actionable, useful" and "alignment between state and local inventory data" to Policy Position #2, change "frequent" to "regular," and delete "designed to be useful to stakeholders," so that it reads:
2. Secure accurate, actionable, useful, and regular state greenhouse gas inventories and forecasts for Colorado which are made accessible to local governments and incorporate alignment between state and local inventory data to the extent possible.
e) Consolidate what was Policy Position #8 into the subsequent position statement (currently identified as #8).
f) Change "protect" to "support" and add "communities," so that the sentence in #9 reads: "… through means that support utilities, consumers, and the communities where these facilities have been located."
g) Add "municipal electric utilities" to Policy Position #10 so that it reads:
10. Expand the ability of electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities to independently purchase local renewable electricity and take other steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
h) Expand "coal" to "fossil fuel" in positions #13 and #14 pertaining to supporting transition communities.
i) Add "legislative" to the list of venues in Policy Position #16 and replace "vehicles" with "mobile sources" to capture the full range of vehicle types as well as other mobile sources like lawn mowers, and so that it reads:
16. Ensure effective implementation of Colorado’s vehicle emissions standards and other legislative, regulatory, and programmatic activities designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources.
j) Change the heading of the section on solid waste (immediately before Policy Position #21) from "Solid Waste Reduction" to "Waste," since the language in this section now covers reducing solid waste, liquid waste, and the carbon intensity of waste.
k) Add "or eliminate" to Policy Position #22 so that it reads:
22. Reduce or eliminate use of disposable/single-use products and promote reuse of materials, including construction and demolition waste.
l) Reword Policy Position #23 to make it clearer and to add carbon intensiveness and circular economy, so that it reads:
23. Foster circular economy policies like reuse, recycling, composting, and reducing the carbon intensiveness of materials and products.
m) Clarify that Policy Position #27 is aimed at both natural carbon sequestration (known as "Natural Climate Solutions") and carbon capture technologies, and shorten the item, so that it reads:
27. Support exploration and deployment, when appropriate, of natural climate solutions (NCS) and of carbon capture and utilization/sequestration (CCUS).
n) Incorporate what was Policy Position #28 into the fifth General Policy Principle (see letter (c) above).
o) Add "and ensure that these laws are fully implemented" to Policy Position #31 so that it reads:
31. Maintain protections and authorities currently provided under environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act, and ensure that these laws are fully implemented.
Minor Wording and Copy Editing Updates
p) Minor copy edits (e.g., updating dates and tense alignment).
q) Eliminate the article "the" in some sentences, when unnecessary, for grammatical consistency.
r) Replace "carbon pollution" with "greenhouse gas pollution."
s) Replace "carbon emissions" with "greenhouse gas emissions."
Fiscal Impact: There is no budget impact at this time.
Board Priority(s) Addressed:
ü Engaged and Diverse Community
ü Prosperous Economy
ü Safe and Healthy Community
ü Effective Governance
ü Environmentally Sustainable
ü Fiscally Responsible
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution 21-097
2. CC4CA 2021-2022 Policy Statement