DATE: March 22, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
SUBJECT
Title
Addressing Sustainability Features in Staff Reports
End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That Council reviews and comments on this report.
Body
SUMMARY
Hayward prides itself on being “Green” and has many projects, programs, and goals that demonstrate its leadership in sustainability. The City also has many Green policies, primarily incorporated in the General Plan, to help guide future projects and Council decisions in a way that continues and expands the City’s leadership. However, given the number and breadth of policies established by Council, it is sometimes a challenge to ensure consistency with those policies related to sustainability. This report proposes incorporating a new section in staff reports to Council, Commissions, and Committees wherein sustainability policies and features would be addressed in a succinct and consistent manner at a defined place in each report.
BACKGROUND
Since 2011, “Green”, i.e., sustainable practices, has been one of the Council’s primary priorities, although Hayward’s efforts to innovate in the area of sustainability have been in place for much longer. Following are a few examples:
• 1991 - Hayward was among the first to establish a curbside recycling program.
• 1992 - Hayward was the first jurisdiction in Alameda County and among the first in California to adopt a Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE)
• 1993 - Hayward was a trail blazer when the Council adopted and implemented tiered water rates to encourage water conservation. Many water districts have only recently adopted tiered rates in the face of the current drought. Hayward is now among the lowest 4% of all water users in California in average residential per capita water consumption.
• 2001 - Hayward was among the first to adopt and enforce a Construction and Demolition Debris recycling ordinance
• 2003 - Hayward was one of the first cities in Alameda County to install solar photovoltaic panels in a City facility (at the Corporation Yard)
• 2007 - Hayward was among the first to innovate the idea of free commercial recycling in order to foster recycling in the business sector. This resulted in the City being the first City of 100,000 residents or larger in Alameda County, and the County unincorporated area, to reach a 76% waste diversion from landfill in 2014.
• 2009 - Hayward was among the first in California to adopt a Climate Action Plan (CAP).
• 2010 - The City installed a one megawatt solar photovoltaic facility at the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), which was one of the two largest installations of its kind in the County at that time.
• 2013 - Hayward converted all of its streetlights (more than 8,000) to LED technology, saving more than $300,000 per year in energy costs.
• 2013 - The City upgraded its power and heat co-generation system at the City’s WPCF, making the system twice as large and twice as efficient. The new system uses combined heat and power from bio-gas to make the WPCF energy self-sufficient and export excess energy from the co-generation system and all of the solar energy produced to other City facilities. The City uses PG&E’s new RES-BCT (Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer) tariff and Hayward was the first municipality in PG&E’s service area to use RES-BCT.
• 2014 - Hayward was one of the first cities in California to integrate its Climate Action Plan into the General Plan, in part, to ensure that sustainability is taken into consideration in Council decisions across the full spectrum of its decision-making process.
• 2015 -Hayward was recognized by the Local Government Commission’s Beacon Award program for implementing a wide range of sustainability best practices, including significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2015 -The City was honored by the USEPA as one of three entities nationwide to receive the Green Power Leadership Award for on-site generation.
• 2016 - The City is in final consideration for receiving the Acterra Business Environmental Award.
In order to continue this long tradition of innovation and green practices on a consistent basis, Council, Commissions, and Committees should receive information about the sustainability features of each of the projects submitted for their review, and each project’s aspects that will lessen its environmental footprint, so that they are in a position to help Hayward continue and build on these best practices and to make fully informed decisions.
Sustainability Committee - The Council Sustainability Committee considered staff’s proposal on December 10, 2015 (LB 15-043 <https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2529563&GUID=DFA3D066-FB0D-4FD7-8BF8-5C13D7C45109&Options=&Search=>). Environmental Services staff will be available to assist other departments with preparation of the Sustainability Features section and the Committee expressed concern over the added work load that this may cause Environmental Services staff. However, it was acknowledged that there would be an increased work load primarily right after implementation, but that staff’s guidance might be most needed during the first year.
The Committee suggested that sustainability features should also be addressed in all proposals submitted to the City in response to RFPs in order to streamline the process and reduce staff time required when preparing this new section.
The Committee unanimously supported the proposal.
Staff also reviewed this proposal with members of the City’s internal Green Team, which includes staff representatives from all City departments and is tasked with improving sustainability within City operations. The comments expressed were focused on making the analysis easy to complete and ensuring that help will be available to report writers when assistance is needed. As noted above, Environmental Services staff will be available to assist other departments with preparation of sustainability discussions in their reports.
DISCUSSION
Most City projects and programs incorporate sustainability features that align with Council’s priorities and adopted policies. The proposed addition to staff reports would enable decision makers to review these features in a concise manner within each report. Moreover, while the City has been recognized for its sustainability leadership, this leadership and these honors are more likely to continue if there is a mechanism in place to ensure that all adopted Council policies in all aspects of sustainability are considered during the design and adoption of new projects and programs. Each proposal’s consistency with the City’s sustainability-related goals needs to be provided in a clear and concise manner.
In an effort to more effectively and consistently implement the City Council’s “Green” priority and related General Plan policies, staff proposes to address sustainability issues by adding a simple and clear section in the report template similar to how Economic Impacts and Fiscal Impacts are currently addressed. Staff’s intent is to ensure that complete information regarding sustainability is provided to help inform a wide range of decisions, including proposals for capital projects, purchasing, contracting, and various programs and policies. There have been recent discussions about how to streamline report preparation and to ease the burden on report authors as well as for those who read the reports. Staff is aware of the need to keep the discussion of sustainability short and to the point. The sustainability discussion is neither a replacement for nor an addition to any environmental documentation that may have been prepared for projects pursuant to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In general, most reports should include a Sustainability Features section; however, in some cases, it may not be needed. The section should be included when the proposal will result in a physical development (construction, demolition, or renovation); the purchase of a product or service; or a new policy or legislation. Most reports will need to address the following questions (General Plan policies related to each question are provided in Attachment I):
1. Energy: Does the proposal include features that will minimize the use of electricity, natural gas, and other fossil fuels?
2. Water: Does the proposal include features that will reduce the use of water?
3. Air: Does the proposal include features that will minimize emission of pollutants into the air?
4. Solid Waste: Does the proposal include features that will minimize material sent to a landfill?
5. Purchasing: Will the proposal be consistent with the City’s Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy?
6. Transportation: Does the project provide for complete streets that balance the diverse needs of users of the public right-of-way?
Environmental Services staff will, upon request, review and assist with preparation of Sustainability Features sections. Following are two examples of hypothetical Sustainability Impact sections:
Apartment Project - Proposal for a 15-unit condominium building:
1. Energy: Does the proposal include features that will minimize the use of electricity, natural gas, and other fossil fuels?
Roof-mounted solar panels will be installed to provide approximately 80 percent of the building’s electricity needs.
2. Water: Does the proposal include features that will minimize the use of water?
Water efficiency features of the project include ultra-low flow toilets that use only 0.8 gallons per flush, low flow showerheads and aerators.
3. Air: Does the proposal include features that will minimize emission of pollutants into the air?
The project does not include any appliances requiring natural gas. In addition, the parking area will be pre-wired to allow installation of an electric vehicle charger for each household.
4. Solid Waste: Does the proposal include features that will minimize material sent to a landfill?
All residents will have convenient access to trash, recycling and organics carts where there will be detailed signage to help ensure proper sorting of materials.
5. Purchasing: Will the proposal be consistent with the City’s Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy?
Not applicable. The project does not involve any City purchases or contracts.
6. Transportation: Does the project provide for complete streets that balance the diverse needs of users of the public right-of-way?
Each unit will have space to store two bicycles. The building will be located a half-mile (a ten-minute walk) from the South Hayward BART station. The street has sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides.
Pavement Rehabilitation Project - Proposal to rehabilitate a half-mile section of upper B Street:
1. Energy: Does the proposal include features that will minimize the use of electricity, natural gas, and other fossil fuels?
The project will utilize a Cold In-place Recycling (CIR) stabilization method, which is an environmentally friendly and cost effective treatment.
2. Water: Does the proposal include features that will minimize the use of water?
The project will also make improvements to the landscaping by adding permeable pavers, low-water usage trees, drought tolerant shrubs, and succulents.
3. Air: Does the proposal include features that will minimize emission of pollutants into the air?
The CIR method helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
4. Solid Waste: Does the proposal include features that will minimize material sent to a landfill?
Yes, the CIR method recycles and reuses six inches of existing pavement material, which will reduce waste.
5. Purchasing: Will the proposal be consistent with the City’s Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy?
Not applicable.
6. Transportation: Does the project provide for complete streets that balance the diverse needs of users of the public right-of-way?
The project will include restriping to accommodate new bicycle lanes and is consistent with the City’s recently adopted Complete Streets Policy.
Information in the above examples is typically not included in analyses prepared to satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or the project may be exempt from CEQA review. Information similar to the above examples has been included in some Council reports, but implementation of staff’s proposal would ensure that sustainability information is always included and that it is easy to locate within each report.
NEXT STEPS
With Council input, staff will begin working with all departments to implement the new staff report section. In addition, the Council Sustainability Committee asked for an update in a year to evaluate implementation of the new report section. Staff will report back to the Committee in 2017.
Prepared by: Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Staff contact
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
end
Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
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Attachment I |
Questions to be Addressed in the Sustainability Features Section of a Staff Report |