HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-01-2013 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA PACKET
Committee of the Whole
September 30, 2013 - 5:00 PM
Council Chambers
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. John White, WSDOT Presentation on Gateway Project
B. ICLEI History of Auburn’s Membership & Benefits*
Presented by Nancy Welch, Planning & Development Manager
C. Economic Development Update
Presented by Doug Lein, Economic Development Manager
III. ADJOURNMENT
Agendas and minutes are available to the public at the City Clerk's Office, on the City website
(http://www.auburnwa.gov), and via e-mail. Complete agenda packets are available for
review at the City Clerk's Office.
*Denotes attachments included in the agenda packet.
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AGENDA BILL APPROVAL FORM
Agenda Subject:
ICLEI History of Auburn’s Membership & Benefits
Date:
September 23, 2013
Department:
Administration
Attachments:
memo
Budget Impact:
$0
Administrative Recommendation:
Background Summary:
Reviewed by Council Committees:
Councilmember:Staff:
Meeting Date:September 30, 2013 Item Number:DI.B
AUBURN * MORE THAN YOU IMAGINEDDI.B Page 2 of 5
Memorandum
DATE: September 23, 2013
TO: Deputy Mayor Nancy Backus, Auburn City Council
Councilmember Rich Wagner, Auburn City Council
Councilmember Bill Peloza, Auburn City Council
Councilmember John Partidge, Auburn City Council
Councilmember Largo Wales, Auburn City Council
Councilmember Wayne Osborne, Auburn City Council
Councilmember John Holman, Auburn City Council
FROM: Nancy Welch, AICP, Planning and Development Director
CC: Mayor Pete Lewis
SUBJECT: Information Regarding the City of Auburn’s ICLEI Membership
The following information provides an overview of what ICLEI is, how ICLEI relates to the
City’s greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts, why the City is currently a member
jurisdiction, and what benefits the City receives for its membership.
Introduction
In 2009, the City of Auburn joined ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. ICLEI is an
international association of local governments, with a United States affiliate (ICLEI-USA).
ICLEI-USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization that provides information,
technical assistance, and tools to local government members engaged in sustainability, climate
protection, and clean energy initiatives. In the United States, ICLEI has 450 member cities and
counties in 46 states.
Background
On April 21, 2009, the Auburn City Council adopted Resolution No. 4477. Resolution No. 4477
authorized and directed that the City of Auburn shall:
• Section 1: Join ICLEI as a full member and take a leadership role in promoting public
awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
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• Section 2: Undertake ICLEI’s ‘Five Milestones’ to reduce both greenhouse gas (GHG)
and air pollution emissions throughout the community.
The ICLEI Five Milestones are:
1) Conduct an assessment
2) Set sustainability goals
3) Develop an action plan
4) Implement the plan; and
5) Monitor and evaluate progress.
• Section 3: The City shall seek technical assistance from ICLEI to accomplish the five
milestones.
In 2010, the City completed a baseline greenhouse gas inventory (ICLEI Milestone No. 1) in
consultation with Cascadia Consulting Group. The baseline inventory included both City of
Auburn municipal operations and a broader City-wide community inventory. The City’s
municipal operations inventory was performed using ICLEI’s Local Government Operations
Protocol (LGOP). The LGOP is a GHG accounting standard that serves as the basis for local
governments to implement ICLEI’s Five Milestones. To collect and analyze data regarding the
City’s GHG emissions, Auburn used ICLEI’s Clean Air & Climate Protection (CACP) emissions
inventory and management software. During the inventory, ICLEI staff provided technical
assistance to both the City’s Planning & Development and Innovation & Technology
Departments in the installation and use of the CACP software, and upon completion of the
inventory ICLEI staff participated in an implementation training of City staff from multiple
departments.
ICLEI Member Benefits
The City’s membership to ICLEI costs $1,200.00 per year. For 2013-14, ICLEI membership
costs are budgeted for each year as a line item in the Planning and Development Department’s
operating budget within the City of Auburn’s adopted biennial budget.
The benefits of the City’s ICLEI membership are primarily in the form of tools and technical
resources that can be used to inventory, assess, monitor, and manage the City’s greenhouse gas
reduction and climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. As a member of ICLEI, Auburn
has access to a number of sustainability planning and climate mitigation/adaptation tools and
resources at no or reduced cost, including the following:
• Online GHG emissions and sustainability planning tools such as CACP, the Climate and
Air Pollution Planning (CAPPA) decision support tools, the Adaptation Database and
Planning Tool (ADAPT), the Density-VMT residential density calculator, and the Green
Building Decision Tool;
• Technical assistance and skills training for ICLEI tools and the ICLEI GHG accounting
protocols from ICLEI staff and technical partners; and
• Access to ICLEI’s GHG inventory guidance publications and sustainability resource
library.
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Rationale for City Membership in ICLEI
In 2009, the Auburn City Council adopted Resolution No. 4477, resolving that the City should
take a leadership role in promoting public awareness about climate change, and that the City
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution emissions. The City Council directed that
the City join ICLEI in recognition that ICLEI is a membership organization of local governments
similarly committed to advancing climate protection and sustainable development.
As the benefits to the City of ICLEI membership are largely in the form of technical information
and tools for use in developing, implementing, and monitoring a GHG/climate action plan, those
benefits are only realized if the City plans to develop, implement, and monitor a plan for
reducing GHG and/or other air pollution emissions. To date, the City has signaled its intent to do
this through the Council’s adoption of Resolution No. 4477, and through its adoption of Policies
EN-185 through EN-193 of Goal 24 - Climate Protection and Air Quality in the City of Auburn
Comprehensive Plan.
GHG Planning and Implications for Future City Grant Funding
Future access to certain state and federal funding provides an additional consideration for
whether the City will want to proceed with developing GHG reduction targets and implement an
emissions reductions plan. In June of this year, the City was notified by the WSDOT that based
on a recent state law (RCW 70.235.070), that all applicants for infrastructure and economic
development grants should adopt a GHG emissions reduction policy. WSDOT indicated that
while not currently a requirement for funding eligibility, they anticipate that it will become one
for some funding sources.
The law contains the following requirement for all state agencies distributing funds through
competitive programs for infrastructure and economic development projects:
. . . Beginning in 2010, when distributing capital funds through competitive programs for
infrastructure and economic development projects, all state agencies must consider whether the
entity receiving the funds has adopted policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Agencies
also must consider whether the project is consistent with: (1) The state's limits on the emissions
of greenhouse gases established in RCW 70.235.020 . . . (RCW 70.235.070).
One example that this legislation is now being implemented is the state’s Centennial Clean
Water Centennial Revolving Fund, which has published in its 2014 funding guidelines that
“ . . . All applicants will be evaluated on how they are implementing the State’s requirements for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions reductions . . .” (Ecology Publication No. 12-10-038, August 2012).
While an exhaustive review has not been conducted of state and federal funding programs that
may require or provide selection preference for grantees that are implementing a GHG reduction
plan/policies, it is clear that this will be an eligibility or scoring consideration for some state and
federal funding sources in the future.
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