DATE: May 16, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: Climate Action Plan: Considerations for New General Plan Policies and Programs Related to the City's Climate Action Plan
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council reviews and comments on this report and provides direction on the draft measures and actions to staff.
SUMMARY
The City is in the process of updating its Climate Action Plan (CAP) to establish policies and programs needed to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets adopted by Council. The CAP, part of the Hayward 2040 General Plan, is being updated along with revisions to the Housing and Safety/Hazards Elements and a new Environmental Justice Element of the General Plan. This report provides an update on the project, draft measures, and Council’s responses to a survey on the draft measures. Staff is working with Rincon Consultants to develop a list of draft measures that will help reduce community-wide emissions and seeking community feedback. The measures, to be included in the updated CAP, are intended to enable the Hayward community to meet its 2030 goal of reducing emissions by 55% below 2005 levels. This goal will not be easy to achieve. To be successful, the entire community will need to participate by making investments and reducing emissions in all sectors of the local economy.
Staff will continue engaging with community stakeholders to ensure that all policies in the CAP are equitable and align with community needs. Staff is seeking direction and ideas from the Council regarding the draft measures and any additional potential GHG-reducing measures to be considered for the draft CAP.
BACKGROUND
In July 2009, Hayward adopted its first CAP, which included aggressive goals for reducing GHG emissions. The CAP was amended and incorporated into the General Plan in 2014 and includes actions necessary to meet Hayward’s 2020 GHG reduction target (20% below 2005 levels by 2020). This target was achieved two years early, with Hayward’s 2018 emissions inventory showing that community-wide emissions were reduced by 21.6% from 2005 to 2018. In January 2021, staff presented to the Council Sustainability Committee (CSC) Hayward’s 2019 GHG inventory showing that emissions had been reduced by 25.7% since 2005.
On June 16, 2020, Council introduced and on June 23, 2020, Council adopted an ordinance amending Hayward’s Climate Action Plan and General Plan to include the following goals:
reduce emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2025
reduce emissions by 55% below 2005 levels by 2030
work with the community to develop a plan that may result in the reduction of community based GHG emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
On July 20, 2021, Council adopted a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Rincon Consultants to prepare General Plan amendments related to the Housing Element, Climate Action Plan, Environmental Justice Element, and the Safety Element.
On May 24, 2022, Council held a work session to review the GHG emission gap analysis, which identified the total GHG emissions needed to meet the 2030 and 2045 goals, and initial feedback from staff’s public outreach efforts.
On October 6, 2022, staff presented to the CSC a draft list of CAP measures and actions and the CSC offered comments including the following:
The significant community outreach – especially the surveys completed by students is appreciated.
More information on the timing of each recommended action would be helpful.
Prioritize the actions that will have the largest impact on GHG emissions.
Resiliency policies suggested by Save the Bay should be addressed.
We need to have more schools involved.
The full list is overwhelming.
Buy-in from the full Council is needed. A survey may be appropriate.
On March 13, 2023, staff presented to the CSC a draft survey, featuring 19 actions. In late March, staff sent to the full City Council the survey, which was revised to incorporate CSC comments.
On March 30, 2023, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth assessment report, which highlights the state of scientific, technical, and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for reducing the rate at which climate change is taking place. The sixth report states that continued greenhouse gas emissions will lead to increasing global warming, with the best estimate of reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius in the near term, with every increment of global warming intensifying multiple and concurrent hazards. As stated in the report, deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a discernible slowdown in global warming within around two decades.
DISCUSSION
The CAP update is needed to identify the policies and programs necessary to achieve the Council-adopted 2030 GHG reduction target (aligned with the State’s 2030 goal, per SB 32) and put Hayward on a path to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. Hayward’s current General Plan identifies goals, policies and programs. For the updated CAP, measures and actions are identified. A measure identifies a specific, quantifiable goal (i.e., increase active transportation mode share to 15% by 2030). Each measure has several supporting actions intended to help ensure the measure is accomplished. Many actions may be policies or programs.
Once the City has identified the measures with which to move forward, the consultant will conduct an analysis of GHG emission reduction quantification of such strategies and policies. This will be used to prepare a “qualified CAP”, meaning that it can be used for future GHG emissions analysis streamlining related to the California Environmental Quality Act. To be a qualified CAP, the measures identified must be aligned with SB32 and meet a 55% reduction by 2030.
Draft Measures
The draft measures cover five sectors:
Building Energy
Transportation
Waste
Water and Wastewater
Carbon Sequestration
The measures focus on sectors that have quantifiable GHG reductions associated with them. Therefore, measures and actions related to embodied carbon or consumption have been excluded. Additionally, the CAP focuses on mitigation measures, not adaptation and resiliency. Adaptation and resiliency measures will be incorporated into the Safety/Hazards Element update. Many measures will be challenging to accomplish and will require expanding current regional collaborations, outside funding from state and federal sources and increases in staff resources.
The full list of draft measures and actions can be found in Attachment II. All the actions identified in Attachment II will be necessary to reach the City’s 2030 goal. Staff recognizes that reaching the 2030 goal will be difficult, which is why many measures include feasibility studies as the first step of implementation. With feasibility studies, staff will be better equipped to minimize unintended consequences, especially to our most vulnerable communities, and create policies, programs, and ordinances that are best suited for Hayward.
In response to CSC comments made during the meetings on October 6, 2022, and March 13, 2023, staff prepared a survey to solicit Council feedback on the draft measures and actions. Five City Council members completed the survey. More detail will be presented at the Council meeting, but in general, the following trends appeared:
A staff position should be created to pursue funding and implement sustainable transportation actions.
Conducting an urban tree canopy study should be a priority.
Regarding electrification of existing homes, exemptions should be created where necessary to protect low-income residents.
Bans on problem solid waste materials should be prioritized over fees, eliminating materials from being released into the environment first.
Taxes are not a preferred method of implementation and staff should explore other methods to fund actions.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Climate crisis is expected to negatively impact national and local economies. The updated CAP will seek to help make Hayward’s economy more resilient to climate change. Many of the programs identified above would create increased costs for Hayward community members and businesses, but also have the potential co-benefits such as better health outcomes and job creation. As the measures are refined, staff will review each for potential economic impacts such as job creation/job retention and Hayward’s desirability for developers and businesses to locate in Hayward. Once the measures list is revised per Council and community input, the consultant team will create a funding and financing strategy to implement four key measures.
FISCAL IMPACT
Council approved a total budget of $720,000 for the General Plan updates. Preparing the updates will not impact the City’s General Fund. The project is funded by a Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the Development Services Department’s Planning Policy Fund, and the Public Works & Utilities Department’s Recycling, Water, and Sewer Funds.
Several of the proposed CAP actions would have a significant fiscal impact and would require an increase in staff resources. A more detailed assessment of the fiscal impacts associated with implementing the new CAP will be presented in a future report.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority to Confront Climate Crisis & Champion Environmental Justice. Specifically, this item is related to implementation of the following project:
Project C5: Adopt & Implement 2030 GHG Goal and Roadmap along with other General Plan Elements
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
Meeting GHG reduction goals is the primary objective of the City’s CAP. Meeting the goals will require reducing emissions in every sector of Hayward’s economy and will entail improving energy efficiency in buildings, decarbonizing existing buildings, increasing the use of renewable energy, and reducing vehicle-related emissions. All these actions will result in cleaner air for Hayward residents and for the region.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Equitable Outreach Plan
There is considerable overlap between the issues addressed in the Climate Action Plan, Housing Element and Environmental Justice Element. As a result, staff is conducting public outreach for all three projects simultaneously, with an emphasis on equity and extensive community involvement.
Prior to the Environmental Justice and CAP community workshops, staff reached out to over 100 community-based organizations and groups in Hayward to gauge interest in collaborating on the General Plan updates. Staff members have also visited various locations around Hayward (grocery stores, laundromats, farmers market, BART stations, etc.) to pass out flyers with information on the General Plan Updates and how residents can be involved. Collectively, Environmental Services and Planning staff visited nineteen different locations across the City. Housing outreach has included standard surveys and interviews and an interactive housing simulation that allows people to identify sites and areas for future development.
Additionally, staff organized a Gallery Walk Event, featuring large poster boards with information on the Climate Action Plan, Housing Element, Environmental Justice Element, Hazards Element, and the History of Hayward. The posters were printed in both English and Spanish and were displayed in City Hall, the Downtown Hayward Library, BART, the Farmers Market and at Chabot and Hayward NAACP Branch offices in conjunction with outreach events. Additionally, staff offered the posters to various organizations and Alameda County Transit Authority requested the posters to display in their Hayward facility where approximately 400 Hayward residents are employed. Community members were invited to learn about the General Plan updates by walking through the gallery and engage with the posters through QR codes.
Another avenue of community engagement has been through surveys and interviews conducted by college students in Hayward. Chabot College students have helped the City by surveying residents about parks, housing, and climate action. In Spring 2021, Chabot College students interviewed 252 residents about their experience, concerns, and ideas for parks in Hayward. Chabot students also interviewed approximately 550 residents online in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 about housing, discrimination, pollution, and community amenities. In Summer 2022, Chabot students interviewed approximately 350 residents about their experience, concerns, and thoughts on initiatives regarding general climate change and climate action. Additionally, students in a public health capstone class at California State University East Bay (CSUEB) conducted surveys, receiving over 250 responses, around park access, pollution, access to healthy food, and safe and sanitary housing.
Staff hosted various focus groups and meetings with stakeholders since the May CSC meeting. The City hosted a focus group with members from Tennyson High School’s Green Team – eight students and two teachers participated. In July, staff hosted four focus groups with Eden Housing tenants at Alta Mira, Tennyson Gardens, Montgomery Plaza, and Hayward Senior, with 48 participants total. Staff also met with Eden Housing staff, Save the Bay staff, the Sierra Club, and the Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church. Staff has been in communication with the Bay East Association of Realtors, who have informed staff they will oppose any requirements that are triggered by the sale of a home. Staff tabled at the Hayward Community Family Fair on June 17, the Juneteenth Wellness Festival on June 18, and the Downtown Street Party on August 18. Staff hosted a second community public workshop on July 19, where residents had the opportunity to discuss and provide input on the draft measures.
In October 2022, Council received a letter from non-profit organization Save the Bay, urging the City to incorporate policies centered on equitable climate resilience to the General Plan Update. The letter and staff’s responses with the proposed policies from the draft Hazards Element and Climate Action Plan corresponding to their comments are included with the Hazards Element report, which is part of this meeting packet.
NEXT STEPS
Based on community input, Council direction, and analysis by the consultant team, staff will finalize the list of measures and actions. The consultant team will then quantify the emissions associated with each measure. Staff will continue to engage with the Hayward community to ensure that the CAP responds to community needs and does so in an equitable way. Staff anticipates bringing a draft Climate Action Plan to Council in fall 2023, as well as hosting another community workshop at that time.
Prepared by: Nicole Grucky, Sustainability Specialist Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
https://www.hayward-ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/General_Plan_FINAL.pdf https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4747797&GUID=2B1F0C6F-B961-4AA3-9553-240ACE74B4B1&Options=&Search= Amending the 2040 General Plan and Adoption of Ordinance to Comply with State Law Changes to Establish Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Thresholds & Updates Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) Reduction Targets. June 16, 2020 City Council Meeting. https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4568609&GUID=46FF5863-9294-4217-9119-9631D7A2BB6F&Options=&Search= Second Reading of VMT Thresholds and GHG Emission Reduction Targets Ordinance. June 23, 2020 City Council Meeting. https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4576651&GUID=4E2F5527-D216-4472-BB79-5D9A37A41AE8&Options=&Search= https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5034289&GUID=A1DD2D35-7B4A-42C8-9284-7DEB78AAD470&Options=&Search= https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5659884&GUID=5AF582D6-E7A0-4DB1-95EB-2F51C8FE0B50&Options=&Search= https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5860957&GUID=64D86CA2-B9AA-4EBB-8236-1D2362C48DB6&Options=&Search= https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6058176&GUID=42713090-8BC0-44FF-8852-4B58DE142895&Options=&Search= https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/