2646873v2- 2021 template
Approved as to Form and Legality
________________________
City Attorney’s Office
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. _______________ C.M.S.
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO
ACCEPT AND APPROPRIATE FUNDING FOR LOW -INCOME
RESIDENTIAL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECTS AND RELATED
ACTIVITIES TOTALING $99,974.48 FROM THE INTERNATIONAL
COUNCIL FOR LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES (ICLEI) AND
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY EAST BAY SILICON VALLEY TO
FURTHER THE CITY’S CLIMATE, ELECTRIFICATION, AND
RESILIENCE GOALS; AND MAKING APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FINDINGS
WHEREAS, natural gas combustion in buildings is known to lead to elevated levels of harmful indoor air pollutants that disproportionately affect frontline communities, including people of color, immigrants, indigenous communities, low -income people, those with disabilities, and children; and
WHEREAS, the indoor air pollutants that arise from onsite natural gas combustion have been shown to contribute to respiratory ailments such as asthma, such that , nation-wide, children living in homes with gas cooking are forty-two percent (42%) more likely to develop asthma; and
WHEREAS, twenty percent (20%) of childhood asthma cases in California are directly attributed to living in a home with a gas stove; and
WHEREAS, natural gas infrastructure and pipelines contribute to the risk of fires and explosions such as the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, with the risk magnified in cases of major earthquakes; and
WHEREAS, in July 2020, the City of Oakland ( “City”) adopted the 2030 Equit able Climate Action Plan ( “ECAP”), a comprehensive strategy to equitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout Oakland sixty percent (60%) by 2030 relative to 2005 levels; and WHEREAS, the ECAP includes a commitment to eliminate natural gas combustion and connections in all existing buildings by 2040 to improve the health and safety of building occupants, as well as to increase jobs and eliminate a major contributor to the climate crisis; and WHEREAS, the City’s 2017 CURB analysis indicated that the Cit y would not achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets without eliminating natural gas combustion in buildings; and
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WHEREAS, in July 2020, alongside adoption of the 2030 ECAP, Oakland City Council also adopted a carbon neutrality target of 2045, the att ainment of which will require all buildings in the City to be fully electric; and
WHEREAS, the ECAP’s Racial Equity Impact Assessment and Implementation Guide (“REIA”) requires maximizing benefits of climate action among frontline communities, including ensuring that policies, programs, and projects that implement the ECAP benefit low- income and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color ( “BIPOC”) Oaklanders first and foremost ; and
WHEREAS, the State of California has similarly set building electrific ation and energy efficiency as key priorities; and
WHEREAS, Oakland can lead the climate justice movement by ensuring that climate solutions, including decarbonization, benefit populations that have borne the brunt of environmental injustice, air pollution, and other environmental harms; and WHEREAS, the City primarily receives electricity from Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy ), whose electricity generation was a minimum of seventy-one percent (71%) renewable and/or carbon free in 2022, and slated to be one hundred percent (100%) renewable and carbon free by 2030 at the latest, while prioritizing local renewable generation and local green jobs development; and WHEREAS, climate disruption is being fueled by the burning of fossil fuels, including “natural gas,” oil, and coal, and the disruption is already having devastating impacts on those who can least afford it and are least responsible for the problem; and WHEREAS, many low-income homes have deferred maintenance and need health-and- safety and energy efficiency upgrades before broader electrification measures can be effectively pursued; and
WHEREAS, holistic building electrification is part of ensuring healthy homes by improving energy efficiency and indoor air quality; and WHEREAS, the International Council for Local Government Initiatives (“ICLEI”), in partnership with Google.org, administers a three million dollar ( $3,000,000) fund to support collaborations between local gov ernment and nonprofit organizations for data-driven, highly replicable, and action-oriented climate action projects; and WHEREAS, with $99,974.48 as part of a $1 million, four -city grant from ICLEI, with local nonprofit Habitat for Humanity East Bay Silicon Valley ( “Habitat”) as the lead grant recipient, City staff will pilot incorporation of building electrification retrofits into the City’s Residential Lending Services (“RLS”) program, which provides he alth, safety, and access improvements for low-income, homeowner -occupied, single -family homes, as a means to streamline holistic housing services and develop a methodology for ensuring that local government-delivered housing rehabilitation services explicitly incorporate electrification and residential energy bill reduction measures; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED: That the City Administrator is authorized to accept and appropriate funding of at least $99,974. 48, as well as any additional future fu nds, from Habitat, ICLEI, -3-
and/or their partners, for the purpose of piloti ng, implementing, and/or expanding low-income residential holistic electrification activities; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Administrator is authorized, in the name of the City of Oakland, to execute by electronic signature or other method required by Habitat and/or ICLEI all project-related documents including, without limitation, an agreement with ICLEI and/or Habitat to participate fully in the low-income residential electrification projects described herein and all applications, agreements, amendments, and requests for payment necessary to secure related project funds, grants, and rebates; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Cit y Administrator is authorize d to take any other action necessary consistent with this Resolution and its basic purposes; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED: The City Council finds that this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because the acceptance and appropriation of the funding at issue will be for the purpose of performing actions for the protection of natural resources (CEQA Guidelines section 15307) and for the protection of the environment (CEQA Guidelines section 15308); and
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the agreement and amendments authorized hereunder shall be reviewed and approved by the City Attorney for form and legality and shall be placed on file in the office of the City Clerk.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION – ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California