City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwin, City Manager
BY: Mike Willett, Public Works Director
MEETING DATE: May 21, 2024
ITEM NO: 6.5
SUBJECT: Adopt Resolution No. 2024-28 Authorizing the City of Patterson to Pursue Funding from the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Authorize the City Manager to Submit the Application on Behalf of the City of Patterson.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Adopt Resolution No. 2024-28 authorizing the City of Patterson to pursue funding from the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Authorize the City Manager to Submit the application on behalf of the City of Patterson.
BACKGROUND
About the CAL FIRE Urban and Community Forestry Program Urban forests provide greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions while providing increased climate resilience; reducing the impacts of extreme heat; increasing energy conservation; reducing storm-water runoff; extending the life of surface streets; improving local air, soil, and water quality; providing high-quality jobs and improving public health. The mission of the CAL FIRE Urban & Community Forestry Program is to advance the development of sustainable and accessible urban and community forests in California. CAL FIRE envisions urban and community forests that are healthy, extensive, and well-managed, providing a wide array of optimal benefits to all Californians. Under the authority of the California Urban Forestry Act of 1978, CAL FIRE’s Urban & Community Forestry Program is responsible for leading the effort to advance the development of sustainable urban and community forests in California through technical assistance, grant administration, and resource and partnership development. This is accomplished through expanding and improving the planting and management of trees and associated vegetation in communities throughout California, with a strong emphasis on disadvantaged and low-income communities. CAL FIRE’s Urban & Community Forestry Program directly assists these communities with grants and hands-on scientific and technical assistance to achieve more equity in tree canopy distribution.
About This Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) State Funding Opportunity In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) Program awarded $1.5 billion to states, projects, and national initiatives that support urban communities in ensuring equitable access to trees and their benefits via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program is a covered program under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, established through Executive Order 13985. The Inflation Reduction Act provides up to $1.5 billion for Urban and Community Forestry investments across the nation that foster:
1) Increased and equitable access to urban tree canopy and associated human health, environmental, and economic benefits in disadvantaged communities, 2) Broadened community engagement in local urban forest planning, tree planting, and management activities, and
3) Improved community and urban forest resilience to climate change, extreme heat, forest pests and diseases, and storm events through best management and maintenance practices.
The USDA Forest Service UCF Program assists State Forestry agencies and partner organizations like CAL FIRE in addressing and applying nature-based solutions to chronic and emergent economic, social, and environmental challenges in communities across the United States by providing direct funding to communities and especially to communities experiencing low urban tree canopy, dead and hazardous tree conditions, extreme heat and severe flooding, and limited awareness of or access to green job workforce to help them:
• Become more resilient to climate change
• Combat extreme heat with the cooling effects of increased urban tree canopy • Experience improved forest health conditions and safer access to tree benefits • Attain broadened exposure and access to environmental career pathways.
California received a state allocation of Inflation Reduction Act funds, of which $30.8 million is available for grant projects working at a community, regional, or statewide scale in this funding opportunity. These grant guidelines include information for the use of state-awarded Inflation Reduction Act funds to support disinvested, disadvantaged, and low-income urban communities in growing equitable access to trees and their benefits.
Project Timeline
• Applications Due: May 30, 2024
• All project work fully completed by: March 31, 2028
• Final project invoice and progress report submitted by: April 30, 2028
ANALYSIS
The City of Patterson’s completed Urban Forest Master Plan provides a 40-year road map for the management of the city’s trees. Utilizing the Urban Forest Master Plan as a resource to complete declared goals, objectives, strategies and implementation measures, staff has developed a project to include in the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection grant application. The project will install approximately 400 new trees, 200 in the vacant spaces in the downtown district and 200 trees with irrigation in City parks.
FISCAL IMPACT
The minimum funding is $150,000. There is no required match associated with the grant.