City and County of San Francisco
Commission on the Environment
SPECIAL MEETING - RETREAT
APPROVED MINUTES
Friday, April 8, 2005, 9:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
111 Sutter Street, 20th Floor
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order at 9:55 a.m. Present: Commissioners Nia Crowder (President), Alan Mok, Arlene Rodriguez, and Johanna Wald. Excused/Absent: Commissioners Christina Desser, Paul Pelosi, Jr. and Angelo King.
ACTION: Adoption of Minutes of the March 22, 2005 Meeting.
Upon motion by Commissioner Rodriguez and second by Commissioner Mok, the March 22, 2005 meeting Minutes were unanimously adopted.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Members of the public may address the Commission on matters that are within the Commission’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda.
There was no public comment at this time.
DISCUSSION: Public outreach to the community on environmental issues.
The Director commended the Commissioners and the Department Staff on their commitment and experience. A few points that were made:
§ Building long-term relationships are most important with City government, residential and commercial sectors;
§ The Department and the Commission have an impact nationally so it is important to choose initiatives selectively;
§ Making sure that the initiatives the Department and Commission are working on are being implemented and have an impact.
DISCUSSION: Update on World Environment Day and discussion on Commissioners’ role and participation in events.
A discussion was held on World Environment Day and its connection with the United Nations. The Director discussed the calendar of events including the delegate and VIP calendar, community events, workshops and tours. Commissioners were asked to attend all of the events that would fit into their schedule, especially the workshops and tours in order to answer community questions. The WED calendar would be sent to Commissioners to select and advise the Director/Commission Secretary of their availability. Department of the Environment Staff discussed the events, workshops, and tours they would be organizing. Recommendations were made to educate the community (1) that WED is an event that lasts for several days, not one day as the name suggests and (2) on the differences between Earth Day and WED.
DISCUSSION: Developing green businesses in the Bayview District of San Francisco
No discussion was held at this time.
DISCUSSION: Implementation of Existing Initiatives
Green Building: Mark Palmer, Green Building Coordinator discussed main accomplishments of the municipal green building program for 2004 that consisted of the Board of Supervisors unanimous adoption of the LEED solar amendment to the Green Building design principles and expanding the Resource Efficient Building Task Force to include more representation from San Francisco departments. The main goal for 2005 is implementation of the Ordinance. Several projects include:
§ Continuation and expansion of a green building training program for City design professionals;
§ Increasing outreach to City departments through a new Green Building newsletter;
§ Continuing pilot projects set up in 1999 under the original Green Building Ordinance such as the Academy of Science LEED Platinum building and Laguna Honda Hospital;
§ Implementation of new projects under the LEED Solar Ordinance;
§ San Francisco Green Building Compliance Guide;
§ Working with Treasure Island Development Authority on the Sustainability Plan and for the Island to become at least LEED Silver.
A discussion was held on (1) the amendment to the Tropical Hardwood/Redwood ban ordinance that is being worked on to allow the City to purchase hardwood and redwood materials only if they are Forest Stewardship Council-certified woods and (2) the possibility of creating an in-house building commission team to assess quality control of design and construction of buildings.
Laura Ingall, Green Building Coordinator for commercial and residential buildings discussed the potential endorsement of the Alameda County Guidelines for Residential Buildings (revised) as a model for California and an upcoming Resolution endorsing the guidelines once finalized.
Solar Bonds: Cal Broomhead, Energy Manager and Peter O’Donnell, Renewable Energy Coordinator discussed financing mechanisms and other issues surrounding solar installations in residential and non-residential buildings. A discussion was held on the viability of Propositions B and H that the voters passed in 2001 to authorize bond authority for solar and other renewables. Other topics discussed included: (1) the Duke Energy Settlement funds for solar installations in multi-family and low-income homes and (2) solar installations and neighbor property encroachments.
Electricity Resource Plan: Cal Broomhead, Energy Manager and Peter O’Donnell, Renewable Energy Coordinator gave an update on the Electricity Resource Plan. Topics included (1) increasing transmission; (2) combustion turbine facilities; (3) renewable energy (4) Generation Solar Program and solar hot water; (5) tidal wave project financing; and (6) energy efficiency program goals.
Hydrogen City: Director Jared Blumenfeld discussed the Resolution that created the Commission on the Environment’s Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Committee. A discussion was held on California’s “Hydrogen Highway” and plans for the Hydrogen Conference that will be held in San Francisco next year.
Precautionary Principle: Debbie Raphael, Toxic Reduction Program Manager discussed the Precautionary Principle Ordinance that was introduced at the Board of Supervisors meeting on April 5, 2005 and is under the 30-day rule. The Budget Analyst’s Report will reflect the cost-effectiveness of the Ordinance. The Bay Area Working Group is working on getting local businesses involved. There will be a stakeholders group with the Department of the Environment, the Small Business Commission, the Human Rights Commission, Purchasing, and local small businesses to encourage them to learn about the ordinance.
DISCUSSION: Role of the Environment Commission
Programmatic Support: A discussion was held on how the Commission and the Department could communicate more with each other on upcoming programs, events, and other matters. Director Blumenfeld recommended that Commissioners be assigned to specific programs as a liaison. A recommendation was made to have a staff or Commission meeting and the Deputy City Attorney to discuss the process for how staff members and the Commissioners could legally interact in accordance with the Sunshine laws. A suggestion was made to create a Commission job description and discuss it at the Operations Committee meeting. A request was made to email the Commissioners senior staff meeting minutes.
Fund Raising: Shawn Rosenmoss, Fundraising Coordinator reported that the most important thing in fundraising is "telling the story"--knowing all the many things the department is working on and being able to talk about them. A request was made of the Commissioners to provide the Department with their connections to other groups with whom the Department might want to collaborate on projects and seek funding. The Director reported that fund raising may become a requirement for each project/program manager in the future.
Board of Supervisors: No discussion was held at this time.
Commission Liaisons to the Department of the Environment: The following Commissioners were recommended as liaisons to Department of the Environment programs:
Commissioner Wald: Recycling
Commissioner King: Environmental Justice
Commissioner Rodriguez: Toxics
Commissioner Crowder: Energy
Commissioner Mok: Fund Raising
Commissioner Desser: Public Outreach and School Education
Commissioner Pelosi: Clean Air
DISCUSSION: Status of pending Commission legislation
The list of pending Commission legislation was distributed to the Commission and available for review.
§ The Construction and Debris Diversion Ordinances are ready to be introduced;
§ The Supermarket Checkout Bag Nexus Study available by April 22;
§ Mandatory Recycling for all sectors target date July 1, 2006, when the new garbage rates take effect;
§ Food Service Ware Ordinance, food service businesses to use reusable and compostable ware.
No further discussion was held at this time.
DISCUSSION: Campaigns—Top five campaign ideas for Fiscal-Year 2005-06.
§ Reduce Level of Pharmaceuticals in Sewers/Water
§ Climate Action Plan
§ Bio-Diesel Use
§ Education Program—Connection between the Environment, Nature, and Nutrition for School Children K-5.
§ Green Building at Slide Ranch
§ Farmers Market in Bayview Outreach
§ Janitorial Chemicals Contract for Bid due April 29 and Specs are on the Web
§ Urban Wind Turbine at the Randall Museum for World Environment Day
A request was made for all event announcements to be emailed to the Commissioners.
DISCUSSION: Budget Overview
David Assmann, Deputy Director advised that the Department was previously reclassified to an Enterprise Department and then advised that it was not.
INFORMATION: Commission Secretary’s Report
Monica Fish, Commission Secretary
▪ Communications & Correspondence
▪ Update on Pending City Legislation – A list of Department of the Environment’s pending legislation was made available to the Commission.
No report was made at this time.
INFORMATION: President’s Announcements:
No announcements were made at this time.
INFORMATION: New Business:
No new business was discussed at this time.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Members of the public may address the Commission on matters that are within the Commission’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda.
There was no public comment at this time.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Staff Attendance: Jared Blumenfeld, Director, David Assmann, Deputy Director, Cal Broomhead, Sushma Dhulipala, Monica Fish, Chris Geiger, Robert Haley, Tamar Hurwitz, Laura Ingall, Ann Kelly, Faiz Khan, Jack Macy, Sraddha Mehta, Peter O’Donnell, Mark Palmer, Debbie Raphael, Shawn Rosenmoss, Emily Utter, Mark Westlund, Becky Wike, and Marjaneh Zarrehparvar.
Respectfully submitted by,
Monica Fish, Commission Secretary
Adopted: July 27, 2005
