From the Sac City Council Dec 13th, 2022 meeting: report back on the Quarterly Climate Update (item 31)
This item's significance is explained in text below:
(pulled from agenda item doc link above)
In short, SJPC is covering this discussion to keep folx informed of the City's progress (or lack thereof) in regard to environmental justice.
Some accomplishments from the previous few months that were highlighted during discussion:
Released the draft Adaptation CAAP (Climate Action and Adaptation Plan)
It's important to note that back in August of 2022 (when the the last quarterly update was given) the City had to be forced into committing to releasing the climate Adaptation section of the CAAP in October (the first preliminary draft was released missing this entire section), rather than waiting to release it alongside the full General Plan (which is supposed to come out sometime in "spring" of 2023)
Passed the New Building Electrification Ordinance
This had been passed by Council over a year ago, but had to be adopted again because the language needed to updated to reflect new state standards. This went into effect Jan 1, 2023. So not exactly an accomplishment, the Council had to be asked pass it AGAIN
Other notable meeting outcomes:
The City extended the period for applications for Climate Action Youth & Youth Adult Workforce Funding ($1 million), which will delay the update on Clean & Green workforce initiatives to “early 2023”
This was supposed to occur earlier (probably this meeting). Hopefully there will be some good news in that update (when it happens...)
While these grants are great (they provide money for local orgs to hire young people to work on climate-related projects!!) utilizing that funding structure continues to push the burden of acting onto local organizations. Most local enviro non-profits don’t have a lot of extra capacity to supervise more staff (or any staff). This is likely not the case for some larger orgs that work more closely with youth, but still (shrug)
Free air pollution monitors are now available! Learn more here
Applications for monitors were due in early January
These initial monitor applications were reserved for residents, businesses and buildings in “high need, low income areas" and the recipients were to be "selected based on geography and other criteria to ensure equitable distribution among neighborhoods”
Applications were due early Jan, but if any are left they will open it up again
The City recently got $350K through a grant with SMUD to pay for heat pumps in low-income homes (we don't know many details yet, but this is great!)
Not mentioned in discussion but listed in the slide deck presented was the "Climate Equity Pilot" that would provide grants for community projects that support a CAAP action. As far as we know the city hasn't begun accepting proposals yet - they recently wrapped up the bid process for a consultant/group to help handle admin, logistics, etc.
Stay tuned for more updates, and learn more about the Climate Equity Pilot in this slide deck shared back in Sept 2022
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