Agenda

Return

D.3

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	John Kopchik, Director, Conservation & Development Department
Date:	September 20, 2022

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

RECEIVE report of the Interdepartmental Climate Action Task Force

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 09/20/2022

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

ABSENT:

Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor

Contact:

Jody London, 925-655-2815

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: September 20, 2022
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

RECEIVE report of the Interdepartmental Climate Action Task Force, as recommended by the Directors of the Departments of Conservation and Development and Public Works.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There are some new or increased costs, with offsetting savings. As County departments proceed with implementing recommendations from the Report, there could be both expenditures related to those activities and associated savings. For example, a department might choose to install LED lighting. There would be a cost associated with installing the new lights and, because the lights will use less energy, savings would accrue over time.

BACKGROUND:

The Board of Supervisors adopted a Climate Emergency Resolution (Resolution) on September 22, 2020. Among other things, the Resolution established an interdepartmental task force consisting of all Department heads, or their senior deputies, to coordinate their efforts focusing on the urgent implementation of the County’s Climate Action Plan. The Task Force was directed to report back to the Board of Supervisors (Board) twice a year as a discussion item on the Board agenda. In late 2020, the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) in partnership with the Department of Public Works (Public Works) convened the Task Force.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

Sustainability Fund

Last year, the Task Force recommended that the Board establish a Sustainability Fund that can support investments in County infrastructure. In November 2021, the Board directed that $2.5 million per year be allocated from Measure X to support the Sustainability Fund. The first tranche of funds was received by the Public Works Department in April 2022 and is being used to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers at County facilities to expedite the conversion of the County’s fleet to zero emission vehicles. Attachment A, a presentation from the August 2022 Task Force meeting, reviews the process that Public Works is using to evaluate sites for EV chargers.

G3 Champions

Also in 2021, the Task Force agreed to support the Green Government Group (G3) Champions, employee volunteers who help their departments adopt best practices from the County’s Green Business Program. The G3 Champion program launched in April. Recruitment was aided by a video message from County Administrator Monica Nino (see https://youtu.be/uAMOiWwAUU8). Response from employees has been strong, with close to 70 people from nearly every department participating. A small, cross-department steering committee designs and facilitates the bi-monthly meetings of the G3 Champions and supports the Task Force. Attachment B is an update on the G3 Champion program that was provided at the August 2022 Task Force meeting.

Each G3 Champion meeting and subsequent activity focuses on a different topic. The April launch meeting focused on Bike to Work Week. G3 Champions helped recruit County employees to participate in Bike to Work Week. The County’s Department of Conservation and Development had the highest percentage of employees participating. A survey of Bike to Work participants provided useful information on what would better support employees in bicycling to their offices. Suggestions include: more protected or separated bike lanes; secure bike parking spaces at County offices; lockers and showers at County offices.

The June G3 Champion meeting focused on electric vehicles and included a presentation from Ride and Drive Clean about how electric vehicles operate, how to purchase them, etc. As the County increases the number of electric vehicles in its fleet, we need to make sure employees understand them and will drive them. The G3 Champions helped promote a Lunch and Learn webinar for all County employees on July 11 which reached maximum capacity of 100, with many more interested in attending.

The G3 Champions also sponsored a survey of County employees about their interest in electric vehicles. Nearly 1,200 employees responded to the survey. The survey results show significant interest in electric vehicles, with 45% saying it’s very likely their next personal vehicle will be all-electric, and 40% saying it might be. 55% of survey respondents want to learn more about electric vehicles for personal use, while 27% say they already know a lot. 56% of respondents who already own an electric vehicle would charge their vehicles at work if there were a charger at their office. Of those who are considering switching to an electric vehicle, 33% would charge their vehicle every day if they could, and 39% would charge a few times a week. This is helpful because allowing employees to charge at work during the day while fleet vehicles are in use would help offset the cost of the charger (staff recommend employees pay to charge).

The County Library hosted a Drive Clean webinar on September 1 as part of its community education program.

The August 2022 G3 Champion meeting focused on water conservation and included a presentation from the Contra Costa Water District. G3 Champions are educating their co-workers about water conservation strategies at home and in the office.

The G3 Champions introduced themselves to the Board of Supervisors on at the June 7 Board meeting. Video of that presentation can be found at https://youtu.be/cf1Hk3RpK70.

Department Progress

Several departments shared their progress on climate action at the August 2022 Task Force meeting. Highlights are provided below.

The Fire Protection District has purchased two all-electric Rivian pickup trucks. The Fire District is piloting them for chief officer response vehicles and utility vehicles. This will help the Fire District better understand how it can use electric vehicles in the light truck category. The recent annexation of East County into the Fire District is making the solar farm near Pittsburg more financially viable because there are more accounts against which to offset the electricity generated by the panels. The Fire District is looking to potentially remove all-grass lawns at fire houses and replace them with drought-tolerant landscaping. It also is working on energy efficiency improvements at fire stations.

The County Library surveyed patrons recently and environmental sustainability was identified as a key concern for the community. The Library has many sustainability resources on its web site at https://ccclib.org/explore/?tag=sustainability. At library branches, patrons can check out energy efficiency tool kits to analyze their home’s performance, check out seeds from the seed libraries, and check out California State Parks passes, among other things. The Library sponsors bike repair workshops, master gardener classes, and climate career chats, some online, some in person. As mentioned above, on September 1 the Library hosted an Electrify Your Ride webinar. The Library is exploring purchasing an electric van for its newly launched early literacy outreach program, and is looking at how it can convert its delivery trucks to all-electric.

The Health Department has joined the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative. It is looking at installing solar on the new parking structure at the Medical Center. The Health Department leads the Green and Healthy Homes Asthma Initiative, in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Development and MCE, the County’s electricity provider. The Health Department distributed 16,000 masks in East County to help residents affected by the Marsh Fire and is working with the Office of Emergency Services on Clean Air Grants. The Health Department has joined Practice GreenHealth, a program that will help reduce waste and emissions from medical facilities. Health also worked with two graduate student interns recently from UC Berkeley.

The Employment and Human Services Department developed a climate action plan for the department last year. EHSD is installing low-flow faucets at 50 Douglas and has work orders pending to replace faucets at other facilities. EHSD is excited to energize the new solar panels at Delta Fair later this year. EHSD is starting to look at how to convert its fleet to all-electric.

The Public Works Department has recently enrolled County facilities in programs to save energy and money. The County is enrolling in MCE’s Strategic Energy Management Program, which will help the County update the 2001 Energy Reduction Action Plan and save tens of thousands of dollars. County participation in PG&E’s demand response program will lead to significant energy savings and create both revenue and electric grid benefits, in line with Governor Newsom’s grid resiliency goals.

The Task Force is encouraged by the progress County departments are making to help the County achieve its climate action goals. The Task Force will continue to focus on implementing the Sustainability Fund and the G3 Champion program.

CLERK'S ADDENDUM

Speakers: Chi Chi; Caller 6770.