Environmental Sustainability Council

Environmental Sustainability Council/Energy Transition Subcommittee Meeting Agenda February 15, 2024❖7:30pm 300 Park Ave, Council Chambers, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 • Call to Order • Roll Call – • ESC Members: Joseph Schiarizzi, (Chair), Michael Trauberman (Vice-chair), John Ferris, Christopher Behr, Matthew Cunningham.(via video), Jennifer Tabola, Sarah Bayldon , David Stile Student Representatives: Lilja Anderson, Gia Kahn, Wendy Abstone, Ally Campbell, Hayden Kusic City Staff: Andrew Young , Kurt Lawrence (ESC Staff Liaison), Lonnie Marquetti Ashley Smith (Consultant), Jon Ward, Tim Stevens, Matt Adams (Public) • Joseph proposed a motion to allow Matt Cunningham to attend the meeting virtually according to City protocol. Mike Trauberman second the motion. The motion passed unanimously. • The ESC welcomed its new member, David Stile. • Public Comment Period • ESC received one public comment from Sharon Freedlander • Joseph appreciated the comment and noted the importance of the reduction of pesticide use to prevent unintended consequences to the environment. • Approval of January ESC Minutes • John Ferris proposed a motion to approve the January minutes. Chris Behr second the motion. The meeting minutes were approved unanimously. • Solid Waste Presentation – Lonnie Marquetti • Lonnie Marquette, the Solid Waste Programs Coordinator for the City of Falls Church, updated the ESC on the status of the revisions to the City of Falls Church Solid Waste Management Plan. (see presentation in the agenda). • Lonnie highlighted the use of the Recycle Coach App which provides customized waste disposal information. • Joseph asked if there was a percentage of waste that was construction waste, and what percentage of such waste was recycled. He recommended identifying the amount of construction waste to set a goal for minimizing such waste. Lonnie said the city does not track such wastes; however her presentation has an estimate for Construction and Demolition Debris (CDD). Lonnie explained that the city has a large amount of construction ongoing, but data is presented by the contractors combined with Fairfax County. Lonnie recommended that the city track the CDD waste for 2 to 3 years to obtain data specific to Falls Church prior to setting a CDD waste reduction goal. • ESC discussed the potential for the city to offer incentives to developers regarding deconstruction, but it is not currently in the plan.  • Jennifer asked the student representatives about waste management in the school. Lonnie discussed the work she had done with the school regarding food waste, including the importance of signage to show proper disposal of various waste streams (food, compost, etc). • In response to questions regarding bulk disposal, Lonnie gave examples of “free yard sales” and the possibility of other activities and recommended any ideas to reduce residential bulk waste. It is against the Solid Waste Code on the curb any day other than the waste day. • Matt discussed the waste reduction aspects of LEED Gold for commercial building, but that does not apply to residential housing. • Outside of this report, Lonnie recommended the ESC assist with setting goal or a way to track waste. Specifically identify a waste stream to remove, such as removing organic wastes from the waste stream to achieve “zero waste.” • Kurt will send the draft Plan to the ESC tomorrow for comment. Chris will compile comments over the next two weeks. • Approval of the plan is scheduled for July. • Present Draft Annual Report • Joseph is drafting the draft annual report. He requested from the subcommittee chairs to submit their input. The main accomplishments of the ESC highlighted are the input into the Quinn Project, approval of the net zero emissions goal, and the two Energy Action Plans. • Joseph anticipated emailing this to the ESC in the next week or two and would like a vote via email soon after. • City Council Retreat Recap • Debbie Hiscott was not able to attend in person but send an email to Joseph with a summary of the retreat. • The City Council had a retreat on February 3. The Council identified 77 priority actions. Areas of focus were: environmental sustainability, transportation, economic development, housing and good governance. Environmental sustainability included funding and implementing energy action plans, develop urban forestry management plan, develop green building guidelines, and integrate environmental review across city programs. • Mike noted that Arlington and Alexandria are updating their green building guidelines and Falls Church could use their updates to inform the City’s. • Student Representatives Activity Discussion • Joseph identified a series of items the students can do to support environmental sustainability in the City. Joseph would like to have an ESC member identified as a coordinator/liaison to the student representatives. Jennifer recommended that the students map ongoing student work that can be cross walked with ESC activities. Students agreed to review Joseph’s list and provide what is ongoing that would support these items. • Jennifer noted that the school building was supposed to be an environmental/living laboratory and recommended that students utilize the school itself for environmental projects (e.g. monitoring solar output, orientation for new students on environmental aspects of the building). • State Legislative Update • Mike Trauberman provided a briefing on the state legislation. We are currently halfway through the 60-day session, and this week was crossover where the bills are delivered across the respective houses. Democrats hold a one-vote majority in both houses, but the Governor can veto. Almost 2300 bills were introduced. 1200 were crossed over from one house to the other. Current bills include energy efficiency, renewable energy, electric vehicles. Many of the environmental bills were not included in the cross over. Many bills were sent for further study. Bills including reinstating Virginia in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and localities allowances to mandate higher tree canopy rates.