GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION LOCAL ACTION PLAN

Transcription

1 GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION LOCAL ACTION PLAN PROGRAM STRATEGY Alachua County Sustainable County Operations Team Alachua County Environmental Protection Department Staff contacts: Lalit Lalwani John Mousa 201 SE 2 nd Ave, Suite 201 Gainesville, FL October 2002

2 1.0 Background In April 1999, the Alachua County Commission adopted a resolution allowing the County to join the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign. The CCP program is a global campaign to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). As part of the county s participation in the campaign, the County has voluntarily committed to undertake the five following tasks: Conduct an energy and greenhouse gas emissions inventory Establish an emissions reduction target Develop and obtain approval for the Local Action Plan Implement policies and measures Monitor and verify results In June 2001, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in conjuntion with the Sustainable County Operations Team (SOT) completed a GHG Inventory for Alachua County governmental operations which also included data for the entire Alachua County community. This baseline inventory will serve as the reference against which the success of County efforts to reduce GHG emissions will be measured. Baseline information from the years is presented in the inventory. In order to be consistent with CCP guidelines, limited available data and estimates were used to calculate emissions in the year Both the 1998 and 1990 data will be used to track future reduction progress. As part of the overall comprehensive plan update process for Alachua County, the Board of County Commissioners established a GHG reduction goal for Alachua County: Reduce GHG emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by the year This goal is contained in Policy of the Conservation Element of the new Alachua County comprehensive plan. 2.0 Local Action Plan -- Objectives, Implementation Strategy and Forecasts The next milestone in meeting the County s commitment to the CCP campaign is the development and adoption of a Local Action Plan for GHG Reduction. The strategy adopted by the SOT and EPD is to first develop a plan for Alachua County Governmental Operations to reduce GHG emissions (Phase 1), and then to follow that with the development of Local Action Plan for the Alachua County Community which will involve coordination and cooperation with the University of Florida, the City of Gainesville, GRU, the smaller municipalities, local businesses and community groups to promote GHG reduction projects in the community (Phase 2). A brief summary of the development strategy for the Phase 2 Community Wide Local Action Plan is given in Section 3.0 below. The Local Action Plan attached in Attachment I is the Phase 1 plan for Alachua County Government Operations. 2.1 Local Action Plan for Alachua County Government Operations- Phase 1 The GHG Reduction Local Action Plan for Alachua County Government Operations has the following objectives: Define targeted general focus areas for reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ; Describe action items in each focus area to be implemented to achieve GHG reduction goal; Identify the operating units, individuals or groups that will implement action items; Identify the minimum data needed to calculate GHG reductions; Describe proposed data collection procedures;

3 Estimate GHG reductions from each action item; Serve as a model for collaboration and coordination with other municipalities, the University of Florida and community groups for countywide GHG reduction efforts Alachua County through the efforts of the SOT and several County operating units, including Fleet Management and Facilities has already been implementing several initiatives in the area of fleet management and energy efficiency improvements to County buildings that have reduced energy utilization and have reduced GHG emissions. Alachua County government has also been taking the lead on promoting alternate modes of transportation for County employees to minimize dependence on automobile travel. The GHG Reduction Local Action plan includes these initiatives and establishes goals for continued expansion of the programs in the next decade. In addition to these ongoing County efforts, the plan lays out several areas of new or enhanced focus for reducing GHG emissions in County operations. 2.2 Implementation Strategy Upon approval and adoption of the GHG Reduction Local Action Plan by the Board of County Commissioners, the implementation strategy for the plan will involve the SOT, EPD Air Quality Program staff and County Departments. A summary of the role and function of each of these units is listed below: County Sustainable Operations Team Provide general oversight and support for implementation of plan in all County operations. Air Quality Program (Environmental Protection) -- Implement data gathering, tracking and reporting procedures. Coordinate with City of Gainesville, UF, and others to promote countywide GHG reduction efforts. County Communications Coordinator/Public Information Office Assist Air Quality Program and SOT in implementing public information campaign to educate County employees and the public about the County s GHG program. County Departments Assist in implementation of data gathering and appropriate action items for GHG reduction. The data gathering and reporting procedures proposed are designed to be the least cumbersome to operating departments, but nevertheless, good cooperation and reporting from County Departments will be needed to make this plan successful. Costs to implement this GHG reduction plan fall into two categories: 1) Costs to implement the action items by the various County Departments, 2) Costs to track tabulate and report data for the program by the Air Quality Program within EPD. The action items in the plan have been designed and selected to make maximum use of already planned and budgeted initiatives and programs in various County departments. The plan does assume that current, ongoing or planned actions or programs such as the vehicle replacement program for increasing use of hybrids, the building energy use reduction initiative, the landfill gas to energy conversion project, and the land conservation and tree planting programs of the County continue to be funded in future budgets. However, the plan does challenge the County to increase the future level of attention and budget to other areas such as improving bicycle infrastructure, replacing fuel-inefficient large vehicles

4 with more fuel-efficient models and increasing the use of video and audio teleconferencing. Achieving the goals for these action items will depend on the level of future budget availability. Other action items in the plan call do not involve additional costs because they consist mainly of the development of policies and programs to increase employee awareness. As much as possible, the plan proposes to make use of existing data streams in various departments and the use of questionnaires to employees to acquire the needed data measurements. While planned to be kept to a minimum, there may be small additional costs to certain departments to acquire and report measurement data to the Air Quality Engineer and his staff who will be tabulating and reporting data. Costs for the majority of the data acquisition, data tracking, data reporting, questionnaires, employee and community outreach efforts is not expected to require additional funding beyond what is already budgeted as part of the proposed Air Quality program budgets for the next year. 2.3 Forecasts of GHG Reduction The estimates of GHG reductions for each focus area were calculated using CCP methodology using reasonable estimates and information about current and potential future programs from several County departments and programs. The estimated CO2 reduction in 2010 represents the estimated tons of GHG as CO2 that will be reduced on an annual basis in the year 2010 if the specified action item is implemented to the fullest extent. The largest impacts on GHG reductions as forecasted by the Local Action Plan will be generated by the landfill-gas-to-energy conversion project, the county building energy reduction efforts, the fuel reduction and alternate fuel initiatives, and the land conservation and tree planting projects. The plan forecasts a GHG reduction of 62% versus 1990 levels if all plan initiatives and projects are fully implemented. For the landfill gas initiative, the GHG reduction levels used in the forecast is based on the amount of Gainesville Regional Utilities electrical generation that is offset by the landfill gas generation project in the year Since the landfill gas initiative may not be a continuously sustainable initiative beyond 2010, the total GHG reduction forecast is also calculated in the worst case scenario without taking any credit for the landfill gas to energy conversion. The plan forecasts a GHG reduction of 20% versus 1990 levels if credit for the landfill gas conversion project is not included. Therefore the target of 20% reduction in GHG emissions can be reasonably achieved even without taking credit for the GHG reduction generated from the landfill-gas-to-energy generation project.

5 3.0 COMMUNITY WIDE LOCAL ACTION PLAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY The process of development of a Community Wide Local Action Plan for GHG Reduction will be initiated in the fall of 2002 after approval of the Program Strategy and the GHG Reduction Local Action Plan for County Governmental Operations by the Board of County Commissioners. The key elements and milestones of this strategy are outlined below. Conduct Education and Information Campaign for Public and County Employees Timeline-- Start October 2002 and continuous thereafter This campaign will be conducted in conjunction with the Alachua County Public Information Office by the Air Quality program staff to educate employees about the benefits and importance of the Local GHG Reduction Action Plan for County Operations and to publicize the County s Greenhouse Gas initiative to the broader Alachua County community. Identify, Contact and Educate Potential Stakeholders and Interested Parties Timeline October 2002 to January 2003 Potential stakeholders and interested groups and individuals in the Alachua County community will be contacted in order to promote the County s GHG reduction program, educate the public about the benefits and goals of the program, and solicit interest in joining the County in developing a community-wide GHG reduction Local Action Plan. Contact will take the form of presentations to and individual meetings with public and private groups and individuals which will stress the energy and cost reduction benefits of the program and explore opportunities for cooperation. Potential stakeholders would be representative of business, education and government with particular emphasis on green and sustainable community initiatives, alternative energy and with major focus areas such as transportation, energy, waste reduction and recycling, vegetation enhancement and green purchasing. Potential interested parties may include: Regional Planning Councils City and County Economic Development Groups Municipal Governments Alachua County Growth Management University of Florida Regional Transit System Hotel/Motel Associations -- Green Hotel Programs Home Builders Association -- Clean Builders Program FDOT School Board of Alachua County Electric utilities such as GRU, Florida Power Corporation and Clay Electric Alachua Conservation Trust Sustainable Alachua County Inc. Keep Alachua County Beautiful Citizen Advisory Boards and Committees - Alachua County Bicycle Pedestrian Board, Regional Transit Advisory Board; Environmental Protection Advisory Committee. Form Common Interest Task Force Groups to Develop Potential Action Items Timeline January 2003 to May 2003 Common interest task force groups will be formed and coordinated by Air Quality program staff to develop and evaluate potential GHG reduction action items for the community. As an example a utilities task force group and a hotel/motel task force group could be formed. This

6 task would culminate in stakeholders developing specific action items for the Community GHG Local Action Plan. Develop the Community Local Action Plan Timeline June 2003 to September 2003 The Air Quality Program staff will then take the action items proposed by the common interest task forces and develop a Community GHG Reduction Local Action Plan. This action plan will be reviewed and approved by all participating stakeholders. Adoption of the Plan by Alachua County and the Community Stakeholders Timeline October 2003 The community local action plan will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners and the participating stakeholders for adoption. Implement and Track the Community Local Action Plan Timeline Continuous from fall 2003 to 2010 Air Quality Program staff along with the Sustainable Operations Team and the Local Community Task Forces will implement and track GHG reduction action items and report the results to ICLEI.