Community Environmental Advisory Commission

Regular Meeting August 19, 2020 – 5:00-7:00 p.m. Online Meeting Dial-In Number: 612-276-6670 Conference ID: 494 025 187#

Notice: This meeting may involve the remote participation by members, either by telephone or other electronic means, due to the local public health emergency (novel coronavirus pandemic), pursuant to the provisions of MN Statutes Section 13D.021.

Board/Commission Members: Allan Campbell, Anthony Varriano, Erin Kern, Erin Niehoff, Halley Norman, Ian Manion, Jimmy Randolph, Katie Hill Brandt, Marianna Hefte, Mark Dhennin, Michelle Shaw, Molly Ellis, Nicholas Minderman, Sandy Fazeli, Thomas Olsen, Tim Sexton (Quorum 9)

Staff: Diana Chao, [email protected] or 612-673-2563

Bjorn Olson, Luke Hollenkamp

Guests: Maddie Henderson (new to Mpls and involved in similar council at last place of residence), Dominique Diddiago-Cash (Sierra Club) Call to Order

Erin Niehoff called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm. Ian Manion read the following land acknowledgement statement:

Land Acknowledgement: As we meet here today, we are reminded that Minneapolis is situated on the homelands of the Dakota people. An area that is steeped in rich Indigenous history, and today is home to Indigenous people from more than 30 different nations. As a City, we have a responsibility to care for the land on which we live and work and all of its natural surroundings. This stewardship is an integral part of our involvement in this commission, and we honor it as we begin our meeting. We now open up this space to discuss ways in which we can support Indigenous people in our community.

Michelle Shaw announced the Our Relay for Water Event. People are following water released at Lake Itasca. Michelle will send information to Diana to send out to the CEAC distribution list for people that want to follow the water on its path. September 19th or 20th will be the day of event locally. Adoption of the Agenda + Acceptance of Minutes of July 7, 2020 and July 15, 2020

Ian Manion moved to adopt the agenda and accept the minutes of July 7, 2020 and July 15, 2020. Anthony Varriano seconded the motion. 10 ayes, motion carries. Announcements

• Erin Niehoff submitted CEAC’s Roof Depot op-ed to the Star Tribune and asked what other papers to submit it to. The Star Tribune has an exclusivity clause for 10 days. If the op-ed is not published after 10 days, it can be published elsewhere. Other signed-on orgs could reach out to the Star Tribune independently to encourage publishing.

Discussion

1. CEAC follow-up discussion on actions and next steps regarding the Roof Depot site. • Unlikely to change the op-ed language too much given number of orgs that signed on. • Erin Niehoff suggested submitting to MinnPost, believed to be next highest readership after the Star Tribune. Also, the MinnPost readership and editorial board would likely be agreeable to the op-ed content. MinnPost has no exclusivity requirements. • Nick Minderman suggested for other organizations to submit the op-ed to other papers, potentially with fewer authors. • Potential alternatives to submit the op-ed to: MN350 blog, Southside Pride, City Pages, Southwest Journal, Longfellow Nokomis Messenger • Discussed potential of sending the op-ed to City Council and Mayor, though not from CEAC. Erin Niehoff could send on behalf of herself. • CEAC members individually reached out to their respective Council Members. CM Cano Aide responded without interest, CM Goodman is not interested in using the site for anything other than City operations, no response from CM Palmisano, CM Fletcher acknowledged he is short-staffed, CM Reich meeting is forthcoming. Erin Niehoff will send op-ed letter to CMs that have responded to let them know she is working on getting the letter published. • Erin Niehoff will start to reach out to other media assuming the Star Tribune is not interested after the 10-day exclusivity period expires on Friday, August 21. • Erin Niehoff asked: What would you want a Chair to do when not acting officially through CEAC? o It was helpful to have Erin Niehoff’s email communications confirming her actions, role, and motion. • Michelle Shaw will send out meeting accessibility form/letter so people can add to it. CEAC will discuss meeting accessibility at the September meeting. Presentation

1. Kim Havey (Director of Sustainability Division) and Bjorn Olson (Sustainability Program Coordinator) presented an update on the development of the City’s Sustainable Building Policy (SBP). • Erin Niehoff reviewed a letter from late 2019 written by CEAC regarding the SBP. • CEAC agreed with importance of energy impacts and added on the desire for a more comprehensive building policy with other factors considered. CEAC suggested other sources of information for the policy. • Suggested determining if SBP could apply to all buildings, beyond those which are covered/prohibited by the energy and building codes. • Luke Hollenkamp mentioned that some cities nationwide are exploring whether energy code prohibitions can be worked around by focusing on greenhouse gas reduction. • Kim and Bjorn presented the slide deck: o Economic development dollar amount trigger would be equivalent to St. Paul’s policy for consistency. o Including the social cost of carbon in the calculations for what has a ROI payback of 12 years or less for energy items. This is the first use of the social cost of carbon in a City policy.

o Energy is based on quantifiable kbtu/sf metric. o Minimum of 1 EV spot or 20% of spaces, whichever is greater. CEAC wrote a supporting letter for the EV requirement of 20% or 1 spot last fall. o 2% on-site renewable electricity is leading by national standards but matches St. Paul’s policy. o Sustainability Division is also having conversations about building code, outside of SBP, to meet some of these objectives more broadly. EV parking might be something CPED zoning is interested in. o Haven’t had a conversation with CPED regarding parking minimum requirements in development broadly. o Not extending “no potable water” requirement to non-City buildings because there is no way to track compliance. o MNRisks tool through MPCA will monitor air quality. Air quality assessment will be performed and compared against MPCA data, likely through some temporary 3rd party monitoring. o Bird strike threat factor of 45 or less. o 25% minimum native planting requirement. o No way to track prohibition or pesticides for non-City buildings, thus only included for City buildings. o 75% of materials to be environmentally preferred for City buildings. • Will CEAC have the opportunity to look at specific policy language? o Staff currently working with Center for Sustainable Building Research and have a preliminary draft but wanted to present today before everything is finalized. • CEAC is first outreach presentation and beginning of public engagement. • CEAC can send emails to Bjorn Olson ([email protected]) with any suggestions, comments, and resources to consider. • Nick Minderman motioned for CEAC to file this presentation with individual members sending comments/questions to staff. CEAC will revisit the policy at a future meeting. Ian Manion seconded the motion. None opposed. 2. Stacy Miller (Sustainability Program Coordinator) presented an update on the City’s intervention and comments on Xcel Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan. • Nick Minderman works at Xcel Energy and left the meeting, as participating in the conversation could serve as a potential conflict of interest. • Xcel IRP is a 15-year plan, updated every 3 years. The current plan is for 2020-2034, so there are not many more plans before reaching 2025 and 2030 City goals. • Regulation is now looking more at environmental aspects, which is somewhat newer than looking at the customer’s best financial interest. • Minneapolis is one of the few cities in the state that intervenes at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and is relying more and more on resident input for direction. • PUC can only go by written record, so City and residents need to get on the record for their voices to matter. • Xcel’s current plan has been resubmitted, since the PUC found the previous submittal last year inadequate and required specific changes (redo modeling without assuming ownership of a new gas plant). • Comments due on October 30, 2020, reply comments in January 2021.

• Minneapolis wants to see a green tariff (such as Windsource or Renewable*Connect) as a pathway to making it a community-wide agreement, rather than individual by individual. • Xcel wants to see 20% of its customers own EVs and wants to support that. • Minneapolis is assisted by the American Cities Climate Challenge for more support beyond City staff. • CEAC can engage by writing a letter to City Council, sending individual comments directly to Stacy Miller ([email protected]), and/or providing individual comments directly to the PUC. • Erin Niehoff noted that a letter from CEAC as a body can go directly to City Council and Mayor, not directly to the PUC. A letter from CEAC to the City Council will inform the City’s letter to PUC.

Ian Manion moved to adjourn the meeting. Michelle Shaw seconded the motion. None opposed.

7:00 pm Adjournment Next Meeting: September 16, 2020 – 5:00-7:00 pm Location: Online Meeting, Dial-In Number: 612-276-6670 Conference ID: 972 463 882#

For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats, please contact the Sustainability Division at 612-673-2563 or e-mail [email protected]. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 at 612-673-3000. TTY users call 612-673-2157 or 612-673-2626. Para asistencia 612-673-2700 - Rau kev pab 612-673-2800 - Hadii aad Caawimaad u baahantahay 612-673- 3500.