Staff Report: 2019 Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program

2019 CLIMATE ACTION REVENUE INCENTIVE PROGRAM

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the May 14, 2020 report from the Senior Planner titled “2019 Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program” be received for information.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendations.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendations.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICE’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendations.

PURPOSE OF REPORT

1. To present the 2019 Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program Actions Survey.
2. To report on the Town’s 2019 Green House Gas emissions from corporate operations.
3. To report on the Town’s 2019 Green House Gas emission balancing project – Organic Waste Diversion (Composting)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

For the first time, the Town has achieved carbon neutral operations without having to purchase carbon offsets. The main reason is a significant increase in composting at the CRD Hartland Landfill composting facility that generated 50 tonnes of carbon offsets more than the Town received in its share the previous year. Balancing emissions and offsets would not have been possible without the cumulative effects of the Towns’ many initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations over the past years.

By publishing and submitting reports and other material required by the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program, the Town is eligible to receive a carbon tax refund of $3994 from fuel expenditures made in 2019.

BACKGROUND

The Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP)

The Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP) is a conditional grant program. The is equal to one hundred percent of the carbon tax paid by a local government for fuel purchases in a year. To be eligible for the CARIP grant, the local government must:

A. Sign on to the BC Climate Action Charter and by doing so commit to take action and develop strategies to achieve the following three goals:

1. Become carbon neutral in their corporate operations by 2012
   The Town’s status was “making progress” in 2012 as permitted by the Province. The Town achieved carbon neutral operations in the 2013 reporting and has continued to do so every year since by actively working to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and by purchasing a small amount of carbon offsets.
2. Measure and report on their community Green House Gas (GHG emission) profile
   The Town relies on the Community Energy & Emissions Inventory, which has been published by the Province for 2007, 2010 and 2012. With the demise of the AirCare program 2014, the Province is unable to provide reliable estimates for vehicle emissions and communities in BC will now have to seek or create a new methodology.
3. Create complete, compact, energy efficient rural and urban communities
   The Town continues to work towards this goal through continued implementation of the Official Community Plan and other plans and programs.

B. Report publicly on their plan and progress towards meeting their climate action goals.
The Climate Actions Survey is a provincial template to describe actions undertaken by the Town in 2019 and planned for 2020. The Carbon Neutral Progress Survey provides an analysis of net greenhouse gas emissions from municipal (including contracted) operations.

Carbon Neutral Operations

To be carbon neutral in corporate operations means the following:

Where:

• Amount of GHGs generated is the tonnes of GHG produced from the consumption of fossil fuels, e.g. heating buildings, running vehicle fleets.
• Project reductions is the reduction of GHG emissions through:
  • Option 1: Investing in any of four pre-approved UBCM Green Communities Committee (GCC) Supported Projects, which consist of the following:
    1. low emission vehicles
    2. energy efficient building retrofits and fuel switching
    3. solar thermal (hot water) retrofits
    4. household organic waste composting
    5. avoided Forest Conversion Project
    6. trenchless technology
  • Option 2: Investing in Alternate GCC-supported projects, i.e. creating an independent GHG reduction project that meets eligibility requirements and is verified by an accredited third party.
• Offsets is the offsetting of carbon neutrality through Option 3, the purchase of carbon offsets from an approved provider that are used to fund projects that reduce GHGs elsewhere.

Note: to calculate GHG emissions, the Town receives a spreadsheet produced by the Capital Regional District and continuously updated in accordance with the methodology set out by the Province. Alternatively, Shares Services BC offers the Clean Government Reporting Tool (CGRT) to replace SmartTool. The costs for the SmartTool application were approximately $1200 for the first two years followed by an annual service agreement.

DISCUSSION

To fulfill the Town’s annual Climate Action Charter commitments, the following information is presented for Council’s consideration:

1. 2019 CARIP Climate Action/Carbon Neutral Progress Survey
2. Summary of GHGs produced by the Town’s corporate operations
3. GHG emission reductions from composting
4. Reporting requirements

1. 2019 CARIP Climate Action/Carbon Neutral Progress Survey

The draft survey reporting on the Town’s actions to address climate change in its operations and community support can be found in Attachment 1. This survey will be submitted to the Province and published to summarize the Town's completed and proposed actions towards reducing community GHG emissions and achieving or maintaining carbon neutrality in the Town’s corporate operations.

2. Corporate Green House Gas Emissions

The Town’s GHG emissions from operations are summarized in Table 1:

Table 1. Town of View Royal Corporate GHG Emissions from Operations and Composting

Municipal Emissions

The municipal GHG emissions (Attachment 2) are based on the amount of fossil fuels used in the Town’s facilities, roads, and service operations, including the following:

• Vehicle use
• Traffic signals and street and ornamental lighting
• Building (heating, cooling and lighting)
• Sewer pump stations
• Park irrigation

The main factors that can affect the amount of GHGs emitted each year include the impact of weather on the amount of energy used for heating and cooling buildings; the percentage of electricity that is generated from fossil fuels; and distance driven by the vehicle fleet. Over the past few years the Town’s emissions have been in the range of 112-127 Tes per year. Highlights for 2019 that will help lower emissions in the future include the following:

1. The Town replaced 37 ‘cobra head’ streetlights in 2019 with LED illumination. There are about 166 cobra lights in total and 58 more replacements are planned for 2020. Replacement of all other streetlights with LEDs will be a long term project.
2. Two public electric vehicle charging stations were installed: at Helmcken Centennial Park and Town Hall
3. The Town purchased a Hyundai Ioniq electric car in May 2019 for its fleet. This is the Town’s first zero emission vehicle.

Contracted emissions

Contracted emissions (Attachment 3) are generated by contractors engaged by the Town to provide standard municipal services such as solid and organic waste collection, road and boulevard maintenance, community water, recreation centres, and libraries. GHG emissions for water service and (the Town’s share of) the Central Public Library are addressed respectively by the Capital Regional District and the City of Victoria in their calculations. If the coverage of GHG emissions by these two parties were to end, the Town will have to be account for its share of emissions in future CARIP reports. 2019 highlights include the following:

1. Reduced consumption of electricity and natural gas by West Shore Parks and Recreation saved 13 Tes of GHG emissions.

3. Green House Gas Reduction Projects

A total of 213.9 + 165.8 = 379.7 Tes can be claimed for GHG-reduction from Town and CRD projects that divert organic waste into composting programs.

a. Town of View Royal Household Organic Composting Project
The project includes curbside collection of household organic waste, seasonal yard waste curbside pickups, and yard waste drop-off at the Esquimalt/View Royal Yard and Garden Waste Transfer Station in Esquimalt. Previously, yard and garden waste could be dropped off at the Ellice Trio Gravel facility on the Esquimalt Nation lands or at the Ellice facility in Victoria. 213.9 Tes were recovered in 2019 by this program (Attachment 4), an increase from 194.8 Tes 2018.

b. CRD ICI Household Organic Composting Project
A landfill ban on kitchen waste (food waste and soiled paper products) came into effect in January 2015. This project includes collection and diversion of kitchen scraps from Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) properties to the Hartland Landfill composting facility. These are properties and operations for which local governments do not provide garbage and compost collection service and includes apartments, townhouses and other multifamily properties. The CRD coordinates the project, shares the credits with its member municipalities based on population and certifies that the credits were not claimed by the companies that create or collect the organic waste. 165.8 Tes of GHG reduction credits are being claimed for the Town for 2019 (see Attachment 5), a significant increase of 18% from 110.6 Tes in 2018. The increased volume of composting is due to Emterra closing its composting facility, leaving the Hartland Landfill composting facility as the only local option essentially. This additional volume will increase the GHG offsets that municipalities can claim.

4. Achieving Carbon Neutral Operations for 2019

GHG emissions in 2019 were steady compared to the previous year, while GHG offsets from composting programs increased significantly. This year for the first time the Town has achieved carbon neutral operations without having to purchase carbon offsets. This is primarily due to increased volume at Hartland Landfill composting facility. The Town’s allocation is 50 tonnes more than the previous year and is enough to balance out the Town’s emissions.

5. Reporting Requirements

To meet provincial requirements for carbon neutral operations for the 2019 reporting year and receive the CARIP grant, the following is required by June 1, 2020: a. Publish the 2019 CARIP Carbon Neutral Progress Survey report on the Town website b. Publish of the 2019 report on the Town’s Household Organic Composting Project to balance GHG emissions c. Submit other CARIP documentation to the Province.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the May 14, 2020 report from the Senior Planner titled “2019 Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program” be received for information.

SUBMITTED BY:
Jeff Chow, MCIP, RPP, Senior Planner

REVIEWED BY:
Lindsay Chase, MCIP, RPP, Director of Development Services

ATTACHMENTS

1. 2019 Climate Actions Survey (14 pages)
2. 2019 Town GHG Emissions
3. 2019 Contracted GHG Emissions
4. 2019 Organic Waste Composting figures
5. 2019 Organic Waste Composting Project Plan
6. CRD allocations of Carbon Offsets