[San Francisco Commission on the Environment Resolution Addressing Short-Term and Long-Term Funding Concerns for Critical Department Initiatives and Programs]
WHEREAS, The San Francisco Commission on the Environment (COE) seeks to improve, enhance, and preserve the environment and to promote San Francisco’s long-term environmental sustainability as set forth in Section 4.118 of the City Charter; and,
WHEREAS, The COE and the Department of the Environment (Department) focus on four key topic areas that include Zero Waste, Toxics Reduction, Climate, and Energy/EVs; and,
WHEREAS, The Department’s Zero Waste and Toxics Reduction Teams have a more dedicated and reliable source of funding while the Climate and EV work relies almost exclusively on work orders and grants that often vary from year to year; and,
WHEREAS, The Department’s Climate and EV work is receiving significant funding through work orders in FY 20-21 from both the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA); and,
WHEREAS, The SFPUC and SFMTA have reduced their work orders to the Department by $346,000 in fiscal year 21-22 and $346,000 in fiscal year 22-23; and,
WHEREAS, The COE acknowledges that Departments across the City have been negatively impacted by the City’s anticipated budget deficit due primarily to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and,
WHEREAS, A reduction of $346,000 in each fiscal year will reduce the Department’s ability to address transportation emissions and associated poor air quality in neighborhoods containing significant Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities; and,
WHEREAS, A reduction of $346,000 will also limit the Department’s ability to engage communities that will be most impacted by climate change including Bayview Hunters Point, the Mission, SOMA, the Tenderloin, and Chinatown, and work with them on mitigation and resiliency strategies; and,
WHEREAS, A reduction of $346,000 will slow the Department’s building decarbonization efforts in new and existing buildings, which will reduce the ability to improve indoor and outdoor air quality in communities with more new housing construction and higher rates of asthma; and,
WHEREAS, These anticipated budget reductions will keep the Department from fully implementing the City’s Climate Action Plan, which creates a roadmap for the City to reach its greenhouse gas reduction commitments; and,
WHEREAS, The COE agrees with the consensus among climate scientists that the climate crisis is already happening and our window of opportunity to act is now to ensure we avoid catastrophic climate threats to human health, ecological stability, economic viability, and disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged and marginalized populations; and,
WHEREAS, The Board of Supervisors declared a climate emergency in 2019 requesting immediate and accelerated action to address the climate crisis and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; and,
WHEREAS, Climate change has already impacted San Francisco, ranging from poor air quality from wildfires, to drought, flooding, and extreme heat; and,
WHEREAS, The Department’s current resources, without taking into account these reductions, are insufficient to confront the worsening climate crisis head-on and its disproportionate impact on low-income and vulnerable communities here in San Francisco; and
WHEREAS, The Department’s over-reliance on unstable funding like grants and work orders impacts the City’s ability to accelerate climate action as called for by the City’s Climate Emergency Declaration; now, therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, That, the COE asks the Mayor and San Francisco Board of Supervisors to use funding from the City’s anticipated federal stimulus allocation to make the Department of the Environment whole and restore the $346,000 in reductions to the Department’s Climate and EV work for each fiscal year, 21-22 and 22-23; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, That, in the face of the climate crisis and the urgent need for San Francisco to continue to lead at home as well as nationally and internationally, it is critical that action be taken to address the Department's ongoing lack of stable and sufficient funding to carry out the essential climate and EV work that it has been tasked with; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the COE also asks the Mayor and Board, in addition to restoring the reductions, to acknowledge the importance of increasing funding for Climate and EV initiatives and to work with the Department to accelerate efforts accordingly to address the growing threat of global warming; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, That, the COE also asks the Mayor and Board to collaborate with the COE to identify new and stable revenue sources to establish an immediate and long-term secure source of funding for Climate and EV work here in the City; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the COE will continue to work with the Department to ensure that the City remains a leader in its climate policies and uses any additional support to make a positive impact in the lives of San Francisco residents and reduce the negative effects they experience from a changing climate.
I hereby certify that this Resolution was adopted at the Commission on the Environment’s meeting on March 1, 2021.
Katie Chansler, Commission Affairs Officer
Vote: 7-0
Ayes: Commissioners Ahn, Bermejo, Chu, Stephenson, Sullivan, Wald, and Wan
Noes: None
Absent: None
Appendix I: Partial list of programs that will not be funded unless funding is restored