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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-01-09 Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Summary MinutesCLIMATE ACTION & SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 8 Special Meeting January 9, 2026 The Climate Action & Sustainability Committee of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Community Meeting Room and by virtual teleconference at 2:00 p.m. Present In-Person: Veenker (Chair), Burt, Lu Council Member Burt arrived at 2:24 p.m. Present Remotely: None Absent: None Call to Order Chair Veenker called the meeting to order. Public Comment None. Standing Verbal Reports A. Staff Comments Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston said that Utilities will be launching a direct installation program for home electrification in the first quarter of 2026 that will provide turn-key electrification through Franklin Energy and will offer fixed price and assistance to customers electrifying homes. Chair Veenker asked if the customer had a choice about which appliances could be replaced or if all appliances had to be replaced at once. Director Eggleston said the customer could work with the contractor to select which appliances they wanted to electrify or develop a plan to replace appliances over time rather than all at once. B. Committee Member Comments and Announcements SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 Chair Veenker thanked staff and the community for a good retreat. Earlier this week, the President withdrew the United States from the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . There will be no standard Air District Board Meeting this month but there will be a board retreat on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. The NCPA annual conference in Sacramento will be January 20 through 21 with the Commission meeting on the 22nd. Chair Veenker was grateful to the UAC Chair for covering the January 26, 2026, CMUA Policy Day. Agenda Items 1. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Recommendation to Council to Approve the 2026- 2027 S/CAP Work Plan and Accept Four S/CAP Studies; CEQA Status: Potential environmental impacts of this project were studied in the June 5, 2023 S/CAP Addendum to the 2017-2031 Comprehensive Plan EIR; this project is also exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 Sustainability Manager Christine Luong explained that the S/CAP was a comprehensive document which laid out the City's strategy to achieve carbon reduction goals while improving the natural environment, adapting to climate impacts, and increasing livability for Palo Alto residents. The main focus was to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2030 relative to a 1990 baseline. The S/CAP was divided into 2 groups: Climate Action, which included climate action, energy, electric vehicles, and mobility; and Sustainability, which included water, climate adaptation and sea level rise, natural environment, and zero waste. Most of the S/CAP priorities from the last 3 years were either completed or on track to be completed. In the 2023-2025 S/CAP Work Plan, there were 50 work items in the Climate Action section and 27 work items in the Sustainability section. There were 2 delayed projects: 2.3H, which was not started due to a lack of staff capacity; and 8O, in which establishing a carbon storage baseline was delayed due to a lack of the necessary measurement software and equipment and was not added to the new Work Plan. Packet Attachment A incorrectly labeled 2 items as "delayed" which should be labeled as "in progress." In the 2026-2027 S/CAP Work Plan, there were 28 strategies in the Climate Action section, 16 strategies in the Sustainability section, and 3 strategies in the S/CAP Communications section. The downtown parking availability item was not included in the new Work Plan based on Committee feedback. Items from the previous Work Plan that carried into the new Work Plan were CA10. Workplace EV Charging Pilot/CA18. Public Charging and Siting; CA20. Gas Transition Management; CA22. Implement Micromobility Feasibility Study recommendations; and CA26. Develop and begin implementing a City Facility Electrification Plan. Sustainability items from the previous Work Plan that were not carried over to the new Work Plan included 8J. Identify protection strategies from significant flood events and 8L. Minimize fire hazard through zoning, which was included in the "Implement the Foothills Fire Management Plan" strategy. Sustainability items from the previous Work Plan that will continue on included S2. Recycled Water Salt Removal; S5. Update the City's Sea Level Rise Adaptation Policy; and S15. Eliminate Single-Use Disposable Containers and Reduce Disposable Foodware. Assistant Director of Climate Action Jonathan Abdenschein said that strategies in the single-family, multi-family, and non-residential sectors focused on programs. The previous Work Plan had 2 focuses: small pilots and a large flagship pilot and studies. Data from those studies were used to expand programs in the multi-family and non-residential areas and continue the progress in the single-family SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 area. Staff wanted to pilot creative financing approaches. The mobility section was targeted, with a priority on Capital Improvement Bike Infrastructure Projects. The City facilities section had a general focus on fleet and City facilities. The electric capacity needs for the Palo Alto airport was added based on feedback. Grid modernization and gas transition remained in the Work Plan. There were regulatory and strategic efforts, much of which will be done in-house and via direct regular contact with policymakers or will be ongoing internal efforts. Manager Luong said that of the 16 Sustainability strategies, 3 were in Water, 5 were in Climate Adaptation, 3 were in Natural Environment, and 3 were in Zero Waste. Assistant Director Abdenschein shared the Committee feedback that was incorporated from the CASC November 20, 2025, meeting, which included removing downtown parking pricing and management as an item and looking at unfunded or underfunded strategies that were not included, which were Transportation Demand Management; expansion of adult-focused bike, walk, and transit education/encouragement programs; and conduct a land use and transportation study. Committee feedback that was incorporated from the CASC May 5, 2025, and December 13, 2025, meetings included supporting residents in complying with Air District regulations; exploring creative financing; providing guidance to renters; and looking at efficient approaches to electrification projects, such as using smart meter data to evaluate home electric loads when evaluating panel adequacy. Manager Luong explained that staff made a change to item S6, the Horizontal Levee item, based on feedback, which added that the City and partner agencies will advance monitoring and research following project completion, anticipated in early 2026. The Green Stormwater Infrastructure item was updated with wording changes and a specification that the target completion date for the design will be September 2027. The zero waste strategies were updated based on Committee feedback, which included adding "including textile re-use and recycling" to item S14 and changing item S15 to "Eliminate Single-Use Disposable Containers and Reduce Disposable Foodware." Staff also asked the Committee to receive the 4 S/CAP studies. Assistant Director Abdenschein explained that there were 6 studies but 3 were very similar. The insights from those studies had been discussed over the past year, and data from those studies had been used to help with program development and strategy and planning. Those studies provided data and modeling tools that could be used to develop programs and policy alternatives for Council and Committee consideration in 2026 and 2027. There were 3 illustrative scenarios modeled as part of the S/CAP Funding and Financing study, which illustrated the financial dynamics of community-wide electrification. They were based on assumptions that need to be updated, especially because the federal environment had changed. Manager Luong said the Climate Action Working Group provided feedback. The consensus was that there were a lot of great strategies in the 2026-2027 Work Plan. There were questions about whether there was adequate staffing and a conversation about how to better support and learn from early adopters. There was a discussion about adding more granular details on S/CAP progress, more than just the existing dashboard, which could be a tool for Citywide climate outreach. Assistant Director Abdenschein stated the Working Group had questions about whether certain topics were included in the new Work Plan. One topic was building envelope energy efficiency, which was not in the Work Plan but was part of routine utility energy efficiency evaluations. Other topics were to SUMMARY MINUTES Page 4 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 provide incentives for right sizing electric panels and carbon pricing, which would be addressed as part of CA16 in the Work Plan. Building performance standards were listed in the Work Plan under CA14. There was a discussion about heat island effects. In item S9, there was a note of how expansion of the urban canopy could address heat island effects, but the topic was explored separately and more broadly by Stanford students. Manager Luong said the next steps were for Council to review and approve the new Work Plan and receive the S/CAP studies. Staff recommendation was for the Committee to recommend that Council approve the new Work Plan and receive the S/CAP studies. Item 1 Public Comment: 1. David C. felt that emission data was missing from a lot of the studies and wanted to see the numbers. David C. thought the numbers could help inform which projects were the most important, especially when considered against the project's cost. Only 5 percent of the population knew about the S/CAP goal. David C. believed communication needed to be more robust in order for the City to reach the goals. David C. wanted more thought on how to better engage the community. 2. Cedric D. echoed David C.'s comments. Cedric D. was happy to see the foodware effort to stop using disposable containers and utensils. Cedric D. wanted restaurants to stop packing utensils in to-go orders unless explicitly requested by the customer and to stop using plastics, especially black plastics, which were not recyclable and could have dangerous chemicals. Cedric D. desired restaurants to use fully compostable containers. Cedric D. wanted the City to address pesticide use on private property. The population of bees were in decline across the country, including in the Palo Alto area. Cedric D. thought it was a commons issue versus a private rights issue because pesticides pollute the environment and damage the ecology. Cedric D. suggested there be an effort to go through the wildlands to trim back dead wood and pile up the dead wood on the downslope side of tree bases, which would capture stormwater runoff and other organic debris. Council Member Lu liked that communication strategies were elevated and hoped to get regular updates. Council Member Lu was unsure if the high-action scenario would enable the City to reach the 80 by 30 goal. Council Member Lu asked if the Work Plan was characterized as a low-action scenario due to the focus on financing incentives, no mandates, etc. Council Member Lu queried if the high-action scenario would be feasible even with the large amount of investment the report proposed. Council Member Lu thought that the ongoing cost gap by year proposed by the Funding and Financing study was interesting. The cost of the high-action scenario by 2030 was around $46M. Council Member Lu questioned what the City currently spent per year. Chair Veenker believed that carbon efficiency numbers, like dollars per ton, were a useful tool and asked for staff comment about utilizing such measures. Chair Veenker wanted more granularity about which strategies would be the most cost effective and felt that could help navigate choices. Chair Veenker queried about navigating the assumptions around EV adoption rates given recent changes in the political environment. Council Member Burt asked if staff had looked at other communities' plans and how Palo Alto compared to them. Council Member Burt opined the City would fall short of the 80 by 30 goal despite an SUMMARY MINUTES Page 5 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 exceptional effort. Council Member Burt felt it was important to give an order of magnitude of quantitative numbers for each strategy's cost and degree of reduction, even if it were difficult to quantify. Council Member Burt referenced C1 of the Communication Plan on page 10 of the staff report and wanted to include awareness of the S/CAP goal. Communication has not gotten through to the community as much as expected. Council Member Burt believed that communication was foundational to implementing the other strategies as good as possible and should be a very high priority. Council Member Burt encouraged more collaboration with partnerships and volunteers regarding communication. Council Member Burt referenced CA16, efficient electrification, and suggested renaming the strategy in order to elevate it more. Council Member Burt asked who the intended audience for the strategies was. Council Member Burt referenced page 8 of the staff report and noted there was no item about transit listed under "Mobility," which should be a strategy. Council Member Burt struggled with the Bike and Ped Plan's connectedness to transit access. Caltrain had a station access plan for the entire corridor. Council Member Burt suggested reframing that as station access and activation. Council Member Burt wanted to see transit listed as a bullet point and "access and activation" listed within that. The best hubs for micromobility in Palo Alto were the stations. Council Member Burt asked if distributing generation and storage was in the Work Plan and felt pursuing generation and storage was an important categorical approach. A lot of solar had been installed, especially with storage, even though it was not cost effective because people valued personal resiliency and climate action. Council Member Burt was hopeful that the local community would continue to adopt EVs despite the political uncertainty given it was becoming the social norm and people had adequate disposable income. Council Member Burt did not see filtration systems mentioned in the staff summary under Stormwater and asked if that would be included in stormwater planning. Council Member Burt agreed with pesticides being a problem and asked if there was an educational program or something more regulatory being done to address the issue. Council Member Burt had not heard back regarding a question posed a few months ago about a canopy calculation that included Foothills Park. Council Member Burt said the Mobile Biochar Pyrolysis Unit was being used for woody debris. Council Member Burt felt that carbon neutrality may be a more achievable goal by 2030 than the 80 percent reduction. Assistant Director Abdenschein explained that the pace of electrification depended on the level of community uptake. For the uptake to happen, the City will have to offer services. The pace required to achieve the 80 by 30 goal would require extraordinary levels of public participation, including early retirement of equipment, which the high-action scenario modeled. The Work Plan was a medium-action scenario. The high-action scenario laid out the financial implications if the community decided to move at that pace. The City did not have a revenue source for the high-action scenario. Additional revenue sources would be required to move on that timeline. Financing strategies will be brought back to the Committee. Assistant Director Abdenschein said the Work Plan began with a focus on the most cost- efficient areas. Electric vehicles were the most cost efficient, then space heating, and then water heating. There were charts regarding the cost efficiencies of the strategies in the S/CAP Funding and Financing study. The cost efficiency of a measure was the cost of the measure divided by the carbon saved. Staff will work on how to design the most cost-efficient ways to fund these measures through 2027 in a way that will ensure each entity will pay what they can afford or what will be in line with the benefits received. Assistant Director Abdenschein did not have an answer regarding the political environment's impact on EV adoption. Several Work Plan items focused on ensuring chargers were available, installed in ways that maximized utilization, and were done cost efficiently. Assistant Director Abdenschein opined that more incentives were not the solution to EV. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 6 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 The cost and degree of reductions from each strategy will depend on the goals set and how much funding will be provided for each item. Quantifying the cost and degree of reductions for each strategy was not as challenging as prior years due to the S/CAP Funding and Financing studies and the building sector study data. Communication was prioritized with the water heater program. Progress was made on how to tailor communications and types of promotions to address identified issues. That same approach will be brought to the outreach for climate action in general. Assistant Director Abdenschein referenced CA16 and CA17, which covered different types of barrier reductions included in the Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan, including permitting and interconnection. CA23 and CA24 focused on housing that supported transit and traffic signal operations that improved transit access. Assistant Director Abdenschein referenced CA21 and said the bicycle infrastructure was intended to facilitate getting people to transit. Assistant Director Abdenschein cited CA4, which related to multi- family EV charging infrastructure and included integration of alternative transportation infrastructure for last-mile solutions. Distributing generation and storage was discussed in the Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan. Recommendations for what actions to take under the Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan will be taken to Council on February 9. The Committee had settled on a recommendation focused on barrier reduction as opposed to incentives. Staff planned on returning later this year for discussion on the City's posture toward long-term resiliency. Director Eggleston highlighted the section in the Work Plan on regulatory analytics and financing strategy. The items committed to within the Work Plan were more aligned with the medium -action scenario but contained further work with the Committee and Council to evaluate options that give flexibility toward the high-action scenario. Director Eggleston recalled the discussion of the Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan, which had found promoting technologies to not be cost effective. The action was to set a timeframe for periodic reevaluation to see if the policy needed to be changed. There was an ongoing assessment regarding filtration and stormwater. The system installed at Boulware Park had issues. There was a State preemption against the City doing a regulatory action against pesticide use but there were ongoing public education efforts. The previous canopy calculation that had included Foothills Park was inappropriately reported in that instance with data that did not match the S/CAP goal. Manager Luong said that staff will present the 2023 and 2024 GHG emissions inventories, both Citywide and municipal, at the February 9, 2026, Council meeting. Most other cities had Climate Action Plans, which staff had looked at, although there were fewer implementation plans to compare to. Palo Alto had more advanced strategies than other cities. Chair Veenker mentioned the Air District was in charge of administering the BARCAP for all counties around the bay except Santa Clara County. The Comprehensive Climate Plan for the Bay Area was submitted to the EPA last fall. Chair Veenker asked about including wording in the Work Plan about interacting with other county and regional climate action plans and wondered whether Council should underscore that as something the City valued by writing it down. Chair Veenker agreed with Council Member Burt regarding continued EV adoption within the community but was concerned about the rate of adoption, especially among commuters coming into the City. Chair Veenker wanted to do as much as possible to limit pesticide use on private land. Chair Veenker asked for staff feedback regarding development of a decarbonization marketing plan. Chair Veenker felt providing guidance to renters on how to reduce emissions was important and queried how that was incorporated into the Work Plan. Chair Veenker referenced S15 on slide 14 regarding reducing disposable foodware and asked why it will take until 2027 for an ordinance to be passed. Chair Veenker noted how the heat island effects addressed in S9 were explored by Stanford and asked if there were other implementation efforts the City could take. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 7 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 Council Member Lu agreed that falling short of the 80 by 30 goal was not a failure but was concerned that not achieving goals could reduce credibility. Council Member Lu wanted to associate more numerical goals on the Work Plan. Council Member Lu referenced CA12, partnerships with large commercial facility owners, and asked if Stanford Medical and Stanford Children's Hospital could be a potential partnership. Council Member Lu believed that some experiential marketing that community members had done could be amplified by the City. There was no program that specifically touched on induction cooktops. The cost per ton of mitigation for induction cooking was one of the highest returns on the Funding and Financing study. Council Member Lu suggested a City subsidy for single-burner induction cooktops. Council Member Lu mentioned CA21 and wanted to accelerate the completion of the Quarry Road extension at El Camino Park if possible. Council Member Lu proposed offering development incentives for very efficient commercial and residential buildings. Council Member Lu suggested working more with Canopy on efforts to plant more trees in south Palo Alto, including work on concreted areas, such as parking lots. Council Member Burt will be happy if the Quarry Road extension will be completed by the end of 2027. Stanford announced a new major strategic approach toward collaboration with small government agencies and had significant funding, mostly through the Doerr School. Council Member Burt wondered how many residents knew that the Marguerite bus system was open to the public and free of charge. Council Member Burt opined the Marguerite bus system was an underleveraged asset in the transit system. There had not been any recent discussions about how cool roofs, especially on commercial buildings, reduced the heat island impact. The Committee had not gotten a report on the implementation of the low carbon concrete policy and how effective it was. Council Member Burt wanted a follow-up on the building code requirements for cool roofs to understand whether there should be additional strategies. Council Member Burt asked for an update on the low carbon concrete policy. Council Member Burt thought that the state legislation for balcony solar would have the benefits of additional value and driving self and community identity. Council Member Burt believed the City would have a greater impact on climate change by strategically sharing and leveraging the City's accomplishments to help others. Assistant Director Abdenschein suggested that interacting with county and regional climate action plans could be an action without having to add it to the Work Plan, however regional collaboration could be integrated as a statement in the narrative of S/CAP. The last sentence on C3, "annually develop, implement, and report out on S/CAP communications, objectives, and progress," was meant to achieve the same goals as a marketing plan. Guidance for renters was addressed in the last sentence of CA1. A lot of the electrification work will help combat the effects of heat islands and warming. The City had partnered with Stanford on some EV charging and electrification efforts. Items that were a part of regular codes and standards were not included as specific items because the focus was to include things that made changes. Manager Luong confirmed the City interacted with others as part of the day-to-day work. The City was part of Green Cities California and participated in the Santa Clara County Climate Collaborative and in San Mateo County's RICAPS. The narrative of S/CAP talked about regional collaboration, as did specific action items around mobility, wildfire protection, and sea level rise. There were previously several iterations of a marketing plan, which could be reviewed and updated. In 2024, a marketing plan was reviewed with the Committee and Working Group. Staff was working with the citizens' group to help with communications and marketing. Staff was scaling up the work done with the City Manager's office communications team, having several meetings per week. There was a communications training for the Youth Climate Advisory Board, who will help craft teen-focused social media. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 8 of 8 Sp. Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 1/9/2026 Director Eggleston said the added benefit of including regional collaborations within the Work Plan was that there will be updates about staff's work with other entities in the period status reports. The City did a lot of advocacy at the state level to push for pesticide regulations. The disposable foodware ordinance was planned earlier but was delayed due to the pandemic and new state legislation requirements. State law made it illegal for restaurants to provide plastic utensils for takeout if not explicitly requested. Zero Waste staff had been asked to ensure compliance with city and state regulations before developing and passing a new ordinance. Another effort the City took to address the heat island effect was to have cooling centers open during very hot times. Director Eggleston will follow up with the Quarry Road extension. Street trees were part of Urban Forestry's process for planting trees. Cool roofs may be included in building code requirements. The low carbon concrete policy was in place in the City's Reach code. Director Eggleston had given a staff update in August or September regarding where that program stood. Chair Veenker liked the induction cooktop and Marguerite bus schedule ideas. The concept about naming an interest in collaboration could be enhanced by the idea of intentional sharing. MOTION: Council Member Burt moved, seconded by Chair Veenker, to recommend the City Council 1. Approve the 2026-2027 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Work Plan inclusive of staff and Committee consensus modifications; and 2. Receive the following studies: a. S/CAP Funding and Financing Study; b. S/CAP Funding Source Survey; c. EV Charger Needs Assessment; and d. Single-family, Multi-family, and Non-Residential Building Sector Studies. MOTION PASSED: 3-0 Future Meetings and Agendas None. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 p.m.