HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-14-114- Review of Air Quality in Kitchener - 2010 and 5 Best Bets - Report & Attachments
REPORT TO:
Environmental Committee
DATE OF MEETING:
November 20, 2014
SUBMITTED BY:
Brandon Sloan, Manager of Long Range & Policy Planning
PREPARED BY:
Barbara Steiner, Senior Environmental Planner (519-741-2200 X2293)
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
AllWards
DATE OF REPORT:
November 6, 2014
REPORT NUMBER:
CSD-14-114
SUBJECT:
REVIEW OF AIR QUALITY IN KITCHENER 2010AND
ANNUALFIVE BEST BETS PROGRAM
_____________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the set out in the
Recommended ActionsAir Quality in Kitchener 2010
report have largely been completed or are ongoing (as summarized in Table 1 of
Report CSD-14-114)either through the annual process or
Five Best Bets
through City plans, policies and practices adopted from 2006 to 2014; and
THAT in lieu of updating the report and selecting
Air Quality in KitchenerBest
in 2015 the following actions be taken:
Bets
A) the remaining as outlined in Table 2 of Report
Recommended Actions
CSD-14-114be referred to Environmental Committee subcommittees
and staff for investigation into their feasibility and usefulness in
promoting air quality improvements and a status report be provided to
the May 2015 Environmental Committee; and
B) future progress on the theme of be referred to the annual
Air Quality
report card for the as the
Strategic Plan for the Environment
appropriate mechanism to monitor, celebrate and communicate
; and
C) this modified approach be reflected in the Work Plan to be prepared for
the new 2015-16 term of the Environmental Committee.
BACKGROUND:
In May 2006, the Environmental Committee presented a report entitled Air Quality in
Kitchener to Kitchener Council. The report was the culmination of a year of deliberations
by members of the Committee responding to direction from Council in November of
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2004 to develop a long-
Kitchener. The report included a series of (50+) Recommended Actions which
constituted the plan.
In 2006, the first five (5) of these actions (Five Best Bets) were put forward by the
Committee for investigation by staff into their feasibility, and ways and means of
implementing the annual Five Best Bets. This process continued annually through 2013.
The 2006 report was updated by the Environmental Committee in 2010 and included
new and additional Recommended Actions from which the annual Five 5 Best Bets
were to be selected.
In the spring of 2013 (April-June meetings of Environmental Committee) during the
consideration and recommendation of the 2013 Five Best Bets, committee members
discussed the fact that it seemed that the annual selection and reporting on the best
bets for air quality had become simply a report on how the City was currently dealing
with these issues rather than putting forward recommended actions for air quality
improvement that represented new ideas and approaches.
Plan in June 2013 to include a review of the report Air Quality in Kitchener 2010 and a
subcommittee was struck comprising of members E. Donaher, S. Danckert and G.
Zador. The Work Plan (2013-14) for the Environmental Committee was approved by
Council on June 26, 2013.
REPORT:
Air quality remains one of the pressing problems of modern cities, and Kitchener is no
exception. Emissions produced through the combustion of fossil fuels for industry,
transportation,space heating and power generation degrade air quality, contribute to
geography, downwind from emissions sources in the United States, also contributes to
regional air quality degradation.
Reports (2006 and 2010) and Related Initiatives
Air Quality in Kitchener
In the mid-2000s amid extremely hot and dry summers and increasing numbers of smog
alerts, Kitchener Council and Environmental Committee initiated work which resulted in
onAir Quality in Kitchener.
It is important to note that prior to the 2006 report on Air Quality in Kitchener, municipal
initiatives to address air quality improvement were few. In addition, there was no plan or
policy specifically addressing air quality or addressing major contributing factors such as
transportation, space heating and community and building design, or alternative energy
generation.
Air Quality in Kitchener in 2006, more formalized plans,
policies and initiatives to address air quality have been implemented by the City, many
of which were first recommended by the 2006 report. Further, since the update in 2010
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to the Air Quality in Kitchener report, a number of very significant corporate plans or
initiatives have been completed, adopted by Council and are now being implemented.
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2006, 2006-2010, and since 2010 are listed in Appendix A.
Recent Observations
The report and process has occurred for eight (8) years now. Through discussions with
the Environmental Committee, the Best Bet subcommittees, and staff considerations,
there are a number of recent observations that could lead to continuedimprovement of
the Air Quality in Kitchener and Best Bets process. These were identified in a report to
Committee earlier in 2014 and include:
Many of the Recommended Actions in the 2010 report from which the annual
Five Best Bets are chosen seem to be actions which are now being undertaken
by staff at the City or Regional level as part of formal polices or practices, some
of which have been in place for some years, but many others of which have only
come into being in recent years.
Many of the Recommended Actions in both the 2006 and updated 2010 plan
have been or will be undertaken as part of the implementation of new City
policies and plans. Significantly, these initiatives now have formal Council
support and are, therefore, actively being addressed by the City.
Other Recommended Actions are the responsibility of other orders of
government, especially the Region of Waterloo (e.g. public transportation, water
supply and conservation). This means that implementing such a Best Bet would
be limited to advocacy.
Some Recommended Actions are better aligned with the six (6) other themes in
Strategic Plan for the Environment, rather than the Air Quality theme
and might better be addressed through City initiatives other than the annual Five
Best Bets process (e.g. Water Resources, Natural Heritage themes).
City-wide plans, reports or policies are not normally updated more frequently
than every five years. The 2010 report was endorsed by Council four years ago.
The Five Best Bets annual selection process is complex and time-consuming for
citizen-volunteers such as our Environmental Committee members.
The two-year term of appointment for Environmental Committee members is
potentially too short for members to develop familiarity with the material, observe
need for change in policies, practices, and to undertake and complete work to
update this report and related implementation practices.
The time that citizen-volunteers (Environmental Committee members) can make
available for a more significant undertaking such as this seems to be limited.
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Are They N
Best Bet
In April 2014, the Environmental Committee considered staff report CSD14030 which
Strategic Plan for the Environment and moving forward effectively.
At that meeting of Kitchener's Environmental Committee, it was agreed that the City has
made significant progress since both 2006 and 2010 in formalizing plans and
implementing initiatives to improve air quality. Further, it was decided to not select Five
(5) Best BetsAir
Quality in Kitchener 2010 and the Best Bet selection and implementation process from
2006 through 2013.
Such a
ultimately reconsider the need to continue with creating another report on Air Quality in
Kitchener in light of the issues and recent actions outlined above and in Appendix A.
The Environmental Committee members recognized that any reconsideration of Air
Quality in Kitchener 2010 may result in a completely new approach to advocating for,
and monitoring, improved air quality in Kitchener.
ing sessions as part of the May, June and
September 2014 Environmental Committee meetings. The Environmental Committee
with the assistance of staff reviewed and updated the status of all of the Best Bets that
have been selected since 2006.
Audit of Air Quality in Kitchener - 2006
The 2014 audit confirmed how the 2010 report updated the Recommended Actions for
air quality improvement originally set out in the 2006 report. Both reports were the result
of substantial analysis and consideration by the membership of the Environmental
Committees of the day, and the audit confirmed that the 2010 update generally carried
forward any Recommended Actions not selected as Best Bets from 2006 through 2009.
However, one type of Recommended Actionnot generally carried forward into the 2010
report were those that required lobbying of other orders of government, from the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo to international bodies such as the Ohio Valley state
authorities. The 2010 update gave more focus to actions and areas over which there is
more local control.
Audit of Air Quality in Kitchener - 2010
The Environmental Committee and staff also reviewed each of the Recommended
Actions from the 2010 report to identify if they are completed, ongoing or may still
Where are they now?This review revealed that many of the
Recommended Actions not yet investigated for implementation through the annual Five
(5) Best Bet process are, or will be, implemented through new City policies, plans
and/or practices which did not yet exist in 2010.
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Table 1 (attached) summarizes the status of all of the Recommended Actions, and
identifies which Recommended Actions the Environmental Committee determined might
still require further consideration.
Table 2 (attached) summarizes these twenty (20)Recommended Actions that
potentially require further attention.
Following this review, the twenty (20) remaining Recommended Actions were organized
into five categories: A. Education/Communications Products;B. Collaborate; C. City
Operations, Plans, Policies and Practices; D. Lobbying; and E. Public Awareness (see
Table 2).Then, each action was reviewed to identify the appropriate lead responsibility.
In many instances, the remaining actions: are straightforward matters for staff to
undertake (e.g. Education / Communications Products); are best dealt with by other
orders of government; or will occur through the monitoring and communications
protocols established in new City policies, plans, and/or practices (Public Awareness).
Table 2 outlines the remaining actions in their categories and with the proposed
responsibility.
Next Steps
As identified in Table 2, there are seven (7) Best Bets recommended for the
Environmental Committee to work jointly with staff in order to ensure that further action
is undertaken. It is proposed that these actions be investigated by subcommittees of the
Environmental Committee in consultation with City staff in 2015, and that a status report
on each Best Bet be provided to the May 2015 Environmental Committee meeting in
time for Clean Air Day in June.
Future Approach
Finally, in order to maintain a permanent, on-going mechanism to monitor, celebrate
, it is recommended
that, once the seven (7) remaining actions from the 2010 report are addressed in 2015,
any future actions and reporting on air quality be assessed as part of the Air Quality
theme of the Kitchener Strategic Plan for the Environment. Annual reporting occurs on
this plan for all seven themes (including Air Quality) and currently includes a list of
ongoing actions and qualitative assessments of progress.Additional quantitative
Indicators for Air Quality will be piloted in the 2014 reporting, and are proposed to
include one or more of the following:
Number of Smog Days per year
Annual PM10 exceedances in Kitchener using Provincial Objectives
Days in the past year with Air Quality Index (AQI) in the good range
Average Annual Ground Level Ozone Count (ppb) / GL O3 hours exceeding
50ppb
Hospitalization rate for Respiratory Illness
Number of cars / transit users per capita.
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ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Continuing an effective process to advocate for, and monitor, air quality improvements
in Kitchener will help achieve the Community Vision for the Community Priority
ENVIRONMENT, in which our community focuses significant energy and resources on
becoming more environmentally friendly.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
advance of the council / committee meeting.
COLLABORATE Citizen-members of the Environmental Committee collaborated on
the review of the Air Quality in Kitchener reports/Best Bets in order to arrive at the
development of the summary tables included in this report.
ENTRUST The report Air Quality in Kitchener - 2010 and the annual five (5) Best Bets
are prepared and selected through the Environmental Committee which utilizes the
ENTRUST
CONCLUSION:
Staff and Environmental Committee members have jointly undertaken a status review of
each of the Best Bets/Actions from the Air Quality in Kitchener 2006 and 2010 reports.
An approach is recommended to complete the remaining actions and refer any future air
quality actions and reporting to the annual Strategic Plan for the Environment process.
Attachments
Appendix A: Kitchener Air Quality Initiatives
Table1: Air Quality 2010 - Best Bet Audit Where Are They Now?
Table 2: Remaining 2010 Recommended ActionsBest Bets
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RECENT HISTORY OF KITCHENER AIR QUALITY INITIATIVES
Pre-2006:
Energy management initiatives for our own facilities, dating especially from the
mid-nineties with the opening of a new City Hall (1993)
Partners for Climate Protection (PCP), member (1997)
Clean Air Plan (Council Policy I-185 re: City practices, 1999)
Fleet Idling Protocol (2002)
Idling Reduction Education Campaign (Region-wide, 2002-2004, ended)
deferred (2004)
Pedestrian Charter (2005)
2006-2010
Air Quality in Kitchener (2006)
Annual Five Best Bets (2006-2009)
LEED Gold for City Facilities (2007)
Urban Design Guidelines for Neighbourhood Development (2007)
ISO 14001 for Fleet (2008)
Kitchener Community Improvement Plan (CIP): Energy and Water Efficiency for
Land and Buildings (2010)
2010-2014
Air Quality in Kitchener (2010 update)
Annual Five Best Bets (2010-2013)
Kitchener Cycling Master Plan (2010)
Climate Collaborative, member (2011-2012)
Kitchener Transportation Demand Management Strategy (2011)
ClimateActionWR, member (2012)
Kitchener Multi-Use Pathways and Trails Master Plan (2012)
Kitchener Transportation Master Plan (2013)
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Inventory (PCP Milestone 1) (2013)
Community Climate Action Plan for Waterloo Region (PCP Milestones 1, 2, and
3) (2013)
Community Access Bikeshare initially funded by LEAF (2014)
New Kitchener Official Plan (adopted by Kitchener Council, June 2014)
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NGOs)
plans or policies (City, Region,
Implemented as part of other
Delayed/Postponed
Ongoing
Completed
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