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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0107.185 2016-2018 From: Lauren Blickley To: Council Testimony; Richards,Tim; Kanuha,Dru; Poindexter,Valerie; Eoff,Karen;Chung,Aaron; Ruggles, Jennifer;Ohara, Eileen; David,Maile; Lee Loy,Sue Subject: ATTN: Industry Representatives undermining local polystyrene bill Date: Monday,September 04,2017 10:05:13 PM Attachments: iteml-minutes-october4.odf TAC-12-11-08-apprv-min2.pdf minutes.pdf r•.a C' CcD Aloha Council members, My name is Lauren Blickley. I am a marine biologist and marine debris researcher based cin ssicc:-.; Maui, and worked the past 3 years to pass our local polystyrene take-out container ban. - - I am writing you because I think it is critical that you understand the outside influence [e. lobbyists from the plastics and petroleum industry, Oahu-based companies, and large chairs restaurants] who are working tirelessly to prevent the passage of Hawaii's local polystyrene bills. Tom Knox, for example, has repeatedly testified at your council meetings under the guise of representing local food retailers [and has shown his address as Hilo], he is actually a California-based lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council. He introduced himself as much in a 2014 meeting on Maui, and has traversed California testifying against similar polystyrene bills [see attached bills from where he testified against polystyrene bills in Milpitas, Calabasas, and Santa Clara, California]. Tom Knox does not represent our Hawaii communities, he represents industry interests - industries that know very well their products' impacts on our environment. Industry representatives have the time and money to repeatedly send emails and set up meetings with council members. They have the background and knowledge of how to sway public officials, and have shown that they will go to great lengths to stop our local efforts to rid our islands of single-use plastics at all costs. During our final Maui hearing, we had a set of expert panelists testify and share scientific research on the environmental impacts of polystyrene. The day before one of our experts was set to testify, he received a phone call from The American Chemistry Council offering a "grant" to his organization if he didn't testify. Of course, he did not accept this "grant" -but again, this shows the extremities that these outside interests will go to thwart local polystyrene bills. Lobbyists have furthermore used scare tactics to convince some local restaurants that this bill will put them out of business. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, many restaurants have successfully switched to compostable containers. Similar bills have passed in over 100 other cities and municipalities because communities and county councils recognize the importance of banning polystyrene foam containers. The Oahu-based KYD business will also tell you that this bill will put them out of business. This is completely false - they sell a multitude of service items, and have had over 3 years to prepare phasing out polystyrene production and replacing them with compostable options. These individuals and organizations do not have our community's best interests in mind. They will cherry-pick facts and try to convince you- at all costs -that the only future is a future with single-use plastics. The science, on the other hand, is clear. Single-use plastics, including polystyrene, are quite literally choking our ocean, animals, and environment. Our community comm. No • .. • . Ref. To: Ref. Date lEP " _ has made it abundantly clear that we SUPPORT a bill that phases out the use of Polystyrene to-go containers. Maui has already passed a bill against polystyrene foam take-out containers. We ask you to please follow in the footsteps of Maui County and ban polystyrene foam on Hawaii Island. Mahalo for your time, Lauren Lauren BlickleY, M.S. Owner Swell Consulting Lauren Blickley t. 808-280-4736 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2006 Mayor Washburn called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall, 26135 Mureau Road, Calabasas, California. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Washburn, Mayor Tern Bozajian, Councilmembers Ypro Groveman, Maurer and Wolfson. Absent: None. Staff: Colantuono, Coroalles, Lysik, Peirce, Tamuri, Yalda. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Eli Wolfson. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Groveman moved, seconded by Councilmember Wolfson, to approve the agenda with the addition of an Urgency Item to the Consent Calendar entitled "Approval of a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release in the case of Kobi v. City of Calabasas" and amended language to the agreement in Item #1. MOTION CARRIED 5/0. ANNOUNCEMENTS/INTRODUCTIONS Councilmember Wolfson commended residents and school kids on "Walk to School Day" that took place for the schools in Calabasas. He announced an upcoming blood drive at the Tennis & Swim Center. Mayor pro Tern Bozajian announced an upcoming blood drive for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and announced that the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival will take place on October 22, 2006. Councilmember Maurer announced that the Annual 5K/10K Run will occur on November 11, 2006. She provided an update on information she received from a Pandemic Flu Workshop. Councilmember Groveman announced that the grand opening of the "Brandon's Village" universally- accessible playground at Gates Canyon Park will be held on October 28, 2006. Mayor Washburn announced that the City of Hidden Hills will be holding their Annual Festival Parade. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - PUBLIC COMMENT Carl Olson, Woodland Hills, spoke regarding the City's hiring practices in regards to verifying employee eligibility to work in the United States. CONSENT ITEMS 1. Agreement with New Millenium Homes to resurface and repair ParkwayCalabasas g p from Paseo Primario to east end of Parkway Calabasas. 2. Recommendation to accept a deed of Open Space Easement on Lot 2 of Tract No. 49594, an approximately 26-acre parcel (Assessor's Parcel Nos. 4455-003-049 and 050). 3. Recommendation to approve Covenant and Agreement with Viewpoint School with the City of Calabasas with regards to Soil Nail Wall installation along Dry Canyon Cold Creek. URGENCY ITEM: Approval of a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release in the case of g Kobi v. City of Calabasas. Councilmember Groveman moved, seconded by Councilmember Wolfson, to approve Item #1, 3 and Urgency Item. MOTION CARRIED 5/0. Following discussion, Councilmember Maurer moved, seconded by Councilmember Wolfson,.to approve Item #2. MOTION CARRIED 5/0. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4. Presentation of survey results and discussion regarding expanded polystyrene ban. Alex Farassati, Environmental Services Manager, presented the staff report. Samuel Unger, Agoura Hills, Regional Water Quality Control Board, Melina Watts, Santa Monica, Miwa Tamanaha, spoke in support of proposed ban on expanded polystyrene ban. Jennifer Forkish, Director of Local Government Relations of the California Grocers Association, Chris Reese, Pactiv Corporation, Torn Knox, Sacramento, Polystyrene Association, spoke in opposition to a proposed ban on expanded polystyrene ban and spoke in support of a consumer recycling program. Lawrence Siegfried, Timbron Recycling, spoke in support of a recycling expanded polystyrene program. The City Council directed staff to investigate consumer recycling programs and a proposed expanded polystyrene bans and return to the City Council with representatives from other Cities to provide information to the City Council and further information, alternatives, potential grants and sample ordinances. NEW BUSINESS 5. Motion to introduction and waive further reading of Ordinance No. 2006-229, making non-substantive changes to Title 3 of the Calabasas Municipal Code regarding the transient occupancy tax (hotel bed tax). Councilmember Wolfson moved, seconded by Councilmember Maurer, to waive further reading and introduce Ordinance No. 2006-229, making non-substantive changes to Title 3 of the Calabasas Municipal Code regarding the transient occupancy tax (hotel bed tax). MOTION CARRIED 5/0. 6. Motion to introduction and waive further reading of Ordinance No. 2006-230, making non-substantive changes to Title 3 of the Calabasas Municipal Code regarding refund claims. Mayor pro Tem Bozajian moved, seconded by Councilmember Maurer, to waive further reading and introduce Ordinance No. 2006-230, making non-substantive changes to Title 3 of the Calabasas Municipal Code regarding refund claims. MOTION CARRIED 5/0. 7. Motion to introduction and waive further reading and of Ordinance No. 2006-231, amending the Calabasas Municipal Code to clarify its original intent and to remove obsolete references in the telephone users tax section of the Calabasas Municipal Code. Councilmember Wolfson moved, seconded by Councilmember Maurer, to waive further reading and introduce Ordinance No. 2006-231, amending the Calabasas Municipal Code to clarify its original intent and to remove obsolete references in the telephone users tax section of the Calabasas Municipal Code. MOTION CARRIED 5/0. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS 8. Presentation by Mountains Restoration Trust on status of various open space and trail projects in the City. Steve Harris, Mountains Restoration Trust, presented the report. Joel Friedman, Calabasas, spoke in support of the donation of property by Mr. Handel to the Mountains Restoration Trust. No action taken. 9. Check Register for the period of September 19, 2006 to September 21, 2006. No Action Taken. TASK FORCE REPORTS Mayor Washburn announced that the bid opening of the Civic Center Project has been extended to October 18, 2006. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Coroalles spoke regarding an upcoming meeting with the Las Virgenes Unified School District regarding technology. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS There were no future agenda items. ADJOURN The City Council adjourned at 9:40 p.m. in the memory of Chung Ki Kim. County of Santa Clara co UNTO Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission Qi Integrated Waste Management Division �� /__\ �•n *1440:j* 1553 Berger Drive,Building#1 San Jose,California 95112 -y 18� (408)282-3180 FAX(408)282-3188 47PAI C‘.Q' www.ReduceWaste.org TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES December 11, 2008 VOTING MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE ACTERRA Maij a McDonald CALIFORNIA RESOURCE RECOVERY ASSN. Richard Gertman CITY OF CUPERTINO Cheri Donnelly CITY OF GILROY Lisa Jensema CITY OF MILPITAS Leslie Stobbe CITY OF MORGAN HILL Tony Eulo CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW Lori Topley CITY OF SAN JOSE Skip Lacaze CITY OF SANTA CLARA Rick Mauck CITY OF SUNNYVALE Mark Bowers CLARA MATEO Gil Cheso CLARA MATEO Michael Gross CLARA MATEO Julie Muir COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Stan Chau COUNTY UNINCORPORATED AREA Elizabeth Constantino SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Bruce Olszewski SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT Frank Maitski Commissioners: Jamie McLeod,Chair;Ronit Bryant,Kansen Chu,Peter Drekmeier,Patrick Kwok,Cat Tucker, Kris Wang,Ken Yeager Technical Advisory Committee Minutes,December 11,2008 Page 2 VOTING MEMBERS NOT ATTENDING CITY OF CAMPBELL CITY OF LOS ALTOS CITY OF MONTE SERENO CITY OF PALO ALTO CITY OF SARATOGA LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS SIERRA CLUB SILICON VALLEY LEADERSHIP GROUP TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS TOWN OF LOS GATOS WEST VALLEY CITIES OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE Amalia Chamorro CA Restaurant Association Clifton Chew SCC IWM Jeff Cristina Zanker Road Landfill Rob D'Arcy SCC HHW Zachary DeVine SCC IWM Wendy Fong SCC HHW Karen Gissibl City of Sunnyvale Emily Hanson GreenWaste Tom Knox Porter Novelli Walter Lin City of San Jose Cynthia Palacio City of Mountain View Donna Perala City of San Jose Lisa Rose SCC IWM Dorlene Russell City of Sunnyvale Sarah Smith SCC IWM Dave Staub City of Santa Clara Lauren Tacke City of Cupertino Michael Westerfield Dart Container Leslie Wilcox City of Gilroy Commissioners: Jamie McLeod,Chair;Ronit Bryant,Kansen Chu,Peter Drekmeier,Patrick Kwok, Cat Tucker,Kris Wang,Ken Yeager Technical Advisory Committee Minutes,December 11,2008 Page 3 Christy Wolter City of San Jose Jo Zientek City of San Jose 1. Call to Order Mark Bowers, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. A quorum of 14 was present. Those present introduced themselves. 2. Approval of Minutes A motion to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2008 TAC meeting was made by Tony Eulo and seconded by Lisa Jensema. All present voted to approve the minutes. Those not present at the November 13, 2008 TAC meeting abstained. 3. Public Presentations Michael Westerfield with Dart Container asked to speak regarding polystyrene foam recycling. They have two plants in California to process polystyrene foam (Lodi and Corona) and are looking to local Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) as a source for the material. They are offering to provide a densification system with a zero lease option. Dart can make picture frames, baseboards, crown molding and other products from the recycled material. The Chair asked that item 6 on the agenda be heard next since it was related to the public presentation. 6. Recycling Polystyrene Foam Update—Maija McDonald said Timbron is not interested in working with the individual cities but with the MRFs. Their biggest challenge is getting cleaner material from the MRFs. TAC members discussed some concerns in regards to facilities that accept materials and then go out of business shortly thereafter. It is also confusing to the public when they should all be the same. 4. Election of Officers All present voted to approve Tony Eulo as Chair and Lori Topley as Vice Chair for 2009. It is anticipated that the Vice Chair will become the Chair in 2010. The elected Subcommittee Chairs are as follows: Enforcement Stan Chau HHW Walter Lin Legislation Russell Reiserer Operations Cynthia Palacio Public Education Cary Bloomquist Source Reduction/Recycling Skip Lacaze 5. Joint TAC Meeting Mark Bowers noted that San Mateo County South Bay Waste Management Authority (SBWMA) was interested in a joint meeting. County staff will discuss with SBMWA about a future meeting date as part of a regularly scheduled TAC meeting. 6. Recycling Polystyrene Foam Update Commissioners: Jamie McLeod,Chair;Ronit Bryant,Kansen Chu,Peter Drekmeier,Patrick Kwok, Cat Tucker,Kris Wang,Ken Yeager Technical Advisory Committee Minutes,December 11,2008 Page 4 This item was moved up after public presentations due to the similarity of topic. 7. San Jose 15 Year Zero Waste Strategic Plan Michele Young provided a slide show on San Jose's 15 Year Zero Waste Strategic Plan. She said the plan is available on their website: www.sirecycles.org. In addition to the Zero Waste Strategic Plan, there is a Needs Assessment Report and various Appendices. 8. Division Manager's Report and Updates on Countywide Programs Elizabeth Constantino had four items: 1) Elizabeth thanked Mark Bowers on behalf of TAC members for his service as TAC Chair and for being helpful and responsive to the Committee; 2) HCEP report and request that HCEP be put on a future SRR Subcommittee agenda; 3) Clif has asked that if any jurisdictions have any modifications to the NDFE please contact him; and 4) She wanted to thank Lisa Jensema, Stan Chau and Tony Eulo for their help in the Unincorporated South County RFP interviews. A. Disposal Reporting System—in the TAC packet. Will check about where Premier is taking their residuals. B. Green Business—in the TAC packet. They have already exceeded their goals for the year. C. Home Composting Education Program—Elizabeth provided a handout which noted that the new employee for the HCEP program was returning to the Parks Department. D. Recycling Hotline—No Report. 9. Subcommittee Reports and Updates on Countywide Programs Implementation Subcommittee was taken out of order since Lisa Jensema stepped out. B. Implementation—No report. A. HHW—Lisa Jensema said the TAC packet included an HHW Fee increase of$0.51 to bring the HHW Fee from$2.05 to $2.56. A question was raised about having a single year rather than a three year budget. After a brief discussion it was decided to postpone any action until the next TAC meeting. C. Legislation—Russ was not present. Skip noted that SB 25 was the revived SB 1020 from the previous session regarding increased diversion requirements. D. Operations—No report. E. Public Education—Dave Staub said the holiday campaign ran before Thanksgiving and will run next week and that the Universal Waste (UW) campaign will run in February. F. Source Reduction/Recycling— Skip Lacaze said SRR is off for the holidays. Last night's RWRC meeting was on KTVU and was fairly balanced. The RWRC will distribute the draft model countywide ordinance to the Cities Association, all of the Mayors, City Managers, City Attorneys and, County Board of Supervisors asking for review and input by the end of January to be summarized for the February RWRC meeting. The San Jose ordinance may include a CEQA review depending on the fee proposal. The County is planning on preparing a negative declaration. Palo Alto is expanding their CEQA review to a full negative declaration. San Jose will bring the proposal to their Commissioners: Jamie McLeod,Chair;Ronit Bryant,Kansen Chu,Peter Drekmeier,Patrick Kwok, Cat Tucker,Kris Wang,Ken Yeager Technical Advisory Committee Minutes,December 11,2008 Page 5 Council Committee in early February. In January, Cities will be asked for feedback and TAC representatives may be asked for input. SRR is inclined to have combined meeting with the stakeholder meeting next week. G. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Alternate Organizational Structure—Lisa Rose said Elizabeth left a note that indicated the Ad Hoc Subcommittee developed a scope of work for the organizational study. She has gone to executive management to request approval to bypass county procurement and formulate an agreement with the City of San Jose. It is also currently being evaluated by County Counsel and IWM does not expect to hear anything until after the first of the year. A. Future Agenda Items HCEP for SRR Tony Eulo on SB 1016 Disaster Debris, Michael Gross B. Informational Updates and Announcements Jo Zientek said the City of San Jose has more than 30 Environmental Specialist positions available. Mark Bowers had four items: 1) City of Sunnyvale has an Administrative Analyst position available; 2) City passed a Zero Waste Policy; 3) MRF will start testing operations in January; and 4) SWANA has a meeting on January 21 and will tour the facility. Leslie Wilcox announced that this is her last TAC meeting and that she will be moving to Washington DC. Julie Muir said Stanford, San Jose State University and Santa Clara University are participating in RecycleMania. C. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 3:41 p.m. • NEXT SCHEDULED TAC MEETING: January 8, 2009 @ 1:30 P.M Commissioners: Jamie McLeod,Chair;Ronit Bryant,Kansen Chu,Peter Drekmeier,Patrick Kwok, Cat Tucker,Kris Wang,Ken Yeager APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF MILPITAS Minutes: Regular meeting of Recycling and Source Reduction Advisory Commission Meeting Date: January 26,2010 Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m. Meeting Place: Milpitas City Hall,Committee Meeting Room I. ROLL Chair Blake called to order the Milpitas Recycling and Source Reduction Advisory Commission at 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Ybarra,Arthur and Yung were present. Commissioner Ablaza arrived at 7:08pm. Allied staff Christine Clark was also in attendance. City staff Kathleen Phalen and Elizabeth Koo were present. IL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE All III. SEATING OF ALTERNATES None IV. MINUTES The minutes from the meeting of July 28,2009 were revised to clarify"Allied" staff Serpa under Section 4:Announcements. Motion to approve as corrected. M/S: Arthur/Ybarra Ayes: All V. PUBLIC FORUM None VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Blake made two announcements: • A new alternate,Joe Kwong,was not present but he would be introduced at the next meeting. • Mayor Livengood was welcomed as the new City Council liaison. VII. AGENDA The agenda for this meeting was approved. Motion to approve the agenda as submitted. M/S: Arthur/Ybarra Ayes: All VIII. OLD BUSINESS 1. Solid Waste Master Plan—Staff is seeking the Commission's recommendation to the City Council to amend HF&H's five-year agreement to negotiate the current solid waste agreements to correct anomalies and to begin data collection for a long-term solid waste master plan. Motion to approve staff/commission's recommendation as submitted. M/S: Ablaza/Ybarra Ayes: All 2. Plastic Bag/Polystyrene Work Plan-The City Council requested the Commission's assistance in evaluating and making a recommendation to restrict and/or a ban single-use carryout plastic bags and polystyrene containers. Evaluation is to include review of the City of San Jose Environmental Impact Report on plastic and paper bag restrictions,expected in Spring 2010. At the meeting,commissioners received late inclusions to the agenda packet consisting of correspondence from the American Chemistry Council and the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce. This information was also mailed and posted on the City's website. Comments were as follows: • Chair Blake displayed examples of common household plastic bags and described their purposes. • Stephen Knight,Political Director of Save the Bay,urged the City of Milpitas' support of bans on plastic bags and polystyrene. • Pete Carrillo, representative of the American Chemistry Council,urged the City of Milpitas' review of the City of San Jose's EIR before taking action. • Tom Knox, Plastic Food Service Packaging Group representative, spoke to the difficulty in finding a suitable replacement for current food service products which would meet environmental and socio-economic constraints. He noted that there is a growing market demand for recycled plastic/polystyrene if it can be collected in a cost-effective way(i.e.,by condensing volume to increase density). He suggested that the real solution is finding how litter is generated and controlling it at that juncture. • Mayor Livengood commented to the Commission that future arguments from the plastic manufacturing industry will be similar to those expressed,plastic bags are the source of ongoing environmental issues, and plastic bag ban fees will be a complicated issue to tackle. IX. NEW BUSINESS 1. 2010 Election of Officers—Chair Blake was reelected to his current position. Commissioner Ybarra was elected to the Vice-Chair position. X. STAFF ACTIVITIES Staff Koo provided a brief overview of ongoing waste diversion activities. XI. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Residential Food Waste Program Plastic Bag/Polystyrene XII. SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT The Commission approved a motion to hold a special meeting on April 27,2009. The meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m.