Resilient O‘ahu Updates - August 2018

By Matthew Gonser, AICP, CFM; Coastal and Water Program Manager; Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency

In November 2016, O‘ahu voters approved a City Charter amendment creating the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency. The official responsibilities of the Resilience Office under the City Charter, Chapter 6-107 are to: track climate change science and potential impacts on city facilities; coordinate actions and policies of city agencies to increase preparedness and develop resilient infrastructure in response to the effects of climate change; develop and coordinate city policies and programs that improve environmental performance; integrate sustainable and environmental values into city plans, programs and policies; and promote resilience of communities and coastal areas.

Several months prior, Honolulu was accepted into the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities program (100RC), joining a global network of cities working to address pressing 21^st century challenges of urbanization, globalization, and climate change. This award to the city funds the hiring of a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), provides a framework and technical support to develop a Resilience Strategy, and provides access to numerous partners to aid in the implementation of the Resilience Strategy.

In May 2017 Mayor Kirk Caldwell appointed Josh Stanbro as Chief Resilience Officer and Executive Director for the Resilience Office. Since then, the office has grown to include seven full-time staff, four AmeriCorps VISTAs, and rotating university semester-based internship opportunities.

The Resilience Office works to improve the city’s environmental and sustainability performance and coordinate with other agencies to help mitigate and adapt to climate change on O‘ahu. The goal is to protect and improve the lives of O‘ahu residents by creating more resilient infrastructure and communities. This is accomplished by improving city policies that help communities knit closer bonds and prepare themselves for the inevitable impacts of climate change, accelerating the shift to a 100% renewable energy society as quickly as possible, and strengthening our local O‘ahu economy by importing less, reusing more, and increasing self-sufficiency.

The following are descriptions of activities to date for specific components under the office’s responsibilities, as well as the execution of Honolulu’s award from 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Visit www.ResilientOahu.org to learn more.

CLIMATE PROGRESS FOR O‘AHU

June 2017 – Mayor Caldwell joins Governor David Ige and the three other Hawai‘i mayors to commit to uphold the Paris Agreement. This commits O‘ahu to:

1. Develop an island-wide greenhouse gas inventory.
   
2. Set near-and long-term targets to reduce emissions. 
   
3. Develop a Climate Action Plan identifying the actions to reduce emissions.

December 2017 – Mayor Caldwell signs a 100% renewable energy ground transportation proclamation, which commits that the city fleet be converted to renewable-powered vehicles by 2035, and all island ground transportation be converted by 2045. 

March 2018 – Mayor Caldwell signs the Trees for Honolulu’s Future proclamation, thereby aligning with a City Council Resolution and the Chicago Climate Charter, and pledging the City and County of Honolulu to increase our urban tree canopy to 35% by 2035. An increased urban canopy will absorb carbon, mitigate against a future hotter environment and improve our ability to manage rainfall. 

June 2018 – Hawai‘i’s four counties formally join Drive Electric Hawai‘i (DEH) to promote electric transportation for our clean energy future goals. By signing DEH’s memorandum of understanding, county leaders agreed to collaborate on electrification of ground transportation in Hawai‘i as an essential part of achieving the state’s clean energy goals.

July 2018 – Following the issuance of the City Climate Change Commission’s “Sea Level Rise Guidance” and accompanying “Climate Change Brief,” Mayor Caldwell issues Directive 18-02 to all city departments and agencies to take action to address and minimize the risks of, and adapt to, climate change and sea level rise.

The Resilience Office launched its Climate Action Planning (CAP) on July 27. We convened a Resilient Strategy updated for island leaders. The event was attended by 115 public and private leaders from across diverse sectors, many of whom participated in the June 2017 Agenda Setting Workshop. In order to kick off the city’s CAP planning process, the Resilience Office, in partnership with our Resilience Strategy Partner AECOM, developed an interactive “game” to bring stakeholders together and get them talking. 

During the game, we asked participants to grapple with the big decisions we need to make as a community in order to reach our state mandate of carbon neutrality by 2045. What types of renewable energy transitions should we make first, and in what sectors? What will it take to transition to electric vehicles and to public transit, and what is the right role of carbon offsets?

The activity was designed to stimulate conversation, generate co-knowledge surrounding climate mitigation strategies, and prepare our community for difficult strategic decisions. In a sign of our tight-knit community, the conversations at the group tables were robust and filled with good-natured debate. We will be conducting similar activities in each of the nine City Council districts in the months ahead and look forward to your continued contributions!

TAPPING EXPERTISE TO GUIDE CITY ACTIONS 

Voters established a City Climate Change Commission in 2016, and the Resilience Office provides staff support to the five appointed experts who gather the latest science and information on climate change and provide recommendations to the mayor, City Council, and executive departments of the city. 

The Resilience Office organized a City Resilience Team, composed of fifteen department directors or deputies from across the City and County of Honolulu. This team meets monthly in an effort to create common goals, streamline resilience activity, and foster best practices across city departments. 

The Resilience Office also convenes a Resilience Strategy Steering Committee on a quarterly basis. The Steering Committee is composed of more than 20 high-level community stakeholders from outside of city government who represent a diverse cross-section of community, academic and business perspectives, and serve as a valuable sounding board as we build O‘ahu’s Resilience Strategy. 

OFFICE OUTREACH AND RESILIENCE PERCEPTIONS ASSESSMENT

Through our island-wide office introduction and outreach and engagement effort, O‘ahu residents told us loud and clear that they are concerned about three major resilience challenges, and believe that our core strength is our aloha spirit and community connections.

DISOCVERY AREAS AND RESILIENCE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

These resilience areas are the guiding Discovery Areas of further investigation to develop actions to be included in the Resilience Strategy.

1. Remaining Rooted: Ensuring long-term affordability for island residents. 
   
2. Bouncing Forward: Fostering resilience in the face of natural disasters. 
   
3. Island Exposure & Innovation: Tackling climate change by reducing emissions and adapting to impacts. 
   
4. Laulima: Leveraging the strength and leadership of local communities. 

On August 10, we convened a launch for “discovery area working groups” toward creating a Resilience Strategy for O‘ahu. This event served to kickoff the process of engaging deeper with stakeholders to develop recommendations for specific goals and actions that can help us shore up our island’s resilience. The event was attended by 71 public and private leaders from across 54 diverse organizations, many of whom had helped us launch the Resilience Strategy process at the original Agenda Setting Workshop in June of 2017.

ENERGY PROGRAM 

The Energy Program’s work creating an energy efficient and sustainable O‘ahu is well under way. Over the first several months, our staff has engaged in intensive outreach to city and community stakeholders in an effort to build relationships with the new office and begin coordinating across the community to advance our energy and transportation goals. Among many other coordination, facilitation, and event organization activities, the following highlight high-level engagement and progress towards these goals. 

The Resilience Office is leading the city’s intervention in the Performance-Based Regulation Investigatory Docket (2018-0088) before the State Public Utilities Commission. 

The Resilience Office is working with the city Department of Transportation Services and O‘ahu Transportation Services to implement the Federal Low-No e-bus pilot by providing subject matter expertise related to infrastructure planning, electricity tariffs and rate structures among other things. This assistance will extend to implementation of the city’s $10 million e-bus and EV charging infrastructure budget outlay and disposition of the VW settlement funds should those be awarded.

The Resilience Office was also selected to become a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) for the Sandia National Labs – 100RC Community Grid Resilience Planning Project. The city is joined on the Honolulu delegation by Hawaiian Electric and the Public Utilities Commission. Other SAG members include city officials from New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Norfolk, VA along with their local utilities. The project is entitled “A Consequence-Based Resilient Community Design Framework for Grid Investment” and features assessment of pilot projects in San Antonio, TX and Buffalo, NY. 

COASTAL & WATER PROGRAM

Toward Fresh Water Conservation 

The Coastal and Water Program has begun collecting data from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (BWS) that will inform a city-wide water use analysis. The initial goal of the analysis is to establish a baseline count of the number of gallons of water used by the city. With support from BWS, the Resilience Office obtained city water usage data for FY14-18 for all city water meters. In addition to establishing a baseline and recent use changes, with the support of BWS we will be prepared for more regular city-wide and department-based water use reporting, towards increased efficiency and conservation. 

Coastal Hazard Mitigation 

In the spring of 2018, abnormally heavy rainfall caused major flooding in East O‘ahu, leading to a presidential disaster declaration and FEMA response. The Resilience Office worked closely with the Department of Emergency Management to coordinate the city’s application for FEMA Public Assistance funds to rebuild critical infrastructure in East O’ahu, and subsequently submitted Hazard Mitigation Grant Program applications to support future post-disaster mitigation and response efforts. The Resilience Office also assisted the Department of Emergency Management by submitting project proposal worksheets for 16 projects to include in the 5-year State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan update. This enabled the city to make the deadline when DEM staff was otherwise focused on responding to the April flooding on both O‘ahu and Kaua‘i. 

Also with respect to planning for long-term mitigation and resilience, this time in the face of sea level rise, the new Climate Change Commission, which the Resilience Office convenes and staffs, produced a Sea Level Rise Guidance report that informed Mayor’s Directive 18-02 and directs the city’s coastal and water strategy in the coming years. The Resilience Office is consulting with other city departments on the implications of the City Climate Change Commission’s guidance and recommendations, as well as utilization of data for development and application in future planning. 

In addition, CCSR is increasingly being asked by other city departments to provide comments or consultation on formal permitting and environmental reviews. This internal city relationship building is an important achievement for the office.

Reducing Heat and Managing Rainfall by Enhancing and Maintaining our Urban Forest

In December 2017, Mayor Caldwell committed to planting 100,000 new trees across the island of O‘ahu by 2025. In March 2018, Mayor Caldwell committed to increasing the urban tree canopy in urban O‘ahu to 35% by 2035. The Resilience Office serves as the city’s coordinator for this initiative, sees a strong connection between fresh water and tree goals on O‘ahu, and has taken the lead in the following activities:

• Developing a tree tracker application in which the public can document newly planted private and public trees. This is currently in beta testing with the hopes of being released prior to this November’s Arbor Day.
• In partnership with the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program, the Resilience Office hosted a 2018 summer Peter J. Rappa Sustainable Coastal Development Fellow to conduct research about: 1) Tree planting campaigns and review of municipal tree/urban forest ordinances and 2) Open space and green infrastructure analyses and investment plans. 
• Engaging the 100RC network to learn how other cities (e.g., Melbourne) have identified urban forests as critical components of their Resilience Strategies and what methods they are using to implement actions towards urban forest goals. 
• In partnership with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program, the Resilience Office participates in the Citizen Forester program to develop a robust inventory of city-owned park and street trees. This cadre of Citizen Foresters will map and inventory existing trees, improve asset management, and through the Forest Service’s i-Trees software suite, quantify ecosystem benefits from these assets. Visit www.pg-cloud.com/Oahu to see the growing inventory.

BEYOND O‘AHU

While the four counties of Hawai‘i have long held shared interests around sustainability issues, the formation of CCSR and capacity provided through county-wide partnerships with the AmeriCorps VISTA program, the counties are more able to align efforts in a cooperative manner. Within Honolulu, one of our VISTAs serves to facilitate collaboration between the four counties. We work diligently towards coordinating the counties’ sustainability efforts and public communications, sharing best practices on reducing costs on large projects such as county-level Climate Action Plans, and jointly seeking funding for rebuilding and fortifying our infrastructure—such as our joint proposal to use Volkswagen settlement funds for electrification of bus fleets and EV charging infrastructure on all four islands. 

Some key points of cooperation during this first year include: 

• Four county support of the Paris Climate Agreement. 
• Four county mayoral pledge to a 100% renewable ground transportation future by 2045, with the counties leading by example and converting fleets by 2035. 
• Four county mayoral support to preserve the Clean Power Plan at the federal level. 
• A joint, successful proposal to secure US Department of Energy funds to support a four county climate action plan workshop in October, 2017. 
• On October 5, 2017, each of the counties’ four mayors proclaimed October 5 as Energy Efficiency Day. 
• On June 13, 2018, Hawai‘i’s four counties formally joined Drive Electric Hawai‘i (DEH) to promote electric transportation for a clean energy future goals. By signing DEH’s memorandum of understanding, county leaders agreed to collaborate on electrification of ground transportation in Hawai‘i as an essential part of achieving the state’s clean energy goals. This followed the historic pledge in December, 2017 by all four mayors to transition to 100 percent renewable ground-transportation in their respective counties by 2045.
• The four counties have committed to expanding or implementing the AmeriCorps program. The Resilience Office has supported our neighbor islands’ efforts by adding capacity where needed. Together, we are working toward establishing a VISTA position in each of the sustainability offices that will further leverage the capacity of those offices to advance sustainability goals and to better coordinate across the counties. 
• The counties have been actively participating in shared dialogue and mobilization around common state legislative priorities, and have submitted comments and testimony (both public and private) on the micro-grid services tariff house bill (HB2110) and performance based regulation (PBR) bill (SB 2939). 
• The counties are in the process of collaborating on the PBR Docket 2018-0088 opportunity described in the Energy Program section. Each has submitted motions to intervene, and each has been granted access by the Public Utilities Commission. 
• The counties have collaborated on fund-raising opportunities (and plan to do more in the future): first, the City and County of Honolulu has been assisting sister counties in developing their Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (Low-No) proposals, and introduced them to the Center for Transportation and Environment (CTE), and the city’s Department of Transportation Services’ contractor for our ongoing and current Low-No Project. Second, the four counties worked together to develop a joint funding concept to use the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement (VW Settlement) funds to invest in electric buses and electric vehicle infrastructure. The disbursement of the funds is currently pending approval from the VW Settlement Trustee and the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT).