TO: Sheryl Sculley, City Manager
FROM: Peter Zanoni, Deputy City Manager
COPIES TO: Mayor Julian Castro; Councilman Diego Bernal, City Council District 1; Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran, City Council District 3; Councilman Rey Saldana, City Council District 4; Councilman Ron Nirenberg, City Council District 8; File
SUBJECT: Environmental Policy Updates CCR
DATE: April 16, 2014
In a Council Consideration Request (CCR) dated November 7, 2013, Councilman Cris Medina of City Council District 7 requested an update on environmental policies within the City of San Antonio. These initiatives include:
1. Prohibition of single-use carryout bags as recommended by the Citizen's Environmental Advisory Committee within 90 days.
2. Updating the current Unified Development Code to reflect the 2012 International Electric Conservation Code within 90 days.
3. Evaluate the potential cost savings and elimination of waste by adopting a paperless system for all Council and Committee meetings. Should the staff's evaluation of costs produce a net savings to the City, a paperless system should be employed within 60 days.
Single-use Carryout Bags
The Solid Waste Management Service Deparment last presented to the Governance Committee in February 2013 on the issue of single use plastic bags. Since then, staff presented to the Infrastructure and Growth Committee on March 20, 2013 and presented to the Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC) on April 5, 2013. Staff also completed research on comparative cities single-use bag restriction policies (fees and bans) in Texas cities such as Austin, Brownsville, Ft. Stockton and South Padre Island as well as cities across the nation such as Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington D.C. In addition, comparative cities were contacted to discuss effectiveness of bans and fees within the communities and the legislative issues associated with each policy.
Since the issuance...
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