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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Full - Legislative Review Committee - 12/17/2021 - City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com Legislative Review Committee Agenda December 17, 2021 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Microsoft Teams (Click here to join the meeting) 1. Approval of minutes from November 5, 2021 meeting a. Attached: November 5, 2021 Minutes 2. Updates a. Legislative breakfast follow-up i. Attached: Extended Producer Responsibility information b. Session cadence i. LRC meetings ii. Lobbyist communications iii. CML Muni-caucus iv. Commitment Pledge 3. Other Business a. Credit Union legislation City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com Legislative Review Committee Minutes November 5, 2021 4:00-5:00 PM Committee Members Present: Tricia Canonico, Mayor Jeni Arndt, Susan Gutowsky Staff: Ginny Sawyer, John Duval Residents: CSU student Christian 1. Approval of minutes from October 7, 2021 Meeting a. Approved unanimously 2. Final Legislative Policy Agenda Review a. All changes look good. Try to get on the November 16 council Agenda for approval. b. Aiming to have printed copies by legislative breakfast. 3. Colorado Municipal League (CML) Policy Review a. Tricia attended part of this meeting. No additional comments. 4. DC Trip: Highlights/Questions a. Great meetings with Transportation, Forest Service and Representatives and Senator. b. People were glad to meet and very receptive. c. Infrastructure bill could help with BRT on West Elizabeth. Encouraging getting projects in front of Transportation. 5. Other Business a. Legislative Breakfast: December 7, 2021 8:00-9:30 a.m. Colorado River room is reserved b. Lobby RFP is out c. Capital Watch – Bill Tracking i. Can we share logins? Councilmembers may be interested. d. Follow-up on Idling conversation: can we do more? Can we address attended idling? Making the cigarette comparison was powerful…can we promote this information more? e. There may be ADU legislation at the state level. f. Pledge/support question raised (regarding pipelines.) Asked staff to share the Commitment Evaluation Process. Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation in Colorado Bottom line: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a framework in which producers of materials fund the end-of-life management of the materials they generate. EPR would offset costs the City and residents of Fort Collins currently pay for recycling and would provide access to recycling for areas of the state that currently lack recycling. Legislation is being drafted for consideration in the 2022 session. Bill sponsors & status: The primary bill sponsors will be Lisa Cutter in the House; and Kevin Priola in the Senate; cosponsors still TBD. The bill is being drafted currently and will undergo stakeholder input prior to the legislative session starting. Connection with Fort Collins Legislative Policy Agenda: EPR has been a component of Fort Collins’ LPA for many years. Items 6 and 7 in the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction section of the 2022 LPA: 6. Supports extended producer responsibility initiatives that fund recycling programs and incentivize 7. products to be designed for reuse, recycling, or composting and maintain local control of recycling programs Adoption of EPR elsewhere: EPR is adopted in 40 countries including Canada and much of Europe. Maine and Oregon became the first US states to adopt EPR last year. Many other states are considering it this year. Why now?: The wave of interest in reducing single-use plastics last year shifted the momentum of EPR in the U.S. The perspectives of product producers have also been rapidly evolving to be more open to EPR. Current EPR in Colorado: Colorado’s producer responsibility program for paint has substantially increased paint recycling, provided recycling access to paint recycling for 95% of Coloradans, and saved municipalities tens of thousands of dollars per year since implementation in 2015. More details of the EPR legislation: The legislation being drafted for 2022 would mean that paper and packaging producers would fund collection of recyclables throughout the state. This could be a benefit to the City through funding the Timberline Recycling Center and to residents and businesses as it would offset the recycling portion of their trash bills. An element of EPR called “Eco Modulation” would provide incentives for producers to create packing that is locally recyclable or compostable (this relates to item 7 in the LPA Recycling and Waste Reduction section). Next steps: This legislation is being supported by Recycle Colorado, the statewide recycling organization of which Fort Collins is a member. Another key supporting organization of which Fort Collins a member is CC4CA (Colorado Communities for Climate Action). City staff is participating in a working group that helped to draft principles which are being used by the bill drafter. Staff will continue to engage in stakeholder processes as the legislation is developed. Staff contact: Caroline Mitchell, Waste Reduction & Recycling Program Manager (cmitchell@fcgov.com, 970-689-8462) More information: 1) This legislation leverages recommendations generated from a literature review recently conducted by CDPHE. 2) See EPR section in The State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado 2021 report from Eco-Cycle and CoPIRG (pages 22-23). December 2021 22 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2022 Colorado needs groundbreaking new policies to transform our recycling and composting system to overcome these challenges and realize the substantial benefits of reducing unnecessary packaging, reducing plastic pollution, cutting climate emissions, creating local green jobs, protecting our clean air and water, and conserving natural resources. These priority actions can significantly scale up recycling and composting in Colorado. STATE-LEVEL RECOMMENDATIONS TOP PRIORITY PROVIDE CONVENIENT, EFFECTIVE RECYCLING FOR ALL RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES THROUGH A PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY POLICY A producer responsibility policy for containers, packaging materials, and printed paper is a groundbreaking opportunity to transform Colorado’s recycling system and accelerate progress toward the state’s recycling and climate goals. A statewide producer responsibility policy will provide every Coloradan with convenient and easy access to recycling for common materials such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, glass bottles, cardboard, and printed paper. Over 150 global companies and leading organizations support producer responsibility as the only proven and effective tool to provide sufficient, ongoing, and dedicated funding to increase recycling and reduce plastic pollution.53 Over 40 countries have mandatory producer responsibility policies for containers and packaging, and Maine and Oregon adopted the first US policies in 2021.54 Colorado’s producer responsibility program for paint, run by PaintCare, is a proven success and has substantially increased paint recycling, provided recycling access to 95% of Coloradans, and saved municipalities tens of thousands of dollars per year since implementation in 2015.55 Producer responsibility will fund convenient access to recycling for all residents. The additional costs to recycle and the lack of convenient, equitable access to recycling is a primary barrier to increasing recycling statewide. Six out of the ten largest cities in the state do not provide curbside recycling to all residents. The City of Aurora, Colorado’s third largest city, closed its only single-stream recycling drop-off center in 2020 due to limited staff and funding resources and illegal dumping challenges.56 A producer responsibility policy would fund curbside recycling collection for all residents in all cities like Aurora without requiring funding from local governments. Excerpt from The State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado 2021 report by Eco-Cycle and CoPIRG 23 67%of US residents agree “companies that manufacture food and beverage containers should be responsible for the cost of collecting and recycling their products after people use them.” 57 Producer responsibility will reduce local government costs for recycling. Producer responsibility for containers and packaging can offset some or all of a local government’s costs to operate drop-off centers for common recyclables, saving tens to hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars per year or allowing them to be reallocated for other services. For example, the City of Pueblo spends nearly $300,000 per year to operate a recycling drop-off center that could be funded by a producer responsibility policy.58 Producer responsibility will fund recycling in rural and mountain areas to ensure equitable access. Recycling in Colorado’s mountain and rural areas is often significantly more expensive than in the Front Range, which makes it more challenging to provide and financially sustain these programs. Yet all residents deserve the same convenient access to recycling, both urban and rural. A producer responsibility system will provide sufficient and ongoing funding to support drop-off and/or curbside recycling in rural and mountain areas. Currently most recyclables collected in Steamboat Springs, Routt County, and most of Northwest Colorado are hauled over 150 miles to be recycled at material recovery facilities (MRFs) in Denver.59 A producer responsibility program would cover transportation costs, alleviating one of the major financial barriers to recycling in rural communities. In addition, it could help develop greater regional coordination to increase efficiencies in transportation or to build more regional recycling centers or transfer stations. Producer responsibility will expand equitable recycling services to underserved multifamily residents. There are over 20 Colorado municipalities where more than 25% of their residences are multifamily properties.60 Less than 60% of multifamily residents nationwide have onsite recycling programs, creating a significant barrier for recycling and a gross inequity between single-family and multifamily residents.61 For example, the City of Denver provides curbside recycling to all single-family homes, but more than one-third of residences in Denver are multifamily properties not covered under the city’s program and have limited recycling programs.62 A producer responsibility program would fund convenient access to recycling collection at multifamily properties across the state and build a more equitable system for all residents.