EQC Meeting Date: February 19, 2020
To: Members of the Environmental Quality Commission
From: Beth Kallestad, Program Coordinator
Title
Climate Action Plan Initiatives
Body
Action Requested:
The EQC receives an update and discussion on two potential Climate Action Plan initiatives.
Summary Report:
Staff are providing information on two items and their corresponding funding opportunities they would like to move forward with that fall under the Climate Action Plan.
1. Minnesota GreenCorps
The Minnesota GreenCorps program is a statewide initiative, coordinated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, to preserve and protect Minnesota's environment while training a new generation of environmental professionals.
The program places AmeriCorps members with host organizations around the state to assist communities and local governments in addressing a variety of statewide needs, aiming to:
* Reduce solid waste and increase recycling in Minnesota communities.
* Reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and other air pollutants.
* Reduce water runoff and improve water quality.
* Assist community members to take eco-friendly actions.
* Increase community resilience and build local capacity to respond to the threats of climate change.
* Train new environmental professionals.
The City would like to apply to be a GreenCorps host site from September 2020 - August 2021. This is a full-time position funded by the MPCA and AmeriCorps. Based on the application options for this year, staff suggest applying for the category of Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Organics Management (see details in host site application guide). Focusing in this area is suggested as it will help support two areas of the Climate Action Plan, which current staff do not have capacity to devote much time. The City has some funding through a donation received in 2019 to work on waste reduction and recycling education. We have been doing work to develop some programming and having this position would hel...
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