Support for Proposed Rate Adjustment for Food and Garden/Yard Waste Collection

On January 17, 2022, ECOS submitted a letter to the City of Sacramento in support of a Proposed Rate Adjustment for Food and Garden/Yard Waste Collection.

Below is an excerpt.

Based on statewide statistics, organic materials are the most prevalent item in the waste disposal stream. A third of the material going to landfills is readily compostable. To meet the state’s goal for 75 percent recycling, and to meet targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, particularly methane emissions reduction, we support the City’s plan to change its collection rates. However, we request that the City clarify how it plans to implement SB1383 for single-unit and multifamily unit dwellings and commercial/industrial enterprises.

Click here to read the letter in full.

ECOS FIELD TRIP — ECOS’ Sandhill Crane Tour 1/21

Please sign up to attend ECOS’ Sandhill Crane Tour, volunteer field trip, on Friday, January 21.

We’ll meet Mike Savino, our tour lead from Save our Sandhill Cranes, and check in with him at:

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve (AKA Isenberg Crane Reserve), 11154 W. Woodbridge Rd, Lodi
Please print a parking permit for your car, by clicking here. If you cannot print one, that’s OK, you will be covered by another person having one.

Mike will talk about crane biology, behavior, and conservation status. We will then drive to a viewing site for sandhill cranes. Bring your binoculars, dress with layers for the evening, and wear an N95 mask for Covid (we’ll have N95 masks for whoever needs one). ECOS members Tina Suarez-Murias and Rob Burness plan to be with us to add to the discussion.

4:10 pm arrival at site
4:25 pm tour start
~5:50 pm wrap-up and depart

Directions from Sacramento (allow 40 minutes from downtown Sacramento to Crane Reserve):
• Take I-5 south, exit at Peltier Road. Turn left to go under I-5, and turn right (south) at the frontage road (Thornton Road). After 2 miles, turn right (west) at Woodbridge Road (see sign “Phil & Marilyn Isenberg Sandhill Crane Reserve”). Continue 2.5 miles to a pullout on left side. This is the Reserve’s South unit, where our tour will begin.

New Federal Leadership on Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs)

January 5, 2022

This week, FTA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued updated Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs). In the letter announcing the revised PEAs, FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez and the FHWA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack are asking FTA and FHWA field offices to work with their metropolitan planning organizations, state Departments of Transportation, transit agencies, and federal land management agencies to incorporate these PEAs into their Unified Planning Work Programs and State Planning and Research Work Programs.

Several of these emphasis areas focus on the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of advancing equity and environmental justice in transportation planning, which will help achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals and increase resilience to extreme weather events resulting from climate change. These efforts will better support regional and local governments as they plan for future transportation needs in their communities. There is considerable flexibility in how metropolitan planning organizations and State DOTs can incorporate the PEAs into the transportation planning process. Recognizing the variability and timing of transportation planning processes, FTA and FHWA encourage these PEAs to be incorporated as programs are updated.

ECOS Letter re Innovation Park and CNU Medical Center Project DEIR, Jan 3, 2022

On January 3, 2022, ECOS submitted comments on the Innovation Park and CNU Medical Center Project DEIR.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this major project in North Natomas. We are pleased to see the reuse of the Arco Arena site. A hospital would address a long standing problem of having no hospital and few medical services north of the river in the City limits. All 24-hour emergency rooms are over 25 minutes away from residents of Natomas and North Sacramento. The land use designations are acceptable but more detail will be needed to fully understand the impacts given the wide range of densities that are allowed by the city. Impacts could vary significantly in terms of traffic, schools, parks and others. Further, it is still unclear what kind of “innovation” is anticipated in the area identified as Innovation Park.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Oak Park gentrification: $5 million Aggie Square fund to protect tenants from displacement

By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks | November 14, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

…community advocates have repeatedly warned that those benefits may not be experienced by low- and middle-income residents and residents of color. Those concerns led to the creation of a sweeping Community Benefits Partnership Agreement* that would invest several hundred million dollars in Oak Park and Tahoe Park through new affordable housing, local hiring requirements, job training and eviction protections. As part of a deal reached with a group of local organizers called Sacramento Investment Without Displacement, the city is required to allocate $5 million from its housing trust fund and general fund to efforts that would alleviate resident displacement and stabilize the housing market.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/article256557521.html#storylink=cpy


*Join Sacramento Investment Without Displacement for a Community Benefits Agreement Presentation on Dec 16. Attend to learn more about Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) and how they have significantly impacted other cities. We will also have a discussion on the CBA Ordinance for the City of Sacramento and what should be included as the Ordinance is being developed.


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