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Suncor SEP Process Update
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Summary and Background Information:
On March 6, 2020, The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced a $9 million settlement for State and Federal air pollution violations at the Suncor refinery in Commerce City. The settlement addresses many events where Suncor emitted pollutants over set limits as well as violations relating to requirements of how facilities are operated and monitored. These events occurred since July 2017, including a significant increase in violations that occurred during the period from January through June 2019. The settlement also includes penalties for the “operational upset” and other violations that happened in December 2019. $2,624,100 of this settlement will be used for the State’s Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) to benefit the surrounding communities. The formal Request for Applications (RFA) was released on November 2, 2020, with a deadline to receive submittals by December 31, 2020 at 5:00PM. A detailed overview of the state SEP process can be found here <https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/2019-suncor-settlement-sep-community-process>.
The city engaged in multiple forms of public outreach to receive feedback from the community as to what topics the City should focus on in its submission for state SEP funds, as well as soliciting project ideas directly from the community. The following efforts were conducted during the City’s evaluation process for project ideas:
• - Development of a community information page hosted at <http://www.c3gov.com/sep>,
• - A remote town hall hosted on August 13
• - Two community surveys that were open throughout the month of August and two weeks in December, respectively
• - City Council study session held on September 14th to receive feedback on project concepts
• - Listening session with Cultivando held on December 9th
Based on the various forms of feedback staff received during this process, City staff began moving forward with developing two responses to the released RFA.
The first proposal consists of developing a low cost air quality monitoring network for areas in Commerce City’s jurisdiction within 2 miles of the Suncor property boundary. Monitors would capture PM2.5 and Total VOC’s, and data would be displayed on a public interface hosted and maintained by the City of Commerce City on its main website. The City would take an intentional and thoughtful approach to engaging priority communities and residents disproportionately impacted by air pollutants in shaping the design of the program. This includes the overall count and location of community monitors, how information received from monitoring is disseminated and distributed to the public, and any other considerations that arise from the community engagement process. The project would be funded for an initial 2 year pilot project term, and recommendations for a permanent community monitoring network would be published during a concluding project summary report.
The second proposal consists of partnering with Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) as a referral partner on their Healthy Community Proposal. As part of their proposal, EOC would propose to upgrade up to 200 residential units in Commerce City & unincorporated Adams County within the Geographic Priority area defined in the RFA. Improvements include upgrades to residential indoor air quality, including providing residents with air filters and purifiers, conducting home health surveys, ventilation improvements, and other weatherization upgrades to homes. The proposed project will also fund up to 400 community tree plantings outside 200 homes in the project area. By joining as a referral partner and leveraging matching funds through Commerce City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDPHE) program, there is the potential to add roughly 30 additional homes per year to the application scope.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide Council with further discussion on the applications that City staff will be submitting prior to the deadline of December 31, a brief overview of the state’s evaluation criteria, discussion of the components of the City’s grant applications, and outlining next steps in the State’s evaluation process. Additionally, letters of support for both applications have been included in the Council packet, and Council can move to take an informal vote on signing the letters of support during administrative council business.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Jason Rogers, Community Development Director
Staff Member Presenting: Domenic Martinelli, Environmental Planner
Financial Impact: N/A
Funding Source: CDPHE Supplemental Environmental Projects Fund (SEP)