Chair peskin welcome to the land use and Transportation Committee today, september 21, 2020. I am chair aaron peskin, joined by supervisor ahsha safai and supervisor dean preston. Our clerk is miss erica major. Miss major, could you please make any announcements. Clerk yes. Due to the covid19 pandemic, city hall and board rooms are closed. Committee members will attend through Video Conference and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they are physically present. Public comment will be available on each item of this agenda. Depending on your provider, you can watch the meeting on cable channels 26, 78, or 99 or sfgov. Org is streami sfgovtv streaming the number across the stream. The number is 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1462832975. Press pound, and pound again. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, please press star, three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak slowly and clearly, and turn down your television or radio. You may also submit comments comments in the following ways. Email myself at erica. Major sfgov. Org or mail your comments to city hall. Items recommended today will appear on the board of supervisors meeting on september 22, 2020. Chair peskin miss major, would you please call item 1. Clerk yes. Item 1 is an ordinance amending the Building Code to require new construction to utilize only interesting electric power. Thank you, mr. Chair. Supervisor mandelman the chair is frozen. We can wait for him to get back on, or supervisor safai, if you would like to take the reins and then i will text supervisor peskin. Supervisor safai i know this item is being called by supervisor mandelman, so im just going to hand it over to him to make his Opening Statements and comments so we can keep the agenda going. Supervisor mandelman does the clerk need to call the first item or can we just go . Clerk ive called the first item. Did i supervisor safai no, you did. Supervisor mandelman thank you, vice chair safai, and supervisor preston, and chair peskin if you can hear this. This ordinary an is anoth ordinance is another step towards towards a safer San Francisco. Last fall, this board passed the electric preference ordinance which requires building to s buildings to compensate for their natural gas emissions by requiring higher construction rates. Natural gas is the second largest source of Greenhouse Gas in San Francisco behind transportation emissions. We can see where our beautiful green planet is headed, and we do not like it. I believe we must take every opportunity we can to change direction, and today, we have before you one such opportunity. Natural gas is also a major health and safety hazard. This month marks the tenyear anniversary of the gas explosion in san bruno that killed eight people and destroyed virtually an entire neighborhood. Last year, a gas line ruptured on geary boulevard that destroyed several buildings still sitting empty today. Just last month, a gas explosion in a Baltimore Neighborhood killed two people and injured several others. In california, there are there is more than one gas leak or emergency reported every minute, and then, of course, we know that in california, natural gas poses an even bigger risk. Half of all the fires in the loma prieta were because of gas explosions. By comparison, Electricity Service can be restored very quickly, making us resilient in the face of future emergencies, as well. Natural gas is also bad for our health. When used in our buildings and homes, it increased the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as carbon die objection ice exposure. Seniors with gas ranges and restaurant workers in hot kitchens are at higher risk of injuries due to gas and open flames, as well. So there are an abundance of reasons to quit natural gas, and at the very least, to require all electric construction for new residential and commercial buildings in San Francisco, starting with projects that file for permits Going Forward. The ordinance would allow buildings that have already submitted for permits to proceed, including under the electric preference requiremen requirements. This is a big change, but were living through a big moment, and now, i believe is the right take to at the same this step, and i believe we have to keep moving quickly to dekosh annize our lives howevannize decarbonize our lives whenever we can. I am convinced that all of this is not only doable but for protecting our city for future generations. Since hes back. Since i introduced the legislation in june, the ordinance has been thoroughly discussed for the Building Inspection Commission and the Environment Commission and has been reviewed in detail by d. B. I. And environment staff and has received recommendations by both commissions. In addition, d. B. I. Bulletin i want to thank the commissioners and especially president Angus Mccarthy as well as d. B. I. And department of environment as well as the dozens of san franciscans who participated and contributed their insight and passions through this project. Im sure well be hearing from many of you today, as well. Colleagues, before concluding, i want to put forward a couple of amendments based on recommendations received by the commission as well as community advocates. This includes a banning of natural gas for outside heating in new homes or buildings, and any building constructed must be wired as electric ready. With regard to some of the concerns i have heard about this lemgs lation, i think it is important for everyone to keep in mind that this ordinance does not affect any existing home or building in San Francisco. It doesnt affect buildings remodels or retrofits. This is only for negate construction permits applied for next year or later. So you will still be able to use your gas range, and so will all of your favorite restaurants. Chair peskin i thought you were done. I apologize. Supervisor mandelman i did say that i was concluding, but i still have a couple more paragraphs. I will conclude shortly. The proposal was developed through a broad stakeholder process that began in earnest back in january, and thats why my office has worked closely with city staff. In addition, i will also be offering amendments that include a reporting requirement on the issue of mixed fuel reporting requirements to be reported to d. B. I. To be sure were tracking effectiveness of the all electric requirement. There has been significant support from Many Organizations as well as from dozens of design, technology, and construction professionals and organizations, including the california and San Francisco chapters of american student architects and many organization organizatio organizations. I want to express my profound gratitude to all the city staff who have brought us to this point. Following staff presentations and Public Comment, i will be asking that you move the amendments that we brought to you today and then continue this item 2 weeks until october 5. I believe these the amendments are substantive, and there remain several outstanding items that i imagine well hear about and discuss today that we need to resolve prior to this Committee Voting on the legislation itself. I want to thank you for your time and attention today, and your partnership in keeping San Francisco a leader in responding to Climate Change. Chair peskin thank you, sponsor mandelman. And let me just start with this is an imperative in every city in america. This is not just for a side like the San Francisco municipality, but when a city our size does it, its very meaningful. I cities do things like styrofoam ban. Berkeley did it 20 years before us, but we got the credit. Its time that San Francisco joined this movement, and weve got some very particular situations here, and i really want to thank you for the meeting that you offered the Chinese Chamber of commerce last week, and theres still more work to be done there, and you acknowledge that, and i really appreciate that, and i would like to, you know, help bring those policy matters discussed in that because the financial underpinning of this legislation is as with most pieces of legislation is Going Forward, grandfather things going backward, thats kind of the time tested and true way that we legislate at the state, federal, and local level. I heard two conflicting pieces of advice relative to the concept of force majeure or what would happen if there was an earthquake or a fire, would the castro be able to reconnect in the case of a major act of god . That ends with a question mark . Supervisor mandelman and i am going to ask that our City Attorney spend some time during this hearing confirming, because i think you and i have differe different chair peskin your staff and my staff actually have the same interpretation, but yeah, lets hear it we can hear it from the department, but ultimately, i want to hear it from the attorney. Hi, supervisor. This is james sohn. I hope everybody can hear me. Chair peskin we can hear you. I lead a testimony of mechanical engineer 11 mechanical engineer and electrical engineer to provide supplement and implementation to this wonderful ordinance. Chair peskin mr. Song . Yes. Chair peskin can you answer the question that supervisor mandelman just asked . Supervisor mandelman, can you repeat the answer, please . Chair peskin the question is very simple. If there is a fire, and 1,000 buildings burn down, you want to respectfully, supervisor mandelman, lets just hear from the attorney. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Chair peskin sorry, mr. Song. We mean you no disrespect, but this is a totally inappropriate way to get my question answered. So i appreciate your professionalism, but thats not what im asking. Im not sure how this happened, but this is all happening on microsoft teams, so please do not feel disrespected. No problem, supervisor. Chair peskin thanks. Ill stand by in case you have [inaudible] chair peskin fundamentally, i support this legislation, but were trying to answer some fundamental questions here. Deputy City Attorney pearson, good afternoon. Deputy City Attorney ann pearson, good afternoon. Deputy City Attorney rob kapla has been looking at this issue. Im going to ask him to call in with the answer. Chair peskin this is the first time that you learned of this issue . I have not considered this question before it was raised today, but deputy tee attorney rob kapla has been working on this issue, so i would like him to department City Attorney rob kapla has been working on this, so i would like him to dial in. Chair peskin i think that is a threshold question. Understood. Ill get him on the line. Chair peskin thank you, deputy city pearson. Supervisor mandelman, im sorry to have interjected. Do you have any other questions or responses or answers or anything left to say before i call on miss raphael . Nothing, other than im rafael and shes raphael. Chair peskin its hard to tell. Madam director, department of environment. Yes. I am debbie raphael, and i am the director of the department of environment, and im super excited to be here to present this item before you. I want to thank members of the transportation and Land Use Committee. I am joined, as we already saw by james zahn, several of my colleagues. Very quickly, as the slides come up, so as you will see from the next slide that we have a pie chart that shows our emissions. This is what already supervisor mandelman has indicated, and the key thing is we have both joint emissions matters that were dealing with right now. One is in diesel and gasoline, and the other is in the builtin environment in the form of natural gas. If we do not tackle these items in the pie chart, we will not succeed in meeting our goals, and we will not protect the planet. Next slide. In the first three arrows, our economy is growing, our population has been growing robustly, and our last measurement was to show that in 2018 we were 36 below 1990 levels. Whats interesting about that slippage, if you will, is that this is all because of natural gas. What happened between 2017 and 2018 is that the way we do the calculation trued up the leaks in the natural gas system. That is methane coming straight out of the pipes in the atmosphere, 86 more times potent than carbon dioxide, and actually, our emissions just went up a little bit. Chair peskin so youre saying in the context of these approximately 50 square miles . Thats correct. Thats correct. Chair peskin so were not doing cows across the bay . So the methane that might come hafrom cows is not the methane that we measure, although the methane coming from your banana peels in the landfill would be. So the methane is whats making us flat and not being able to go down in our emissions. Next slide. We have those bold goals that supervisor mandelman referred to. These were signed off by mayor breed in front of a global audience. Now, more than ever, i think we really understand that the use of any fossil fuel, including natural gas, is incompatible with our goals. Today is an incredibly important start on that journey. It has as you heard, its very important to keep reiterating, this is just a start, because this ordinance is for new construction. Its not for tenant improvements, its for renovations, its not for retrofit. We have a lot of existing buildings that were going to need to tackle. Thats not what is before you today. Before you is to put a line in the sand and say no more natural gas because we understand the imperatives for the future. No city as complex in terms of its building types have done this in the state. We are the first, and so all eyes are on us, and its really important that we give this right, and with that, i would like to ask you Cindy Comerford to give you a really high outline of what this does and what weve accomplished. Chair peskin thank you, and my apologies for butchering your name. Next speaker, please. Thank you, supervisor peskin. Can you hear me . Chair peskin yes, we can. Thank you. I feel like im presenting into a big black box. My name is Cindy Comerford. Obje objectiv as we go through this presentation, youre going to hear the term mixed fuel buildings, and that just refers to a building being built with natural gas. So all electric new construction or sometimes use the term building electrification has many benefits, and this illustrates all the benefits that supervisor mandelman has gone over in detail. For lowincome communities and communities of color that are more likely to suffer from asthma because of impacts because of poor air quality, zero emission homes are an important way to deliver equity benefits. So next, im going to go through state efforts and our policies to deliver this ordinance. Mayor breed has signed an ordinance of zero net emissions by 2050, so to accomplish this goal, we embarked on launching the mayors zero emissions Building Task force last year to ensure that we had inclusive and diverse representation. Just to reiterate, we are only talking about newly constructed buildings today. So for the all electric billion constructibillion Building Work group, we brought together many key perspectives. Community groups, Affordable Housing developers, investors, design professionals, environmental advocates, and the list goes on and on, and we also have a steering committee, which we reported up the findings from our work group, which was a Public Private steering committee. So we had two work groups. This shows the breadth of our outreach efforts of all of them were cancered on not only trying to get this ordinance done but really about establishing expectations for longterm pardon nerships, Building Trust with our stakeholders and really identifying what are the best opportunities for the city to be a partner in this project. Chair peskin and miss comerford, i apologize for interrupting your presentation, but how many languages was the outreach done in . Thats a great question. We had outreach done in chinese and spanish and allowed them to ask questions. Chair peskin you reached out to building owners and managers association. Did you ever reach out to the Chinese Chamber of commerce . We did. Just to clarify some of the cultural outreach that we did, we did reach out to the chinese sorry, the Chinese Chamber of commerce, chinese for affirmative action, a. P. I. , and a. T. P. The media roundtable we did was both in chinese or english. Chair peskin and i dont see that on this presentation. Where does that happen . Thats correct. So this slide shows our outreach until the introduction of the ordinance, which was in june, so just kind of showing what we did to craft the ordinance, but since the introduction of the ordinance, we have been meeting with stakeholders almost every day, and i just mentioned some of our engagement, and we have also presented to the full Building Inspection Commission, multiple subcommittees. Chair peskin supervisor mandelman said that. So basically, what youre saying is you cooked it, and after cooking it, you took it to the community. Is that true it . We have been developing the ordinance, and then after the development of the ordinance, we have been doing additional outreach. Chair peskin so let me ask you this is this supervisor mandelmans legislation or d. E. Od. E d. O. E. S legislation . Supervisor mandelman is the author of this legislation, and we worked very closely with his office to develop it. Chair peskin sorry fo