San Antonio Report
by Lindsey Carnett
The City of San Antonio plans to utilize $1 million it is receiving from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to expand the reach and impact of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, staff told councilmembers Wednesday.
The $1 million will come from the IRA’s two-phased Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, said Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle. The first phase of that program has allotted a non-competitive $1 million to major metropolitan areas such as San Antonio to allow the creation of a climate plan, Coyle explained.
“We already have one in San Antonio, and [the feds] said, ‘That’s okay. Draw down your $1 million dollars, refresh your plan, and expanded it beyond your city limits — this is for the region, this is for the [area].'”
The city’s staff will work with the Alamo Area Council Of Governments — the region’s major planning agency that consists of a voluntary association of cities, counties and special districts in the south-central region — to “refresh” San Antonio’s climate plan, Coyle said. This will include prioritizing actions laid out in the plan, finding opportunities to secure more federal dollars to enact actions in the plan and working with other cities and counties to help them create their own climate plans, Coyle said.
Phase two of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant will allot funds to metropolitan areas for the implementation of their climate plans. Funding is awarded through a competitive application process. San Antonio will fight to secure its share of $4.6 billion from the federal government during this phase, Coyle said. Applications for this phase will be due in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan was adopted in 2019, and was described by city leaders as a road map for how to make good on a resolution that council members passed in June 2017 committing San Antonio to the goals of the Paris Agreement, an international accord meant to stave off the worst effects of rapid global warming.
The plan includes dozens of strategies to help the city fight the effects of climate change and adapt to life in a warmer world. Many are already underway, including creating more green space, preparing for wildfires and incorporating more realistic flooding standards into the city’s drainage codes. Also in the plan are heat island mitigation actions, such as installing more cool pavement around the city’s hottest districts and planting more trees.
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program is just one of several IRA programs the San Antonio is planning to take advantage of to implement actions within its climate plan, city staff told councilmembers Wednesday.
Others include the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, and the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program, Coyle said.
These programs will: allow the city to reduce its energy use; reduce its fossil fuel emissions, and improve its energy efficiency by adding EV charging stations at apartment complexes and bolstering the city’s e-bike rebate program; build safer roads such as a complete street corridor between Malone and Culberson; and seek help carrying out environmental and climate justice actions such as reducing indoor pollution.
Staff also updated council members during Wednesday’s B-session about the rollout of the city’s new Resiliency, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (REES) fund.
This fund was created with the adoption of the city’s 2023 budget at the request of former city councilwoman Ana Sandoval. It comes from an allocated portion of the money the city receives every year from CPS Energy, and is earmarked specifically for green initiatives. As a municipally owned utility, CPS Energy contributes roughly 14% of its gross revenues to the city every year, making up about a third of the city’s General Fund.
The fund’s first $2.3 million were allotted to three projects: a cool pavement project, an “eco-scholar” grant program, and to pay staff to find other funding from the federal government for green initiatives.
The eco-scholar program has given out roughly $1 million in grants in either $3,000, $5,000, or $10,000 increments to 146 recipients, said Assistant City Manager David McCary. Another $1 million was used to install and study a cool pavement area within each City Council district. The city, in collaboration with the University of Texas at San Antonio, will now study the success of each installation.
Future REES projects will include a cool parking lot pilot, a cool roofs program, expanding the cool pavements project, planting street trees, building green infrastructures, creating shade strategies and “other innovative solutions,” McCary said.