Item - 2014.PE28.4

City Council on July 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2014, adopted the following:

1.         City Council direct the Director, Environment and Energy to collaborate with relevant City Divisions, the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Toronto Hydro and Enbridge Gas to identify and implement actions that address the following technical recommendations made by the project consultants (Canadian Urban Institute and Halsall Associates):

a.         improve the accuracy of the City’s building data file to address the issue that a significant percentage (28 percent) of the buildings gross floor area is not classified and, therefore, a significant percentage (34 percent) of the City's total electricity consumption is unassigned;

b.         improve the accuracy of the City’s estimates of emissions from transportation sources by surveying what car and truck types, and in what numbers, use the highways and roads in Toronto;

c.         identify, in partnership with Enbridge Gas and Toronto Hydro, ways to address data privacy issues, so that more detailed and accurate information can be provided to the City;

d.         standardize the building classification and aggregating schemes between the City and the energy utilities;

e.         identify and estimate forecast electricity demand to support the identification of the geographic areas or sectors where the City and the utilities may wish to focus their energy conservation and emission reduction programming;

f.          include both weather normalized and actual natural gas consumption and emissions in future annual greenhouse gas and air quality inventory staff updates;

g.         collaborate with Transportation Services to develop a strategy for updating estimated community transportation emissions at least once every two years using high quality, Toronto specific data; and

h.         develop a strategy for tracking waste related greenhouse gas emissions from privately collected waste generated in the City of Toronto.

2.         City Council direct the Director, Environment and Energy to:

a.         publish future annual greenhouse gas and air quality inventories in the fourth quarter of the year and to include utility consumption trends in the absence of applicable emission factors for the most recent years and that copies of these documents be shared with Toronto Public Health; and

b.         supplement the annual greenhouse gas and air quality inventory staff updates with more detailed, professionally written and illustrated Greenhouse Gas and Air Quality Inventory Reports, prepared in collaboration with relevant City Divisions, utilities, Toronto Atmospheric Fund, and external experts, not less than once every four years.

3.         City Council direct the Director, Environment and Energy to:

a.         explore opportunities to partner with other municipalities and the Province, as well as other relevant organizations to advocate for improved vehicle emission standards that will result in improved air quality in Toronto and all Canadian cities;

b.         request the Federal Minister of Natural Resources implement amendments 13 and 14 to Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations, which will result in reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emission in Toronto and all Canadian cities; and

c.         advance, in the context of the Ontario Energy Board’s current consultative process, the adoption of new Demand-Side Management guidelines that will ensure targets and budgets to secure all cost-effective natural gas conservation in the City of Toronto.

4.         In recognition of continued significant increases in global greenhouse gas emissions, City Council request the Chief Corporate Officer to develop for Council's consideration a program accelerating the actions being taken to address the emission reduction and sustainable energy targets as adopted in the Climate Change Action Plan and the Power to Live Green: Toronto's Sustainable Energy Strategy; and that such program include:

a.         performing the required studies and analyses to accurately define the major sources of emissions both stationary and mobile;

b.         recommending to City Council a course of action for the City to undertake to lower emissions in the Toronto airshed;

c.         consulting with City Councillors, academia, subject matter experts, community leaders, appropriate City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations to ensure the recommended initiatives are timely and effective;

d.         engaging with Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments in initiating the regulatory and policy changes needed to address climate change;

e.         reporting annually, starting in 2015, on progress made through the Sustainable Environment and Energy Progress Report, as identified in City Council's Strategic Actions (action #6); and

f.          identification of the resources necessary to develop the proposed program in the 2015 Operating Budget for Budget Committee and Council's consideration.