COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          7b 
BRIEFING ITEM                            Date of Meeting      February 28, 2017 
DATE:     February 22, 2017 
TO:        Port of Seattle Commission 
FROM:    Aaron Pritchard, Commission Issues and Policy Manager 
SUBJECT:  Energy and Sustainability Committee Policy Directive Briefing 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
The Port of Seattle Commission unanimously chartered the Energy and Sustainability
Committee by motion on January 26, 2016. The charter tasked the Committee to develop and
propose policy directives to help guide the development of policies to support the Port of
Seattle's greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions reductions effort, with a focus on energy efficiency
and alternative energy generation. Commissioners Felleman and Gregoire were nam ed as
Chairs of the Committee. 
The Chairs brought together 23  advisors to participate  in the formation of the policy
recommendations. The  advisors,   from  diverse  sectors  of  our  community  including
environmental, business, labor, social justice, academia, think tanks, maritime, aviation,
construction, and government agencies, met six times as a full group and held a significant
number of small work group meetings. 
The Committee divided the advisors into four work groups including: 
Regional Goals Alignment work group that analyzed our Port GHG reduction goals in
relation to other regional municipalities; 
Energy Production work group that developed a framework for analyzing Port projects
that have energy implications; 
Energy  Conservation  work  group  that  developed  recommendations  around
transportation and leasing policies among other recommendations; 
Equity work group that started with environmental equity, but is recommending a
broader look into Port equity policies. 
You will hear directly from the advisors today. The Commission has committed $1 million to
start implementation of these recommendations. The Port will be working hard to leverage
matching funds to increase opportunities for collaboration. 


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COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 2 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
Significant work is already underway to reduce and mitigate environmental impacts of port
operations, and other environmental areas at both the Port of Seattle and the Northwest
Seaport Alliance (NWSA). The Co-chairs' recommendations to the full Commission, informed by
input from the Committee work groups, are meant to enhance the Port of Seattle's ongoing
GHG emissions reduction efforts. 
The Committee focused primarily on GHG emissions generated directly by the Port. However,
we acknowledge the Port's efforts to measure and address the GHG emissions of port tenants
and customers in its contributions to the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, aviation biofuels,
electrification of airport ground support, or identifying sources of renewable natural gas. 
In addition to aligning Port's GHG emission reduction goals with that of our neighboring
jurisdictions, the Committee plans to propose a project evaluation framework used to evaluate
the GHG and energy implications of Port projects and alternative ways emissions can be
reduced for consideration by the full Commission. 
The Committee also recommends vetting the project evaluation framework with the NWSA as
part of the current NWSA Energy and Sustainability work underway. We recognize that two
projects  specifically  involve  the  NWSA,  including  a  proposal  to  reduce  emissions  and
community harms from trucks that serve container port operations and evaluate the feasibility
of creating a microgrid and electric power generation near container cargo facilities. We will
work closely with our NWSA elected officials and staff to ensure alignment between the Port of
Seattle and NWSA. 
We will brief the Commission today on all of the work group recommendations. 
The intended next step will be a briefing on the first Energy and Sustainability Committee policy
directive resolution on March 28th. The Co-Chairs will review the work group recommendations
and develop a schedule for bringing the policy directives forward. This schedule will allow the
Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise (COE) to be fully operational and any
resource needs identified in the 2018 budget. The COE will prepare an assessment of the
resources and timeframes necessary to implement the policy recommendations and will
provide recommendations within 60 days of passage of the policy directives. This policy will
affect the work of many Port departments; the COE will meet with Project Managers,
Engineering, Finance and Investment, lease teams and other teams as necessary. After review,
the COE will present alternative ways to implements findings to the Commission. 
Energy and Sustainability Committee Work Group Recommendations 
A.  Regionally Aligned Goals Work Group: The work group recommends that we align the Port
greenhouse gas reduction goals with other regional governments. This alignment will allow
the Port to join the region in collaborative efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

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COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 3 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
1.  The proposed goals are consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocols, developed by
the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council on Sustainable
Development. The GHG Protocol is the most widely used international accounting
tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, manage, and
report greenhouse gas emissions. The work group recommendations address the
following categories of emissions consistent with the Protocol: 
a.  Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. 
b.  Scope 2 emissions include only the indirect emissions connected with the
consumption of purchased electricity. 
c.   Scope 3 emissions are emissions the Port has influence over, not direct
control. Scope 3 is defined in the GHG Protocols as "allindirect emissions
(not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting
company, including both upstream and downstream emissions." The Port of
Seattle currently does not have Century Agenda Goals associated with Scope 
3. 
2.  We recommend making the following changes to the Century Agenda (CA): 
a.  Scope 1  Port Controlled Emissions 
i.     15% below 2005 levels by 2020 
a.  This is an additional short-term Century Agenda goal. 
b. Creates a short term "step" goal to measure our progress. 
ii.     50% below 2005 levels by 2030 
a. This adjusts the Port's current mid-term Century Agenda goal 
of reducing air pollutants and carbon emissions by 50% of
2005 levels by 2037. 
iii.     Carbon Neutral by 2050 OR Carbon Negative by 2050 
This is an additional long-term Century Agenda Goal of Carbon 
neutrality or carbon negative, the net effect of removing CO2 from 
the atmosphere rather than adding it. 
b.  Scope 3  Port Influenced Emissions 
i.     50% below 2007 by 2030 
a.  This is an additional mid-term Century Agenda goal. 
ii.     80% below 2007 by 2050 
a.  This is an additional long-term Century Agenda goal. 
B.  Energy Production Work Group Recommendations 
The work group recommends the Port consider environmental, safety, economic, and race
and social justice factors when evaluating projects that have energy implications for Port
operations, including in its role as a landlord. 
The work group  recognizes that existing decision making processes already include
consideration of many of the recommended criteria, but there is a lack of transparency both
within Port decision making processes and with the community. The factors considered and

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COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 4 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
the final decision to pursue or reject a potential project may not always be elevated to Port
leadership.   The  work  group  developed  the  attached  evaluation  framework  and
recommends the Port, within a timeframe recommended by the COE:
1.  Revise project and design review procedures to reflect the proposed criteria. 
2.  Include Port leadership in decisions about energy supply and projects with energy
implications. Criteria will be developed and reviewed with the Commission. 
3.  Seek the advice of clean energy experts to assist the Port in evaluating renewable
energy strategies and advanced technologies. 
4.  Establish partnerships with neighboring industrial partners and Seattle City Light to 
assess the opportunity and strategic issues for creating a microgrid near container
cargo facilities and a small scale electricity power generation center from waste
heat, large scale solar array and/or other distributed generators. 
C.  Conservation Work Group Recommendations 
1.  Scope 1 - Port Controlled emissions: The following recommendations require the
Port to reduce GHG emissions from sources within our control, even though these
emissions may be small in comparison to emissions that we influence. This includes
taking the lead in endorsing initiatives and or regulations for controlling greenhouse
gas emissions in the Aviation and Maritime industries. Implement the following
within a timeframe recommended by the COE:
a.  Evaluate the feasibility of an internal "Carbon Tax." Implementing a program
such as an internal carbon tax will be intended to reduce incentives for
employee activities (such as travel or energy use) that create carbon and
other harmful emissions and create a fund that could be used for activities
that address both carbon reduction and equity.
b. Eliminate the Port's purchase of fossil fuel vehicles unless it is demonstrated
that it is not technically feasible to purchase a zero-emission or plug-in hybrid
option or if a zero-emission or plug-in hybrid option has a higher total life
cost by more than 30%.
c.   Maintain Port habitat and ecosystems that absorb carbon where this does
not interfere with Port operations. The Port should continually look for areas
to develop more habitat and should calculate the carbon benefits. 
ii.     Scope 3  Port Influenced Emissions: The following recommendations require
the Port to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sources that the Port can
influence  through  contracting,  incentives  or  other  such  measures.  These
emissions have the potential to greatly decrease GHG emissions associated with
Port operations. 
a.  Leasing: When providing energy incentives in leases, the Port should provide
flexibility for tenants and business partners to achieve reductions in their
own way so long as solutions do not lock-in technology that precludes
further reductions. The Port should first identify specific categories of leases

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 5 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
held by the Port (not the Seaport Alliance) and propose policies around
renewal of those types of leases, so that lease renewals going forward will
include appropriate energy conservation measures. The following policies
and tools should be evaluated and proposed to the Port Commission within
the timeframe recommended by the COE:
i.  Review and recommend opportunities to invest in infrastructure that
allows tenants and business partners to reduce their GHG, specifically in
areas  where  infrastructure  could  remove  barriers  to  energy
conservation for tenants. 
ii.  Evaluate Ports ability, legal and otherwise, to impose lease charges or
other fees based upon climate impact 
b.  Aviation: Promote an education program tied to the current airport program
that  allows  users  to  purchase  carbon  offsets  and  improve  users' 
understanding  the  impact  of  aviation  on  climate.  Implement  in  the
timeframe recommended by the COE. 
c.   Transportation:   Implement   the   following   policies   in   the   timeframe
recommended by the COE: 
i.  Develop a proposal to reduce emissions for  all commercial vehicles
serving the airport. This could include a broader application of the
Environmental Key Performance Indicator standard or establishing a
policy requiring commercial vehicles serving the airport to be zeroemission
or plug-in hybrid by a specified date, 2022 is suggested. 
ii.  Review  and  recommend,  in  partnership  with  rental  car  agencies, 
requirements to be implemented in car rental facility leases, at lease
renewal, for escalating percentages of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and zeroemission
vehicles for car rental agencies. Evaluate the recommended
requirement to have 30% plug-in hybrid and 60% hybrid by a specified
date, 2020 is suggested. 
iii. Measure GHG from employee commuting as part of the Port's total GHG
emissions and recommend whether policy changes are necessary to
reduce employee commuting GHG emissions.
iv.  Review, recommend, and implement a pilot for technology to reduce
emissions from trucks serving container port operations. Work with the
community to mitigate  the harms from truck emissions in most
impacted near-Port communities.
iii.     Metering: Use metering to improve decisions about energy usage as well as to
give better visibility for energy usage by both Port and tenants.  With individual
metering and appropriate lease language, the Port could develop appropriate
tenant incentives for energy conservation and efficiency. Therefore, the work
group recommends that the Port implement two metering pilot projects within
the timeframe recommended by the COE: 
a.  Implement metering at one Port-owned facility to better understand how to

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COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 6 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
change building user behaviors. 
b.  Implement metering at one-tenant occupied facility to better understand
how to influence tenant behavior. 
D.  Equity Committee Work Group Recommendations 
1.  The work group recommends the Port establish an inter-departmental team to
support Port involvement with near-port environmental justice communities,
starting with the Duwamish Valley, and in order to coordinate with the King County
and City of Seattle inter-departmental teams, within six months of passage of this
Policy Directive. Items for review by this team should include: 
a.  Seek the advice of community-based consultants for environmental equity
policy development. These consultants should provide input to the Port on
items including: 
i.     An annual community-directed fund for ameliorating environmental
justice  impacts  in  low  income  communities  of  color,  and  labor
communities affected by Port operations. 
ii.     Development of a Port-wide Equity policy similar to that of King
County's Equity & Social Justice Office and the City of Seattle's Race
and Social Justice Initiative. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1)   Motion to Charter the Energy and Sustainability Committee 
(2)   Advisory Committee Members 
(3)   Proposed Port Energy Production Project Evaluation Criteria 
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE MEETINGS 
First committee meeting  June 14, 2016 
Provided information about the Port of Seattle's current greenhouse gas reduction goals
and what work we are doing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 
Second meeting  July 26, 2016 
King County Cities Climate Collaboration, or K4C, briefed us on the goals as developed by
11 cities within King County. 
Port staff provided an updated Port environmental scorecard for review and a briefing on
Port solar projects. 
Got Green provided a briefing on Environmental Equity principles.
Third meeting  September 13, 2016 
Focused on committee process and policy proposals by subject matter. Advisors chose
work groups based on subject matter. 
Fourth meeting  October 11, 2016 
Workgroup breakouts including Regional Alignment, Energy Production, Energy
Conservation, and Environmental Equity to begin work on potential Policy Directives. 
Fifth meeting  November 28, 2016 

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COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7b                                  Page 7 of 7 
Meeting Date: February 28, 2017 
Report outs from work groups. Next steps and schedule discussed. 
Sixth meeting  January 24, 2017 
Group presentations of proposed final policy directives.

















Template revised September 22, 2016.