1                                     ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY MOTION 
2                                                       OF THE 
3                                         PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 
4 
5                                                     ADOPTED 
6                                              DECEMBER 19, 2017 
7 
8                                                         PREAMBLE 
9 
10    This motion furthers the recommendation of the Port's Energy and Sustainability Committee, 
11    unanimously chartered by motion on January 26, 2016. 
12 
13    First, staff is instructed to develop an evaluation framework, the Sustainability Evaluation 
14    Framework, (framework) which will inform Commission decision-making to advance the Port's 
15    energy and sustainability initiatives by transparently documenting environmental and societal 
16    considerations associated with Commission actions. 
17 
18    Second, staff will select up to four pilot projects for approval by the Commission, to be used to 
19    validate the key environmental and societal components that will constitute the framework. 
20 
21    Third, staff is instructed to explore a method of valuing and internalizing the external costs of 
22    carbon. 
23 
24    Fourth, Scope 2 carbon reduction goals are added to the Century Agenda, supplementing the 
25    previous addition of Scope 1 and Scope 3 goals, passed unanimously on April 11, 2017. 
26 
27    Fifth, to implement the above-mentioned actions and more broadly advance the Port's energy 
28    and sustainability goals, the Interim Executive Director will include adequate resources in the 
29    2018 budget to to expand the Maritime program's focus from primarily regulatory compliance 
30    to include environmental sustainability and to support Aviation Facilities and Infrastructure to 
31    meet the new Century Agenda goals. 
32 
33    Sixth, Port staff will coordinate with the Northwest Seaport Alliance, as appropriate. 
34 
35                                              TEXT OF THE MOTION 
36 
37    Moved, that the Port of Seattle shall take the following actions: 
38 
39        1. Develop a Port Sustainability Evaluation Framework to assist the Port in meeting its 
40            greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability goals. 
41 
42        2. Select up to four pilot projects, divided between the airport and maritime, beginning 
43            with a solar project on Pier 69, to test and validate the framework and determine how 
44            to incorporate the following environmental and societal components into the 

Energy and Sustainability Motion Adopted December 19, 2017                                        Page 1 of 5

45            framework to be used to more fully inform the Commission of project proposals 
46            including: 
47 
48               a. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 
49               b. Increase energy resilience 
50               c. Protect public health and the environment 
51               d. Support local economic development 
52               e. Advance racial and social equity 
53               f.   Leverage partnerships 
54               g.  Advance innovation 
55 
56        3. Evaluate and recommend methods for valuing and internalizing the external costs of 
57            carbon port-wide. 
58 
59        4. Adequately resource sustainability efforts to meet the recently amended Century 
60            Agenda greenhouse gas emission goals and to implement the Energy and Sustainability 
61            Committee recommendations. 
62 
63        5.  Amend  the  Century  Agenda  to  add  Scope 2 goals.    With the amendment, the 
64            greenhouse gas emission reduction goals will be as follows: 
65 
66               a. Scope 1 emissions, which are direct greenhouse gas emissions from Port owned 
67                   or controlled sources, shall be: 
68 
69                        i. 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. 1 
70                       ii. 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. 2 
71                      iii. Carbon Neutral by 2050 OR Carbon Negative by 2050. 3 
72 
75 
76               b. Scope 2 emissions, which are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from 
77                   consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam. The new Port-wide goals 
78                   for Scope 2 shall be: 
79 
80                        i. 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. 
81                       ii. 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. 
82                      iii. Carbon Neutral by 2050 OR Carbon Negative by 2050. 
83 
84               c. Scope 3 emissions, which are greenhouse gas emissions over which the Port has 
85                   influence, not direct control. The new Port-wide goals for Scope 3 shall be: 
86 
87                        i. 50 percent below 2007 levels by 2030. 
88                       ii. 80 percent below 2007 levels by 2050. 
1
This advances the initial Century Agenda goal by 17 years. 
2
This advances the initial Century Agenda goal by 7 years. 
3
This creates a new long-term stretch goal. 
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89        6. Work with the Northwest Seaport Alliance through the Port of Seattle's Environment 
90            and Sustainability Center of Expertise (COE) to advance mutually shared goals, 
91            whenever practicable. 
92 
93        7. The COE is directed to present the four proposed pilot projects to the Commission 
94            within 90 days of passage of the 2018 budget, to include a proposed timeline for 
95            completion of the pilot projects. 
96 
97        8. The COE will meet with key stakeholders across the Port including the Project 
98            Management Group (PMG), Engineering, Facilities and Infrastructure, lease teams and 
99            other teams as necessary to implement and review the pilot projects. The pilot project 
100           results will be presented to Commission, with a recommended Policy Directive. 
101 
102        9. The COE will report progress twice yearly on the Century Agenda greenhouse gas 
103           emission reduction goals and will maintain a public-facing environmental scorecard 
104           reflecting that progress. 
105 
106                                  STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION 
107 
108    The Port of Seattle Commission unanimously chartered the Energy and Sustainability 
109    Committee by motion on January 26, 2016. The charter tasked the committee to develop and 
110    propose policy directives to help guide the development of policies to support the Port of 
111    Seattle's greenhouse gas emission reduction effort, with a focus on energy efficiency and 
112    alternative energy generation. Commissioners Felleman and Gregoire were named as Co-Chairs 
113    of the committee. This motion is a culmination of those efforts. 
114 
115    The committee established four subcommittees comprised of a broad range of stakeholders to 
116    assist in developing the recommendations included in this motion, and embedded in the 
117    descriptions of the new FTEs in attachment B. The first recommendation of the committee was 
118    unanimously passed by the Commission in a motion on April 11, 2017, amending the Century 
119    Agenda to reflect the Commission's increased commitment to reducing greenhouse gas 
120    emissions. The 2017 budget also created a one-million dollar fund to support the 
121    recommendations of the committee, including further greenhouse gas reductions, leveraging 
122    matching funds and collaborating with neighboring jurisdictions. 
123 
124    Sustainability Evaluation Framework 
125 
126    The committee has reviewed and recommends a pilot program based on Attachment A - the 
127    Port Sustainability Evaluation Framework, to assist the Port of Seattle in achieving two primary 
128    goals. The goal of the framework is to advance energy and sustainability initiatives that will 
129    reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the resilience of its energy systems.   The 
130    framework will include any current evaluation criteria; for example, return on investment or 
131    total cost of ownership. 
132 

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133    A clear Sustainability Evaluation Framework will increase transparency of the Commission 
134    decision-making process. The committee also recognizes that the Port's existing decision- 
135    making processes include consideration of environmental and social criteria, but the framework 
136    is intended to increase transparency both within Port decision-making processes and with the 
137    community. In the past, the factors considered and the final decision to pursue or reject a 
138    potential project may not always be elevated to the Port Commission. With this motion, these 
139    factors will be evaluated and presented to Commission. 
140 
141    Valuing and internalizing the external costs of carbon 
142 
143    This item instructs staff to explore a method of creating internal financial incentives for carbon 
144    reduction, such as determining or calculating an internal cost of carbon, for Port programs and 
145    departments. This could be a tool to reduce Port scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions. 
146 
147    Port-wide Sustainability Effort 
148 
149    Currently, the Port has a skilled environmental team focused on compliance with some 
150    dedicated sustainability expertise at the airport. The Interim Executive Director has included 
151    resources in the 2018 budget to support the sustainability activities developed by the 
152    committee and staff per the April 11, 2017, "Motion Amending the Port of Seattle Century 
153    Agenda  Greenhouse  Gas  Reduction  Goals"  that  was  unanimously  supported  by  the 
154    Commission. That motion instructed the Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise 
155    (COE) to "prepare an assessment of the actions, resources, and timelines necessary to develop 
156    and implement policy directives for review by the Commission, informed by the committee 
157    work groups." In response, the COE delivered the "Energy and Sustainability Policy Directive 
158    Resource Assessment" to the Commission on July 11, 2017, see Attachment B. 
159 
160    In coordination with the committee, the Interim Executive Director reviewed the resource 
161    assessment and will embed the recommended sustainability activities as described in 
162    Attachment C  Sustainability Resource Allocation Recommendation. 
163 
164    Scope 2 Goals 
165 
166    The addition of Scope 2 emissions was recommended by advisors to the Energy and 
167    Sustainability Committee and is a category of emissions that the Port has been working hard to 
168    reduce, including through green power purchases from Puget Sound Energy's Green Direct. 
169    Consistent with the Scope 1 and 3 goals added on April 11, the Scope 2 goal is defined by the 
170    Greenhouse Gas Protocols as developed by the World Resources Institute and the World 
171    Business Council on Sustainable Development: 
172 
173           Scope 1 are also referred to as Direct greenhouse gas emissions, and are defined as 
174           'emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the organization,' 
175 

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176           Scope 2 are also referred to as Energy Indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and are 
177           defined as 'emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, or other 
178           sources of energy (e.g., chilled water) generated upstream from the organization.' 
179 
180           Scope 3 are also referred to as Other Indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and are 
181           defined as 'emissions that are a consequence of the operations of an organization, but 
182           are not directly owned or controlled by the organization.' 

















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