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Item Number:        10e reso 
2                                                                             Meeting Date:     October 26, 2021
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4 
5                                            PORT OF SEATTLE 
6                                          RESOLUTION NO. 3792 
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8 
9            A RESOLUTION    of the Port of Seattle to adopt Charting the Course to Zero:
10                                 Port of Seattle's Maritime Climate and Air Action Plan. 
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12 
13           WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle (Port) has set an ambitious goal to decarbonize its maritime
14    business and Seattle's maritime industry to urgently address environmental health disparities and
15    climate change and spur others to do the same; and 
16 
17           WHEREAS, the Century Agenda states the Port will be the greenest and most energy
18    efficient port in North America by meeting all increased energy needs through conservation and
19    renewable sources, reducing air pollutants and carbon emissions, and restoring, creating, and
20    enhancing 40 additional acres of habitat in the Green/Duwamish watershed and Elliott Bay; and 
21 
22           WHEREAS, in 2008, the ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and the Vancouver-Fraser Port
23    Authority, first developed and adopted the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy (NWPCAS) to
24    serve as a common framework for voluntary clean air and climate action, investment, and
25    leadership across the three port authorities and throughout the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound airshed;
26    and 
27 
28           WHEREAS, on April 6, 2021 the Port of Seattle Commission, the Port of Tacoma
29    Commission, and Managing Members of The Northwest Seaport Alliance voted to adopt the 2020
30    NWPCAS, the second update to the original NWPCAS, which sets a new joint vision to phase out
31    emissions from seaport-related activities by 2050, supporting cleaner air for our local communities 
32    and fulfilling our shared responsibility to help limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, 
33    and called for each participating port to develop its own implementation plan; and 
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35           WHEREAS, Charting the Course to Zero: Port of Seattle's Maritime Climate and Air
36    Action Plan (MCAAP) is the Port's implementation plan to achieve the 2020 NWPCAS joint 
37    vision and the Century Agenda objective to be the greenest most energy efficient port in North
38    America; and 
39 
40           WHEREAS, further reducing and ultimately phasing out air pollutants (such as diesel
41    particulate matter)  especially in communities experiencing environmental health disparities as
42    portrayed on the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map  remains an urgent priority
43    of the Port and a central goal of the NWPCAS and MCAAP; and 
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45           WHEREAS, further reducing and ultimately phasing out climate pollution (carbon dioxide
46    and other greenhouse gas emissions) is critical to reducing climate risk to public health and

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47    economic vitality, and staving off the worst impacts of the global climate crisis, according to
48    scientific consensus; and 
49 
50           WHEREAS, to develop the NWPCAS and the MCAAP, the Port, with the Northwest
51    Seaport Alliance and Port of Tacoma, engaged a wide range of partners, including federal, state,
52    tribal and local government agencies, marine terminal operators and other tenants, cruise industry
53    groups, rail companies, labor unions, residents, community-based and non-profit organizations,
54    and members of the public and, through the NWPCAS and MCAAP, the Port commits to ongoing
55    engagement with this wide range of partners on equitable clean air and climate change action; and 
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57           WHEREAS, in December 2019, the Port Commission adopted Resolution No. 3767,
58    establishing a Duwamish Valley Community Benefits Commitment Policy Directive to guide the
59    implementation of the Duwamish Valley Community Equity Program and other Port operations
60    that impact the Duwamish Valley Community, such as climate change and air pollution; and 
61 
62           WHEREAS, the Duwamish Valley Community consists of a group of people and
63    organizations that live, work, play, study, or worship in the near-Port neighborhoods of South Park
64    and Georgetown along the Duwamish River and have been historically or are currently impacted
65    by economic, racial, and environmental injustices; and 
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67           WHEREAS, the 2013 Cumulative Health Impacts Analysis published by Just Health
68    Action and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group characterizes the
69    Duwamish   Valley   Community   as   experiencing   environmental   injustices   including
70    disproportionate exposure to air pollution, lack of greenspace, and high poverty rates contributing
71    to a life expectancy in South Park and Georgetown that is 13 years lower than wealthier
72    communities in Seattle; and 
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74           WHEREAS, after conducting over two years of public engagement on the NWPCAS and
75    the MCAAP, feedback from community and environmental perspectives called for Ports to take
76    an active role in helping to address community priorities like the root causes of asthma, inequity,
77    and poor air quality in the Duwamish Valley by leading the transition to zero-emission maritime
78    operations, including requiring and maximizing use of shore power, actively working with utilities,
79    tenants, and industry, and advocating for local, state, and federal policy, funding, and technology
80    development. ; and 
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82           WHEREAS, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global problem and port authorities
83    have played, and will continue to play, a critical, multi-faceted role in facilitating and accelerating
84    the transition to zero emissions, through a mix of direct action, collaboration with tenants and a
85    wide range of tribal, government, industry, and labor partners, and active engagement in
86    international, federal, state, and local policy development; and 
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88           WHEREAS, more than 90 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from seaport-related
89    activities are outside of Port's direct control, such that further reducing and phasing out those
90    emissions will require significant action and investment by a wide range of partners, including
91    government agencies, cruise lines, marine terminal operators, fishing, harbor vessel and rail
92    companies, port authorities and others. 
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94           WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle engaged industry to understand priorities and included
95    those priorities in the MCAAP, such as promoting use of renewable fuels in the interim and leaving 
96    the decarbonization pathways to industry to identify the fuel and technology options to achieve
97    net-zero emissions and meet operational requirements; and 
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99           WHEREAS, the Port will continue industry engagement with the development of the
100    Seattle Waterfront Clean Energy Strategy, which will provide a roadmap for port, utility, and
101    maritime  industry  investments  to  decarbonize  Seattle's  working  waterfront,  improve
102    environmental injustices in neighboring communities, and serve as an early implementation action
103    of the MCAAP; and 
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105           WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle has direct control or influence over the 6 percent of
106    greenhouse gas emissions from Port maritime administration and, in eliminating natural gas from
107    port-managed buildings, investing in electric fleet vehicles and renewable fuels, minimizing
108    employee commute trips, and reducing solid waste generation, can model emission reduction
109    efforts, pilot new technologies, and share lessons learned for its tenants, customers, and industry
110    partners; and 
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112           WHEREAS, Port of Seattle has built upon the latest available science, emissions
113    inventories, innovation and extensive public engagement to develop a comprehensive plan to phase
114    out air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from its Port administrative sources and maritime
115    activities  by  midcentury,  implement  the  NWPCAS,  and  advance  the  Century  Agenda. 
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117           NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Port of Seattle Commission as 
118    follows: 
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120       1.  The Port of Seattle hereby adopts and directs the Executive Director to implement Charting
121           the Course to Zero: Port of Seattle's Maritime Climate and Air Action Plan as the Port of
122           Seattle's implementation plan for the 2020 Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy attached as
123           Exhibit A. 
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125           ADOPTED by the Port of Seattle Commission at a duly noticed meeting thereof, held this
126    ____ day of ______ 2021, and duly authenticated in open session by the signatures of the
127    Commissioners voting in favor thereof and the seal of the commission. 





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