Drafter
Clerk 08/26/2010
Title
A MOTION establishing the King County council's support for eco-industrial districts and establishing King County's willingness to partner with other jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, labor and businesses to develop eco-industrial districts and sustainable communities.
Body
WHEREAS, eco-industrial districts help create sustainable communities by using waste byproducts, maximizing resources, promoting green job creation, demonstrating commitments by manufacturers to apply sustainable practices, and creating livable communities by enhancing public transit and affordable workforce housing, and adding recreational amenities, and
WHEREAS, an eco-industrial district can vary in size, from a few properties to a large industrial community, within which manufacturers located in close proximity utilize waste products from one firm as an input resource for a neighboring firm, and where workforce housing, recreation and public transit are located nearby, and
WHEREAS, the city of Seattle has undertaken a 2010 economic recovery strategy that includes developing an eco-industrial district program, among other efforts to support green industries, ensure a supportive regulatory structure for business, and support transportation, job training and education investments along with new public safety and urban development strategies, and
WHEREAS, King County manages regional utilities including transit, solid waste and wastewater treatment and could potentially coordinate and facilitate the use of these resources in partnership with other entities to help develop eco-industrial districts, and
WHEREAS, resources, otherwise thought of as waste products or byproducts of utilities management, including, but not limited to, heat from wastewater trunk lines, treated wastewater effluent, mixed municipal waste and solid waste recyclables, can be viable commodities for eco-industrial districts that manage and use a variety of resources, and
WHEREAS, King County has successfully secured over six million dollars in federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds for a wide range of sustainable projects in government facilities and residential housing, that realized energy savings and created green jobs, and if Congress renews funding for the grant program, King County is willing and able to secure additional funds from this source that could be used for projects that are part of eco-industrial districts, and
WHEREAS, King County is a recognized national leader and innovator in utility management, as well as for its successful twelve-year program to reclaim brownfields by securing over one million six-hundred thousand dollars in federal and state grants to aid cleanup ninety industrial properties throughout King County. Reclaiming such properties creates green cleanup jobs, and the resulting reclaimed properties may be redeveloped as industrial land, ideally eco-industrial parks, and
WHEREAS, in addition to its regional management of solid waste and wastewater, King County is also a leader in transit planning and urban planning, including sustainability and urban development that promotes the colocation and best practice of providing transit, housing, recreation and jobs in well-planned, transit-oriented, sustainable urban communities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The King County Council commends the city of Seattle for its leadership in support of eco-industrial parks and districts, and the council expresses its own support for and interest in partnering with the city of Seattle, other jurisdictions, non-profit organizations, labor and businesses to help develop eco-industrial parks and districts.
B. The King County council requests that the executive coordinate and make available staff resources from the executive office and the department of natural resources and parks and other county agencies as appropriate to begin working with the city of Seattle and other interested cities to develop eco-industrial districts or other facilities such as "Living Buildings" that promote the sustainable use of resources and encourage the development of green communities that foster job growth, business development and the redevelopment of urban areas in King County.
C. The council further recommends coordinating resources with other regional and local governments as the Puget Sound region develops and improves upon a collaborative vision for land conservation, shared energy resources, recreational amenities, improved transit, highway and rail access, a variety of residential opportunities and best practices by individual businesses including new eco-industrial developments
and communities so that local industries become a part of a sustainable ecological system that uses all resources productively.
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