Minutes 03-21-2022 Virtual Legislative Breakfast

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6 Representative Meyer said that he has been communicating with the Governor's office on joining RGGE for a year. He said RGGE is a regional cap and trade system. He said when the General Assembly passed House Bill 951 to commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he and the Governor spoke about how joining RGGE would put some teeth into that commitment. He said the Governor has not been willing to commit the funds to join, and that it costs about $600,000 to join. He said anything the climate council can do to help would be g reat. Commissioner Fowler said the climate council had been working on LEED certification. She said it sounds like the county will qualify at some level. She said that this certification could be used as a stepping off point to examine where there are deficits in efficiencies. Commissioner Bedford said there were two areas she wanted to mention. She said one is with the Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro MPO and the new metropolitan transit plan. She said they are trying to convince the NC Department of Transportation that bike/ped and multi-modal projects should not have to be funded only as part of a road improvement. She said those projects should be able to be funded as stand-alone projects. She said that the new plan focuses on that. She said that the state could spend hundreds of millions of dollars on adding a lane to a highway, which would only improve commute times by a few minutes. She said that spending the same amount of funds on multi modal forms of transportation could create real change. Commissioner Bedford said she and Commissioner Hamilton are members of the Solid Waste Advisory Group (SWAG). She said that people have to look upstream and downstream when thinking about solid waste. She said upstream is trying to get people to waste less. She said there is a contract out for what zero waste looks like and what would the county need to get there. She said that the county is part of UNRBA and they are working on Falls Lake and the nutrient issues there. She said the county is the headwaters for three or four different water basins. She said Jordan Lake is a water provider and is in worse condition due to PFAS from the Haw River. She said the county has stricter requirements than the state for water protection buffers. She said climate change is harder to making progress on. She said that the county is pursuing electric vehicles for the county transportation department, but they are very expensive. Representative Meyer asked for any economic development updates. Chair Price said there has been recent progress. She said Morinaga is open and they had more job slots. She said Medline is about to open and is huge. She said Thermo Fisher is developing. She said ABB expanded without any incentives. She said quite a bit is happening in the western part of the county. She said Durham Tech is still a partner in many of these developments. She said part of attracting companies is making sure there is a talent pool available, and that Durham Tech is assisting with training. She said UNC is looking into training people for trades and distribution centers. Commissioner Bedford said she said there are some possible developments in Chapel Hill. She said the previous Bucee's site is under review for another development. Commissioner Greene said the proposed development at the Bucee's site qualifies under existing zoning, so the Board won't see it. Representative Meyer said that Google and Apple developments will drive a lot of growth in the Triangle. He said that a Toyota battery plant will be developed in the western Piedmont, which will spur associated development. He said that along the coast there will be a major effort to make North Carolina both the largest provider of off shore wind energy and the manufacturer of off shore wind technology and infrastructure. He said that with off shore wind energy developing off the coast, and the battery industry developing in the western Piedmont, Orange County will be right in the middle of those two industries. He said those two industries will enable other clean industries to develop here. He said the county should be thinking ahead