To:Chair and Members of the North York Community Council

From:City Clerk

Subject:Environmental Task Force - Environmental Plan, "Clean, Green and Healthy - A Plan for an Environmentally Sustainable Toronto".

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Environmental Plan "Clean, Green and Healthy - A Plan for an Environmentally Sustainable Toronto" be received for information.

Background:

The Environmental Task Force at its final meeting on February 21, 2000 considered the Environmental Plan, "Clean, Green and Healthy: A Plan for an Environmentally Sustainable Toronto (the Environmental Plan)" which is the result of 24 months of work by the Environmental Task Force and many other people. About 1,300 people from all sectors of the community participated in the various ways in developing the Plan. The Environmental Plan contains a Sustainability Goal, a Vision for an environmentally sustainable future, a set of Environmental Principles to guide decision-making, and a series of recommendations aimed at improving the health of the natural environment. The Environmental Plan also contains a list of interim indicators for monitoring environmental performance, and recommendations on governance structures and processes that will help build environmental considerations into decision-making processes.

(The recommendations from the Environmental Plan are attached. The Environmental Plan is presently being printed and will be forwarded to you separately prior to the Community Council meeting.)

As part of the process to produce the Environmental Plan, the Environmental Task Force held the following two consultation processes:

(a)Community Consultation - January 31, 2000

The Environmental Task Force held a community consultation on January 31, 2000, which was a forum for members of the public to provide feedback on the Environmental Plan. Over 150 people attended. Discussion groups were held in the areas of Green Economy, Sustainable Energy, Transportation and Education and Awareness. Feedback forms were provided to the participants and their comments and suggestions were taken into consideration in preparing the final Environmental Plan.

(b) Toronto Environmental Leaders Forum - January 26, 2000

The Toronto Environmental Alliance held a forum, which brought together over sixty representatives of Toronto's environmental community. The purpose of the forum was to allow the participants to review and assess the Environmental Plan. Their written comments were also taken into consideration in preparing the final Environmental Plan.

The Toronto Inter-Departmental Environmental Team (TIE) has also reviewed the Environmental Plan and a report from the CAO's office will be submitted to the Policy and Finance Committee on March 28, 2000.

Work is presently underway by a Target Workgroup, made up of Environmental Task Force members, which will set targets regarding the implementation of the recommendations.

On March 28th, the Policy and Finance Committee will consider the Environmental Plan along with the CAO's report on the Plan. City Council will consider the Environmental Plan on April 11, 12 and 13, 2000.

The CAO and the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer have also been asked to report to the Budget Advisory Committee in April on Environmental Task Force recommendations to establish an Investment/Reserve Fund to be used to begin implementing Environmental Plan recommendations in the year 2000 and setting aside $1.882 million in this fund to be accessed by Departments on the condition that the Environmental Plan is adopted by City Council and after detailed costing and implementation plans have been completed and submitted to the appropriate Committees and Council by June 2000.

Cty Clerk

Item No. 1.1

Attachment

Frank Baldassini