"Thanks to all of the individuals and organizations that supported my campaign for Travis County Commissioner. Your support was a great source of inspiration and motivation. Rest assured that I will continue to be active in helping to address our community's challenges. "

Primary Elections
Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Contribute

Volunteer

Supporters

Follow Raul
 

Issues

Policy Statement on Sustainability — Zero Waste

(Austin)- Travis County faces a growing number of challenges that require decisive action on the part of the Commissioners Court. Environmental sustainability represents a critical challenge for the County, particularly in the area of solid waste disposal and reduction.

Travis County has struggled with the issue of landfill capacity for many years. Travis County must take a strong stand against non-sustainable waste disposal practices and move in the direction of aggressively promoting waste reduction.

In November of 2007, the Commissioners Court had a chance to move in the direction of promoting a more sustainable policy with regard to waste disposal when it considered the expansion proposal for the BFI landfill.  The Commissioners Court decided against opposing the expansion application at TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality).  Commissioner Margaret Gomez was the swing vote and could have voted to halt the expansion and did not.  Furthermore, the Commissioners Court had a chance to reduce the length of the agreement to eight years.  Again on a split vote, the reduction to the length of the contract was defeated thanks to Commissioner Gomez who again as the swing vote sided with the landfill operators. 

Instead of supporting the expansion of landfills that pose adverse effects to surrounding neighborhoods and natural resources, Travis County should place a greater emphasis reducing our community's need for additional landfill capacity  Travis County has to date played a very limited role in helping our community meet its 2040 Zero Waste Goal. The County must take this opportunity to show that it can lead in this crucial policy area that affects all residents of Travis County.

I am committed to facing these environmental challenges by bringing leadership and new direction to the Travis County Commissioners Court.  Specifically, I will work to achieve the following goals: 

(1) have Travis County enter into an inter-local with the City of Austin to partner on zero waste so that this agreement may serve as a model for other counties in the region who use landfill(s) in Travis County

(2) reach out to residents/communities of rural areas of the county to increase participation in waste reduction

(3) identify sites in the county that can serve as Eco-Recovery Parks

(4) establish a joint Travis County/City of Austin Solid Waste Advisory Committee (or Zero Waste Advisory Committee) by making the City's Solid Waste Advisory Commission a joint advisory committee; and

(5) create job opportunities via efforts to achieve zero waste since processing the millions of tons of Travis County's waste per and diverting tons of recyclables and reusables from landfills could create an estimated 1800 jobs

 I look forward to working towards these goals with the Travis County Commissioners Court and community stakeholders.