Title
Healthy Urban Environments Initiative Grant (Ordinance S-46384)
Description
Request retroactive approval for the City Manager, or his designee, for the City of Phoenix Office of Environmental Programs to submit a grant application to Healthy Urban Environments for a $50,000 grant for the City of Phoenix Telecommute Program and, if awarded, to execute all contracts and Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) necessary to accept and disburse the grant funds. Further request authorization for the City Treasurer to accept, and for the City Controller to disburse grant funds in accordance with the terms of the aforementioned grant and agreement.
Report
Summary
Healthy Urban Environments (HUE) is a solutions-focused research, policy, and technology incubator at Arizona State University. HUE’s goal is to rapidly develop, test, and deploy heat mitigation and air quality improvement strategies and technologies. In collaboration with practitioners and community members, HUE seeks to create healthier urban environments for communities across Maricopa County.
The grant would provide $50,000 in funding for a study that quantifies the benefits of a telecommuting program for eligible employees. Potential benefits include: reduced air pollution, energy consumption, and tailpipe emissions from employee commutes; increased employee recruitment, retention, and productivity; improved morale and quality of work.
The Office of Environmental Programs (OEP), the Human Resources (HR) Department and researchers at Arizona State University will collaborate on this study. Additional partners may join as well. The OEP will serve as primary point of contact for the grant. The study will include evaluation of the following: determination of the minimum telecommuting days per week/month for benefits, best practices, total emission reductions; value to talent recruitment and retention; and Maricopa County Trip Reduction program impacts. The data collected will inform a HR policy that can be developed to determine eligibility, process and approvals, etc.
A Memorandum of Agreement will be the vehicle used to detail the roles, responsibilities, authority, and details of disbursement of the grant funds. The grant application deadline was Feb. 14, 2020. Project funding will be released beginning April 1, 2020. If retroactive authorization to apply is not granted, the application will be withdrawn.
Contract Term
The term is for up to three years.
Financial Impact
No match or General Fund monies are required for this grant.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Karen Peters and the Office of Environmental Programs.