The San Francisco Environment Department presented an outline of its fiscal priorities and a five‑year Strategic Delivery Plan to the Commission on the Environment on Jan. 7, detailing a $50 million request to support building and transportation electrification, small business incentives, workforce development and equity‑focused community engagement.

Charles Sheehan, Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer, and Tyrone Jun, Department Director, joined program managers in a multi‑part presentation that explained the department’s operating budget, funding sources and outstanding grant requests. Joe Salem, the department’s budget manager, said the department’s operating budget is “essentially flat,” and that a draft submission to the mayor’s office would be completed by Feb. 21 with a final proposed city budget due June 1 and Board of Supervisors adoption by July 31.

Staff distinguished between the Annual Appropriation Ordinance (AAO) — the city’s formal new funding request — and the department’s operating budget, which includes multi‑year grants recognized in the year they are spent. Salem said the AAO submission planned roughly $10.3 million in new AAO requests while the operating budget anticipated $15.5 million in recognized grant revenues; the difference reflects multi‑year grants and previously approved accept‑and‑expend actions.

The department described several budget pressures: mayoral budget instructions asking for a 15% ongoing reduction in general fund support (a departmental reduction of about $200,000), a roughly $1 billion citywide deficit, and uncertainty tied to the refuse rate‑setting process that funds much of the department’s work through the solid waste impound account. The department said it had requested an increase of $3,000,000 per year from the solid waste impound account to help cover program needs and noted that decisions in the refuse rate process, which will propose rates for Oct. 2025–Sept. 2028, could materially affect department revenues.

Program managers reviewed funded and unfunded priorities across units. Cindy Comerford, Climate Program Manager, said the department had identified roughly $50 million in line‑item requests submitted by program managers, then prioritized $50 million over five years that focuses on building and transportation electrification, small business support and workforce development, public engagement and environmental justice. Clean Transportation Program Manager Hannah Troon described priorities including deployment of EV charging that serves underserved communities, expansion of an e‑bike pilot and implementation of a medium‑ and heavy‑duty electrification blueprint. Energy staff reiterated the need to sustain grant‑funded staff and to pursue emerging technologies.

Commissioners pressed staff about the department’s funding strategy if federal or state grant flows slow. Ty Jun and other staff said multi‑year grants already awarded should be honored through their current funding cycles but cautioned that future grant availability is uncertain; staff said they would include options and overhead impacts in a formal delivery plan to be returned to the commission in February. Jun and Leo (Deputy Director) emphasized the need for clearer, stable base funding to convert temporary grant investments into sustained program capacity.

During the presentation staff announced recently awarded grants: an approximately $15.1 million federal grant for EV charging and a $400,000 second phase for a building decarbonization planning grant. Staff also said they had requested $128 million in grant opportunities overall and so far secured approximately $67 million, with several awards still pending.

The commission did not vote on funding during the meeting; staff said they will return in February with a final Strategic Delivery Plan, full budget details and proposed language for the commission’s formal action on the department’s AAO submission.