County Board adopts 2024 Climate Action Plan

The County’s Board of Supervisors adopted this month the 2024 Climate Action Plan (2024 CAP), a blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the unincorporated area and at County facilities to reach net zero emissions by 2045.

The document features 70 actions that reduce GHG emissions. These fea­tures also protect the public’s health and safety, supports the environment and improves the quality of life for all residents.

The 2024 CAP is a community-driven plan that includes measurable perfor­mance outcomes like timeliness and costs that can be monitored over time. The CAP will be carried out by nine County departments through programs, policies, and incentives.

The 2024 CAP was developed through a public engagement process to make sure the plan is shaped by community input and centered on environmental justice.

What’s in the 2024 CAP?

The 2024 CAP is designed to im­prove overall sustainability while meeting the state’s GHG require­ments through strategies, measures and actions organized under the fol­lowing five emissions reduction sec­tors:

Built Environment and Transporta­tion

Energy

Solid Waste

Water and Wastewater

Agriculture and Conservation

How is the 2024 CAP different from the previous one?

• It helps streamline development, including housing projects and in­crease workforce opportunities by shifting to electric-powered buildings.
• Agriculture operators in the re­gion will benefit from more incentives to increase carbon storage. • New infrastructure im­provements to roadways, bike lanes and sidewalks to help reduce GHG emissions and im­prove air quality.
• A new program to create re­newable energy that can help increase energy reliability and reduce utility bills for the unin­corporated area.
• It includes equity-based outcomes for populations most impacted by climate change. Including improvements in community health, increases in workforce and increased access to services in the unincorporat­ed area.

In January 2021, the Board of Supervisors called for a new CAP that uses updated data and modeling, prioritizes envi­ronmental justice and equity, and includes a net-zero green­house gas emissions goal.

The Board rescinded the 2018 CAP because the court took is­sue with its environmental impact report, but the County continued implementing many of its measures as part of the County’s ongoing commitment to the environment. Using 2018 CAP measures, the County has met or exceeded its GHG-reduc­tion goals. Including areas of agricultural land conservation, tree planting and permitting so­lar use on existing homes.

The County is also taking ef­forts to increase sustainability and address climate change, through the development of a Sustainable Land Use Frame­work and the Regional Decar­bonization Framework.

The 2023 Annual Report shows that in 2023, the Coun­ty’s climate action efforts:

• Reduced the GHG equiva­lent of reducing emissions from 29,304,377 gallons of gasoline.
• Permitted residential so­lar power equivalent to 17,459 homes.
• Distributed 1,197 rain bar­rels through the County’s dis­counted rain barrel program.
• Added 66 new electric ve­hicles (EVs) to the County fleet.
• Planted 5,604 trees by the Department of Parks and Rec­reation.
• Conserved 448 acres of open space through the Multiple Spe­cies Conservation Program.

While developing the 2024 CAP, staff received input and stakeholder feedback through 21 public workshops that in­cluded approximately 700 par­ticipants and over 230 meetings and in-person events. Plus, reg­ular engagement on our web­site, e-newsletter and social me­dia channels.

During the public review period for the 2024 CAP, the County’s engagement portal re­ceived over 2,000 visits since its release to the public in October 2023. To increase awareness of the release of the documents, staff hosted in-person office hours and continued to partici­pate in community meetings and events.