Title
Comprehensive Plan Update - Climate Chapter
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Briefing on the draft climate element goals and policies.
Staff Contact:
Jaron Burke, Climate Program Specialist, City Manager’s Office, Climate Program, 360.753.8429
Presenter(s):
Jaron Burke, Climate Program Specialist
Pamela Braff, PhD, Director of Climate Programs
Background and Analysis:
In 2023, the state legislature updated the Growth Management Act to require local jurisdictions to include planning for climate change and resiliency in their comprehensive plans.
Goals and policies to address climate resilience and mitigation are being developed and reviewed as a part of the Climate Chapter. These goals and policies will be integrated throughout all chapters of the Comprehensive Plan, including the Transportation Chapter, after the Climate Chapter is reviewed and accepted by City Council.
Members may recall that the Comprehensive Plan is being updated on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Right now, the Climate Chapter is being drafted; the draft goals and policies are available for review, and staff will share some of them during this meeting’s presentation. This committee has already reviewed many of the goals and policies that relate to transportation when it reviewed the Transportation Chapter.
This item’s discussion is an opportunity to share your feedback on some new proposed goals and policies for the Transportation Chapter. The attached table shows the goals and policies from the Climate Chapter that relate to the Transportation Chapter. Staff has highlighted the new policies that this Committee has not yet reviewed. Those policies will go through a public process as the Climate Chapter is drafted, and a version of these new policies is likely to be integrated into the Transportation Chapter before the full Comprehensive Plan is adopted by the end of this year.
The new chapter
The new Climate Action & Resilience Chapter will address both climate mitigation, which is the reduction of greenhouse gases, and resiliency, or the ability to adapt to our changing climate. The overarching goals of this chapter are to:
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Reduce vehicle miles traveled.
• Improve climate preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.
• Maximize co-benefits and prioritize environmental justice in the development of policies/programs to achieve these goals.
Climate chapter next steps
The draft goals and policies are available for public comment on Engage Olympia through March 19th. We have attached a link if any members are interested in taking the survey.
The Climate Policy Advisory Team will review and respond to public comment from March - April. We will publish the updated draft chapter for a second round of public comment in early May. The entire Comprehensive Plan will be adopted by the end of December 2025.
Options:
None - information only
Attachments:
Climate Chapter Transportation Goals and Policies Table
Engage Olympia Page