Title
Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan Update
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing on the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing on the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan.
Staff Contact:
Rich Hoey, P.E., Public Works Director, 360.753.8495
Susan Clark, Engineering and Planning Supervisor, Public Works Water Resources, 360.753.8321
Presenter(s):
Rich Hoey, Public Works Director
Allison Osterberg, Senior Planner, Thurston Regional Planning Council
Background and Analysis:
Regional Climate Mitigation Planning
In April 2018, Thurston County, Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) signed an Interlocal Agreement to complete Phase I of a regional Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan, with TRPC leading the effort. Phase I work resulted in the following regional greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets:
• 45% below 2015 levels by 2030
• 85% below 2015 levels by 2050
In November 2018, Olympia and the other regional jurisdictions approved a Phase II Interlocal Agreement addressing the development of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan.
Since that time, regional planning process accomplishments include:
• Steering Committee formed and 12 meetings held (Councilmembers Parshley and Cooper represent Olympia)
• Climate Advisory Workgroup formed, and six meetings held
• Public Engagement Strategy approved, and initial community outreach completed
• Completed review of the Thurston County Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• Development of 300+ potential community-wide climate actions
• Approval of climate action screening criteria by the Steering Committee
• Screening of the 300+ community-wide climate actions across five different sectors (Buildings and Energy; Transportation and Land Use; Water and Waste; Agriculture and Forestry, and Cross-cutting)
• Steering Committee narrowed the list of 300+ community-wide actions to 71 actions to be analyzed in more detail by the consultant
• Completed an emissions target analysis which shows that the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets while ambitious, are achievable
• Publication of a Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan Public Review Draft (Draft Plan) and completion of a public comment period
Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan Public Review Draft
The Draft Plan lays out a road map for continuing regional collaboration on reducing local greenhouse gas emissions. It is intended to provide Olympia and our regional partners with a suite of solid strategies that will guide next steps, not lock the jurisdictions into specific actions that may not make sense as further details are worked out.
Each action included in the Draft Plan will require additional work to understand its feasibility, cost and equity impacts as implementation is considered. As a first step in this work, the project partners have grouped each action into the following general implementation approaches:
• Legislative agenda
• Regionally coordinated
• Individual jurisdiction
• Supporting partner
At a high level, the framework for reducing local greenhouse gas emissions presented in the Draft Plan includes:
• Greening our grid
• Shifting energy sources
• Living lighter
• Storing carbon
• Building local capacity
Public Review
The Draft Plan public review period ran from September 17, 2020 through October 16, 2020 and included the following opportunities to learn about and comment on the Draft Plan:
• Online open house and feedback survey
• Two virtual community meetings
• Public comment dedicated email address
The level of feedback received included:
• 86 responses to the feedback survey with 84 percent indicating that their jurisdiction should adopt the plan
• 103 attendees in total at the two virtual community meetings
• 159 written comments received with 71 percent expressing support for either implementation of strategies or the adoption of the plan itself
A summary of the public comment received can be found on the Thurston Regional Planning Council website (link listed in attachments). Staff will provide an overview of the public feedback during its presentation.
Next Steps
The next steps in the climate mitigation planning process include:
• Steering Committee approval
• Completion of a Phase III Interlocal Agreement addressing implementation
• Individual jurisdiction review and approval of the Draft Plan and Phase III Interlocal Agreement
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
During mitigation planning outreach activities and at mitigation planning meetings, various stakeholders and community members have voiced general support for the planning process and taking action to reduce the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Options:
1. Receive the update.
2. Do not receive the update.
3. Receive the update at another item.
Financial Impact:
None at this time. Further work on the costs of implementation is planned in Phase II of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan process.
Attachments:
Draft Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan