Commerce publishes intermediate climate guidance
Commerce has released intermediate climate planning guidance to assist local governments in developing a climate element, as required by new state law (HB 1181 (2023)). A city or county may integrate climate mitigation and resilience goals and policies into a single element of the comprehensive plan or within several elements such as housing, transportation, and land use.
The intermediate guidance ? which updates early planning guidance Commerce published in June ? is available online in two formats:
The new climate element includes two sub-elements:
- A greenhouse gas emissions reduction sub-element that is mandatory for 11 of the state?s largest and fastest-growing counties and their cities (only those with over 6,000 population) and requires mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled.
- A resilience sub-element that is mandatory for all jurisdictions planning fully under the Growth Management Act. A natural hazard mitigation plan in substantial conformance with the guidance could be adopted, by reference, to satisfy the requirements.
Commerce is awarding approximately $25 million in grants to jurisdictions this biennium to support the development of climate elements or subsequent implementation actions. All 237 fully planning jurisdictions are eligible, with priority this fiscal year going to communities with 2025 and 2026 periodic updates. There is intent to ensure state funding is available within each biennium of the current periodic update cycle, which runs from 2023 to 2029. Award letters were sent in the fall of 2023 to all 237 eligible jurisdictions, which are based on the following formula:
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Fully Planning Counties:?$300,000 ? $800,000 based on population
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Fully Planning Cities:?$100,000 ? $700,000 based on population
Stay tuned for additional funding to assist community-based organizations to participate in the periodic update process in early 2024.
For more information:?
Visit Commerce?s Climate Program webpage, or contact the Climate Program.
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