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Regular-General Government # 38.
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| Board of Supervisors |
County Administrator |
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| Subject |
| Receive update on climate change policy and consider approval of climate emergency resolution. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu/Robledo) |
| Recommended Action |
| Receive update on climate change policy and consider approval of climate emergency resolution. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
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Sustainable Environment |
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| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
On March 10, 2020 community advocates, known as the Yolo Climate Coalition, presented a climate emergency resolution for the Board’s consideration. At this meeting the Board directed staff to work with the community advocates to draft a policy statement that would build upon the sense of urgency within the climate emergency resolution presented to the Board, and do so in a way that aligns with and supports the work in progress on the Yolo County Sustainability Plan.
Over the past few months, staff has worked with the Yolo Climate Coalition to streamline the language in the resolution. The resulting resolution is provided as Attachment A. This resolution urges the County to adopt the following measures:
- Create a working advisory body to develop and implement the Sustainability Plan;
- Include Sustainability, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and co-pollutant carbon-footprint and ecological impact statements for Board of Supervisor and Yolo County Commission agenda items; and
- Transition the County to a carbon-negative footprint by 2030.
These measures fall under the scope of the County’s Sustainable Environment goal and Climate Action and Resilience outcome, but would require a change to County policy and require Board action as implementation of some of the proposed measures will require funding that is not currently identified in the County budget. In addition, there is no existing policy for transitioning to a carbon negative County, nor including impact statements on agenda items, the Board will need to establish new goals and policies to implement these measures.
As conversations with the Coalition continue, the County is moving forward with work on its Sustainability Plan. Staff, along with consultants, are currently in the public engagement phase conducting workshops and interviews with organizations and the public. The Sustainability Plan is anticipated to be completed by the end of December 2020 and will provide actions that the County can implement within the County organization, as well as within the unincorporated communities. While the cities have their own set of policies that guide their environmental work, it is possible that the recommended actions in the final Sustainability Plan will include opportunities for collaboration with the cities.
The Sustainability Plan will identify gaps and opportunities for the County organization and unincorporated communities to become more sustainable in their use of resources in ways that are not captured by the Climate Action plan. The Climate Action Plan identifies actions for reducing GHG’s, and it’s anticipated the Sustainability Plan will be a more comprehensive plan that will identify other manners of taking environmental action, such as increasing electric vehicle charging stations, planting more trees, supporting locally grown agriculture and encouraging educational opportunities that promote a widespread understanding of the importance of sustainability. The Sustainability Plan does not call for an advisory group; approval of the resolution and the resulting change in policy would potentially alter this work and require additional funding for the consultant working on the plan. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| Yolo Climate Coalition |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
| Approval of the resolution could require additional funding to implement proposed measures. |
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