CITY OF IRVINE

DRAFT CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

CHANGING CLIMATE, CHANGING

REGULATIONS: CLIMATE-PROOFING YOUR

COMMUNITY

LEAGUE OF CA C ITIES

PLANNER’S INSTITUTE

MONTEREY, CA

MARCH 26, 2010

Uncertainty for Project Applicants

How do they account for GHG mitigation when a Climate Action Plan (CAP) is not in place?

Climate Change must be addressed in local planning efforts… But how?

California Environmental Quality Act

Review of individual project

Include General Plan Update

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CONUNDRUM

Long-standing environmental leadership (1971)

Signed U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement (2006)

Protection against litigation from Attorney General via AB 32 (2006)

Streamlined CEQA Review (2007)

Implementation of City’s adopted Energy Plan (2008)

Required for EE & Conservation Strategy (2009)

WHY DO A

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN?

6 MILESTONE PROCESS

Leadership Commitment

Inventory Emissions

Establish Target

Develop Climate Action Plan

Implement Climate Action Plan

Monitor/Evaluate Progress

IRVINE’S PROCESS

Bring ICLEI* database down from regional

to Irvine-specific:

Transportation Water Utilities

* ICLEI =International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives

SPATIAL ASSESSMENT

PROTOCOL

The CAP will be disaggregated from the community-wide scale to 50+ individual planning areas:

Planning area-specific growth scenarios

Potentially planning area-specific targets for growth and existing land use

Planning area specific monitoring and reporting

MAJOR COMPONENT OF EMISSIONS:

TRANSPORTATION

At least 40% statewide emissions come from transportation

In most So Cal cities, 50-70% of emissions come from transportation

Most cities lack agriculture or manufacturing that contributes to statewide emissions

VMT has grown and is projected to grow even more in the future

Transportation will soon be the #1 fuel user in the Country

RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN CAP

AND ENERGY

EFFICIENCY &

CONSERVATION

BLOCK GRANTS

FUNDING

Total Cost: $645K

Web-based Monitoring and Verification : Approx. $100K

Climate Action Plan Implementation: Approx $110K

Climate Action Plan: Approx $235K

GHG Protocol Development : Approx. $200K

LESSONS LEARNED

Working with Public Works -Transportation Staff

Breaking down the technical details

Importance of vetting the analysis, modeling, and the assumptions that went into the model

Applies to Everyone!

Explaining “Why are we doing a CAP to begin with?”

LESSONS LEARNED

Communication & presentation of materials is Critical!!

Within the City, external stakeholders, public education

This is unlike anything you’ve done before

Not legally mandated and no common standards

Do by trail and error

LESSONS LEARNED

A quality inventory is key –appropriate level of detail

Don’t have any standard protocols

Choose the right consultants

The goal is implementation

LESSONS LEARNED

Look at the CAP from a programmatic perspective

Make sure it is actually useful for Implementation

How are you going to fund these items?