Putting the Action Back in CAPs: Best Practices for Updating Climate Action Plans to Align With Statewide Climate Goals

June 26, 2023

A climate action plan, or CAP, is one of the most important tools available to local agencies in their efforts to combat the ever-worsening effects of global climate change. A properly crafted CAP serves as the agency’s comprehensive climate planning document, setting forth actionable measures and specific targets for reducing local greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. CAPs can also provide distinct benefits under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”): if the CAP meets certain qualifications, future development projects can “streamline” their CEQA analysis of GHG impacts by identifying specific CAP measures that apply to the project and incorporating them as mitigation.

Though local agencies have had the ability to use CAPs for CEQA streamlining since 2010, now is a great time for agencies to revisit and update their CAPs to better align with the state’s latest climate goals. In December 2022, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) issued its 2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality. The Scoping Plan includes a detailed appendix describing specific strategies that local agencies can employ in their CAPs and other planning documents to reduce GHG emissions in their communities.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to local climate planning. But the guidance set forth below—drawn from CARB’s recent recommendations and other planning and guidance documents—offers a starting point to any agency interested in updating its CAP.

Ensure Every CAP Strategy Includes a Threshold Level of Detail

The CEQA guidelines require CAPs to “[s]pecify measures or a group of measures, including performance standards, that substantial evidence demonstrates, if implemented on a project-by-project basis, would collectively achieve the specified emissions level.” Regardless of the exact measures an agency adopts, the updated CAP should provide certain minimum information about each:

the specific, final performance objective the measure should achieve;
specific, interim tracking metrics, to assess whether the measure is progressing toward the final objective;
the time frame by which the agency expects to implement the measure;
as relevant, the estimated cost of implementing the measure, its funding source(s), and whether the funding has been secured;
whether implementing the measure requires partnering with another agency and, if so, the nature of the agency’s involvement;
the categories of emissions sources to which the measure applies; and
the total GHG emissions reductions the agency expects to achieve by implementing the measure, including an explanation of how the agency calculated that value and what assumptions it relied upon.

Align Local Strategies with Statewide Priorities

A CAP update also provides local agencies an opportunity to reassess the types of measures the CAP should prioritize. Agencies need not address this question on a blank slate. CARB’s 2022 Scoping Plan identifies three “priority areas” that all CAPs should focus on. These priority areas, discussed below, represent the most significant sources of GHG emissions over which local governments have authority and influence.

Electrifying the Transportation Sector

CARB suggests that CAPs incorporate strategies to convert local government fleets to zero-emission vehicles (“ZEVs”); provide electrical vehicle charging at public facilities; and promote a ZEV-friendly “ecosystem,” such as by streamlining permitting requirements for ZEV charging infrastructure, developing ZEV readiness studies, and granting preferential parking to ZEVs. Local entities might also consider strategies that go beyond CARB’s suggestions, such as designating certain areas within their jurisdictions as no-car or ZEV-only zones. As a general matter, agencies should tailor their strategies and performance objectives to account for the more rapid deployment of ZEVs that will occur under CARB’s recent Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Fleets regulations.

Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (“VMT”)

The wide array of strategies that CARB has recommended for reducing VMT includes revising parking standards, amending zoning codes to enable more walkable and transit-oriented development, and increasing the availability and affordability of public transportation. CARB has also suggested that local agencies adopt specific performance objectives: a 25% reduction in VMT per capita below 2019 levels by 2030, and a 30% reduction below 2019 levels by 2045.

Decarbonizing the Building Sector

CARB recommends adopting strategies to incentivize renewable energy production and encourage the use of energy efficient equipment. However, note that the 2022 Scoping Plan predates the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, 65 F.4th 1045 (9th Cir. 2023). The holding in that case calls into question the legality of some of the Scoping Plan’s other, more aggressive strategies and performance objectives regarding building electrification. Agencies interested in more robust electrification measures should monitor that ongoing litigation closely and might consider deferring consideration of these measures to future CAP updates.

Standardize the Process for Reviewing and Revising the CAP

CAPs are not static documents. Agencies must be able to modify their climate planning to account for changes in state or federal climate policy, new data about the effectiveness of their own existing GHG reduction efforts, and shifting demographic or economic trends within their jurisdictions. Accordingly, when updating a CAP, an agency should account for how—and how frequently—it will conduct future CAP updates.

Agencies should consider formalizing a three- or four-year CAP update cycle. This timeline strikes an effective balance between allowing CAP policies to mature, facilitating prompt responses to changing conditions, and conserving the agency’s finite resources. As part of each periodic review, the agency should, at minimum: (1) list what actions it took over the previous review period and quantify the emissions reductions associated with each; (2) analyze whether those reductions were less than projected during the previous review and, if so, why; and (3) identify actions to be taken during the next review period and project their expected emissions reductions. The agency should invite public comment during these interim reviews.