Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist
The recent public release of the draft regional Humboldt Climate Action Plan (CAP) offers the community an important opportunity to contribute their opinions on how Humboldt’s local government should be planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions regionally and strategizing for a cleaner future. To better understand what this plan means and how the public can become involved, here is a breakdown of what the CAP is and the process it will go through in the next year to potentially be adopted by the governing entities of Humboldt.
What is the Humboldt CAP?
According to Michael Richardson, Supervising Planner for the county, the CAP is “an attempt by the county and all of the cities to describe how we intend to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions into the future to comply with State requirements”. California has taken a “carrot” approach in their effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), meaning that they have chosen to offer a reward — a streamlined pathway when it comes to the environmental review of projects — instead of a punishment for local governments that create a CAP that meets State targets. The current draft plan identifies six specific goals to reduce GHG emissions locally, which are further broken down to introduce the various strategies, objectives, and implementation measures that will be used to ensure success.
Who was part of its creation?
A few years ago, the County and the cities came together and decided to adopt a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the roles and the responsibilities of the various governing entities in the creation of a CAP. Since then, staff from the County of Humboldt, Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), and Environmental Indicator Accounting Services (EIAS) in consultation with city staff from Arcata, Eureka, Blue Lake, Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell and Trinidad, and stakeholders have been researching other rural CAPs to develop the measures and recommendations outlined in the draft plan. According to Richardson, there have also been a number of public meetings designed to engage the community and get their opinions about what should be included, although there hasn’t yet been the comprehensive public engagement that he would desire.
What is the timeline of the CAP?
Throughout the months of May and June, the draft plan was brought to the Board of Supervisors and the various city councils for a high level review to make sure that the CAP met the basic framework for what is going to be evaluated in the environmental review process. After that is completed, a notice of preparation for the environmental impact report (EIR) will be published, which offers a 45 day window for the public to weigh in on what environmental impacts should be discussed in the EIR. The environmental review process typically takes about a year to complete, so around August of 2023, the environmental document will be certified and the CAP has the potential to be adopted.
How will it be approved, implemented, and enforced?
The plan that will eventually be up for adoption is going to be greatly influenced by the environmental review process that is about to take place. The environmental review process includes the creation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which contains descriptions of various alternative plans to the current draft CAP. An EIR is a document designed to analyze a project’s potential impact on the environment, in addition to identifying various mitigation measures and alternatives. State law requires the inclusion of both a “no project alternative” (an evaluation of what the environmental impact would be if nothing was done and the status quo was preserved) and an “environmentally superior alternative” (an evaluation of the plan that will have the least impact on the environment) in the EIR. Although decision makers have to consider the environmental document as a whole, they don’t have to select the environmentally superior project, just as they don’t have to select the no project alternative. Because the CAP is a regional plan, the County Board of Supervisors and the various jurisdictions will vote on it separately. They have the ability to approve or deny the whole plan or approve only certain measures. If the plan is approved, what typically happens is that the various jurisdictions pool their resources to hire a professional planner to seek funding and monitor the implementation of the CAP. Richardson emphasized that there was a range of options that may be considered at that phase, and it is still uncertain what exactly will happen.
What is the public input process?
The environmental review process will generate a lot of discussion about what measures are a good fit and what could be improved, which is why robust public engagement is necessary. Richardson suggests that now is a good time for interested citizens to reach out and comment. During the 45 day Notice of Preparation, comments about what should be included in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be accepted. After that process, there will be opportunities for public comment on the draft EIR, which will be addressed in the final EIR. “I think we’re positioning ourselves to be very open and expansive in our public engagement in the review of the alternatives and in the development of the alternatives,” said Richardson. “So that’s where the public will have opportunities to kind of weigh in on what they think of the measures that are proposed in the draft plan and what they think alternatives would look like or should look like.”
A coalition of local environmental groups including the NEC, EPIC, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP), 350 Humboldt and the Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility (RCCER) submitted joint comments on the draft CAP and will be involved in the environmental review process to push for a strong, implementable plan. As the comments state, “As organizations whose missions include the preservation and protection of our environment, we believe that quick, coordinated action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions locally is imperative to combat the effects of climate change and that local governments have a responsibility to adopt and implement policies to ensure this action. Although we support the concrete actions described in the draft CAP, we feel there are ways in which it can be strengthened, not only with more concrete actions, but also with a strong implementation plan which includes dedicated staffing.”
To stay informed about what the NEC is doing in regards to the CAP, sign up for the NEC’s email list at yournec.org. To learn more about the Humboldt CAP, go to humboldtgov.org/2464/Climate-Action-Plan, or contact Michael Richardson at mrichardson@co.humboldt.ca.us for email updates.