Climate Action Plan
Download a copy of the Climate Action Plan.
In January 2011, the City of Santa Clarita began the process of completing a Climate Action Plan. This ambitious project measures the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated within the City and develops strategies to reduce them in the future.
What is a Climate Action Plan?
A Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a document that measures the amount of greenhouse gas emitted within a specific area, in this case the City of Santa Clarita. The document also created a set of strategies the City can use to help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the community.
What does a Climate Action Plan include?
A Climate Action Plan (CAP) generally includes four different parts:
- Inventory: This component includes an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for the entire community from all sources. Emissions come primarily from vehicles and energy use in buildings.
- Public Outreach: This component includes engaging the public to gather feedback on what types of strategies the City can employ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
- Mitigation Plan: This component of the plan will synthesize information from the inventory, public outreach component and incorporate several goals, objectives and policies from One Valley One Vision to create a greenhouse gas mitigation plan. The purpose of this plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level compliant with the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32).
- Monitoring Plan: This component of the plan will establish a monitoring program to allow the City to monitor the progress of greenhouse gas emissions reduction after the CAP has been completed.
Why is the City conducting a Climate Action Plan?
The City conducted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) as part of the One Valley One Vision (OVOV) general plan process. OVOV serves as the new general plan document for the City of Santa Clarita. The State of California requires all cities that create a new general plan document to consider its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. In order to do so, cities must complete a CAP. The CAP must achieve the emission reduction goals outlined by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). AB 32 requires that statewide greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 1990 levels by the year 2020.
Did the City hire a consultant to assist with completing the Climate Action Plan?
In December 2010, the City Council authorized a contract with ENVIRON, an international corporation specializing in greenhouse gas monitoring and mitigation strategies. ENVIRON was responsible for writing two sets of guidelines recognized by the State of California for the development of greenhouse gas emission reductions in general plan documents. The One Valley One Vision general plan process relied on these guidelines in the development of the goals, objectives and policies that address climate change and that will be used in the Climate Action Plan’s mitigation plan component.
When will the Climate Action Plan be completed?
The date the Climate Action Plan was completed was August 2012.
Where can I learn more about Climate Change?
To find out more about climate change, visit the City of Santa Clarita’s Climate Change website. This page includes frequently asked questions about climate change, interactive features to measure your carbon footprint, an online climate change resource library, and links to other websites to help keep you informed.
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
The staff contact with the City of Santa Clarita is:
David Peterson, Associate Planner