County reviews climate plan draft
CHICO » Butte County has released a new 2021 draft Tuesday of its Climate Action Plan, or CAP, featuring current and anticipated data of greenhouse gas emissions and a plan to limit them.
The document focuses primarily on unincorporated Butte County meaning the numbers provided account for population and data outside of incorporated towns and cities.
“The 2021 CAP is an update of the 2014 CAP, providing updated information, an expanded set of (greenhouse gas) reduction strategies, and a planning horizon out to 2050. The 2021 CAP contains an inventory of the community’s (greenhouse gas) emissions from the agriculture, transportation, energy, solid waste, off-road equipment, water and wastewater, and stationary source sectors,” reads the executive summary of the draft.
A large part of the plan’s strategies comes down to promoting conservation and encouraging modernization.
The list of summarized strategies includes promoting energy efficiency opportunities for both commercial and residential properties, working with property owners to increase building electrification, supporting efforts to grow sustainable energy and promoting water conservation.
Other listed strategies came down to transportation such as prioritizing bicycling and safe walking throughout the county. The county also hopes to reduce vehicle emissions by transitioning to clean-fuel vehicles and pushing hybrid and clean-fuel construction and landscaping equipment.
Forecasts
A chart showing the projected greenhouse gas emissions by 10-year increments listed the different sources and when emissions are expected to be from these sources going all the way to 2020.
This chart also shows known years of 2006 and 2019.
The highest creator of greenhouse gasses is agriculture, though it is seeing a steady downward trend should the forecast come to fruition. Agriculture, within the context of the document, consists of agricultural equipment, crop cultivation, livestock operations and harvesting.
In 2050, should the trends continue, agriculture is projected to produce 4 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than it did in 2006. Nonresidential energy emissions are expected to drop by 23 percent by 2050.
On the other end, emissions are expected to rise for things like solid waste, transportation and off-road equipment.
Solid waste is expected to see a 94 percent increase in emissions, followed by transportation at 56 and off-road equipment at 49 percent.
The Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility’s emissions along with those that come from collecting trash are what make up the solid waste sector.
Going forward
Once the plan is active, the county will be receiving annual updates to go over the impacts it has had since its implementation.
The Department of Development Services will be overseeing the Climate Action Plan for the county.
In order to provide staffing, funding methods and any other resources will be sought out, the report for the plan states.
Though the Department of Development Services will take the lead on the plan, staff from other departments will likely be brought in to aid with implementation.
For monitoring, the county’s permit system will need to be set up to check metrics to identify the need for new construction and retrofitting.
“As the county moves forward with updating other planning documents, such as the General Plan, the Butte County Code, area and specific plans, or other relevant plans, county staff will ensure that these documents support and are consistent with the 2021 CAP,” the plan reads.
A public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 18 at 25 County Center Drive in Oroville to further discuss the plan with members of the public.