Charleston County staff catalog climate projects, seek committee input for 2025 work plan

County staff presented a newly compiled inventory of climate and sustainability projects and asked the Resilience & Sustainability Advisory Committee to recommend one or two priority projects for a 2025 work plan.

The inventory, created by staff over the last six weeks, tracks internal and external programs that relate to the county's Climate Action Plan. "Internally within the county, there are 62 projects or programs happening that relate to the climate action plan. Externally, there's 25, and then in total, it'll be 87," Ally, a staff member involved in the inventory, told the committee.

Committee members were asked to help fill gaps, identify partners and suggest projects the county should prioritize. "My goal is to eventually be able to put it public," Ally said, describing the Airtable-based tool that lists each project, the implementing organization, and which of the Climate Action Plan's 53 strategies it addresses. Staff said the inventory is not yet public while it is being vetted.

Why it matters: the county uses the Climate Action Plan and a greenhouse gas inventory to measure progress. County staff said the inventory shows the county is already addressing 28 of the plan's 53 strategies and that 29 strategies were slated to start in 2025. "So we're not super far off from the pace that we were expected to be doing," Ally said, adding the next required greenhouse gas inventory is scheduled for 2027.

Supporting details: staff described how the inventory will help the county identify which organizations are already leading implementation so the county can take supporting roles or fill gaps. Members suggested using the inventory to brief County Council and to shape public outreach. The county also noted federal cuts to FEMA programs could affect future mitigation and recovery funding and said it is coordinating with the South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCORE) on alternative funding and on reactivating Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) partners.

Related items mentioned at the meeting included a planned amendment to local plastic bag ordinances to close loopholes between municipalities and the unincorporated county, and the county's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, which staff said will provide free energy audits to 20 homes and select eight for weatherization.

Next steps: staff said they will circulate a draft work plan proposing priority projects and asked the RSAC members to recommend which projects to emphasize. The county also plans outreach to municipal partners and to regional actors such as the COG and SCORE to align regional and county efforts.

Ending: Committee members urged broader public engagement, suggested using partners to expand the inventory, and recommended linking the inventory to workforce and transit priorities discussed later in the meeting.