Clark County planning commission reviews draft climate element, advisory groups' recommendations

Clark County Planning Commission co-chair Jack Caroon opened a May 1 work session that focused on the county—s draft climate element and related countywide planning policies, a chapter required under state legislation that the county must adopt by Dec. 31, 2025.

Jenna Kaye, Community Planning, summarized the statute and the county—s work so far: "This bill was passed into law in 2023, and Clark County is in the first wave of adopters of this legislation," she told commissioners, emphasizing the element must address both resilience and greenhouse gas emissions reduction and follow guidance from the state Department of Commerce.

The county must create a new climate chapter for the unincorporated area that includes a resilience subelement and a greenhouse-gas reduction subelement. Kaye said the resilience work addresses seven climate-related hazards the county has planned for: extreme heat, drought, wildfires, wildfire smoke, extreme precipitation, flooding and landslides. For greenhouse gases the county must identify 20-year actions to reduce emissions and vehicle miles traveled per person while avoiding increases of emissions elsewhere in the state.

Why it matters: the Growth Management Act now includes a climate goal and House Bill 1181 (2023) requires jurisdictions over the specified size to adopt a climate element consistent with Commerce—s guidance. The county must also set interim five-year targets and align with the statewide goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (RCW 78.4502 was cited during the presentation) and report progress every five years to the Department of…