EQB unveils final Minnesota-focused climate calculator; trainings and July 1 release set

The Environmental Quality Board on May 21 heard a final update on a new Minnesota-focused greenhouse gas climate calculator and a staff plan to release the tool publicly on July 1, 2025.

Stephanie Ajo, the EQB greenhouse gas data analyst and project manager for the calculator, told board members the tool is intended to help regulated governmental units (RGUs) answer new climate-related items on the state environmental assessment worksheet (EAW). “I am very excited to bring you the final update for the climate calculator,” Ajo said, summarizing 14 months of development, an input period and contractor work.

Ajo said the calculator covers most mandatory categories for EAW climate items, accounts for construction and operations phases, and includes direct, indirect, upstream and downstream emissions. She described the tool as adaptable: users can enter detailed project inputs or rely on defaults when some data are missing. She noted the tool also contains a qualitative module addressing climate adaptation and resiliency (EAW item 7) that lists relevant climate threats and suggested adaptation options.

The calculator team released a draft in March 2025 and ran a formal input period March 19–April 25. Ajo said the project received a mix of praise and technical comments; the most substantive criticisms asked for review or Minnesota-specific updates to emissions factors and for clarification on how the tool is intended to fit into the existing EAW process. The EQB staff and contractor ICF have made edits based on that feedback and flagged a list of future enhancements requested by users.

Key delivery milestones Ajo gave the board: the contractor’s work must be wrapped by June 15 and the contract ends June 30; the calculator and an accompanying user manual and background report are slated for public posting on the EQB website on July 1. The staff will continue informal user engagement afterward, provide technical assistance, record trainings for the EQB YouTube channel, and consider prioritized updates in future versions.

Trainings and limitations Ajo said EQB will host multiple trainings and demonstrations in the weeks after the release. Two introductory sessions were announced for participants at 10 a.m. on the day after the meeting and again on June 4, with deeper demonstration/Q&A sessions scheduled in June; recordings will be posted online. She emphasized the calculator is optional: “The climate calculator is an optional tool. No one is required to use this calculator to fill out their EAW climate items,” Ajo said.

Ajo acknowledged current limits: the calculator does not yet provide automated quantitative mitigation calculations in all cases; staff described a practical workaround (rerun scenarios with alternative inputs to compare results) but listed quantitative mitigation as a high-priority future enhancement. Staff also noted some emission categories remain out of scope in version 1 (for example, full decommissioning phases and specific road-project categories that overlap with other tools) and that the team will continue updates based on user needs.

Why it matters The calculator responds to climate items added to the EAW in December 2022 and legislative funding allocated in 2023 to help RGUs address greenhouse gas questions. EQB staff said the intent is to simplify and standardize the technical work RGUs must do to document emissions and adaptation in environmental review, while keeping the tool transparent and accompanied by documentation.

Next steps EQB staff will finalize the report, collate technical memos on emission sources, publish a user manual alongside the calculator on July 1, continue trainings through summer 2025 and assess needs for future contractor work. Staff also plans to update the EAW climate guidance after the calculator is in public use to reflect the tool as a resource but not to change the EAW questions or the discretion RGUs retain in answering them.