Encinitas draft Climate Action Plan sets 2030, 2045 targets; commission asks for added purchasing, tree-data and no‑idling items

Encinitas 'At its March meeting, the Encinitas Environmental Commission reviewed the public draft of the city's Climate Action Plan (CAP) update and voted to request three additions for staff consideration: lower-carbon purchasing guidance for city events and procurement, verification that the most current lidar study is being used for tree-canopy calculations, and consideration of a no-idling policy.

City sustainability analyst Ryan Lamkin presented the draft plan, calling it "the meat of the CAP" and outlining the inventory, proposed targets and the measures the city would use to try to meet them. "I'm really excited to present tonight the draft climate action plan update," Lamkin told commissioners.

The nut graf: The draft CAP uses 2016 as its community-wide baseline and proposes targets aligned with state law: a 40% reduction below the 2016 baseline by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2045. Staff said the plan relies on seven broad strategies (building decarbonization, municipal decarbonization, renewable energy, water efficiency, clean and efficient transportation, zero‑waste/organics, and carbon sequestration) and 32 discrete measures to reach those targets. Commissioners and members of the public pressed staff for additions and clarifications before the plan goes to city council.

Key details from the presentation

- Baseline and targets: The CAP adopts 2016 as the communitywide baseline (about 381,000 metric tons CO2e) and sets targets of 40% below that baseline by 2030 and 85% by 2045. Lamkin said the targets align with state requirements, citing SB 32 and AB 1279 and the California Air Resources Board's scoping plan as framing documents.

- Strategies and measures: The draft groups policy options under seven strategies and identifies 32 measures. Examples include reach-code style measures to decarbonize new buildings, a program to study and decarbonize existing buildings, municipal and private rooftop solar with battery storage, a range of transportation actions (active-transportation improvements, a flexible-fleet/shuttle program, transportation-demand-management requirements, VMT reduction studies and EV-charging deployment), restrictions on gas-powered landscape equipment, and a suite of tree-planting and canopy-protection measures.

- Implementation and CEQA: Staff said the Sustainability Division will administer the CAP and coordinate implementation across departments. The plan will be accompanied by an addendum to the 2018 CEQA negative declaration; projects that demonstrate CAP consistency could streamline greenhouse-gas analyses, staff said. An implementation-cost analysis is expected in April.

- Public process and schedule: Staff opened a public comment period March 11'April 11, outlined a final public workshop planned for April 8, and said the draft is tentatively scheduled for City Council consideration on April 16 with an anticipated adoption date around late May.

Commission questions and public remarks

Commissioners pressed staff on several specifics, including the role of the draft measures in reducing vehicle miles traveled, how electric vehicles interact with VMT accounting, the timing and limits of measures such as restricting gas-powered landscape equipment, and the tree-canopy study used to estimate sequestration benefits. Members of the public and commissioners urged inclusion of procurement and consumption-related measures; one public speaker referenced dietary choices and climate impacts earlier in the meeting.

Commission action

At the conclusion of the CAP discussion commissioners voted to ask staff to add three items for consideration in the draft and record: (1) consider lower-carbon purchasing options for city events and city procurement; (2) verify that the CAP uses the most current lidar/tree-canopy data available; and (3) consider a no-idling policy as a potential measure. The motion was seconded and approved on a voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Why it matters

Encinitas's CAP update moves the city toward targets spelled out in state law and lays out specific regulatory and nonregulatory approaches that would affect new and existing buildings, municipal operations, transportation projects, and urban trees. The commission's supplemental requests (procurement, tree-data, and idling) are procedural additions staff can incorporate into the final draft or cost/implementation analysis for council review.

Next steps

Staff will incorporate commission feedback and public comments, complete the implementation cost analysis (expected in April), hold the final public workshop on April 8, and forward the draft to the City Council for consideration.