Commission urges Board to adopt Chapter 9 updates and backs climate action plan process

The San Francisco Commission on the Environment voted to urge the Board of Supervisors to support proposed updates to Chapter 9 of the Environment Code and heard a detailed progress report on the city's Climate Action Plan (CAP).

Cindy Comerford, climate program manager, described Chapter 9 as the legal framework that sets greenhouse-gas targets, clarifies departmental roles and requires a regularly updated climate action plan with monitoring and reporting. Staff said the city's 2019 greenhouse-gas inventory shows a roughly 41% reduction from a 1990 baseline and that the proposed ordinance establishes more ambitious long-term goals, including a sector-based target of approximately 61% reductions and a net-zero (carbon neutrality) goal by 2045. The department also incorporated a consumption-based (scope 3) inventory into modeling and proposed consumption-based reductions (an example figure discussed was 40% by 2030 for consumption-based emissions).

Rich Chen, the CAP project manager, walked commissioners through the CAP's development: data-driven strategy development focusing on buildings and transportation, technical working groups, a racial and social equity assessment tool (RCAT) that was applied to draft actions, and an extensive virtual public-engagement effort (staff reported reaching roughly 238,000 people and 5,777 active participants via workshops, open-house comments and social media). Staff said they are on track to complete the plan in mid-summer and to release it after Chapter 9 adoption by the Board of Supervisors; staff anticipated the ordinance going to the Board in late June or July with formal adoption hoped by the end of summer.

Laura Feinstein of SPUR summarized community-council outreach and workshop co-hosting, noting local partners helped tailor outreach strategies and recruit participants.

During public comment Eric Brooks urged the commission to ensure the CAP includes a local clean-energy build-out plan to accelerate jobs and local resilience. Commissioner questions focused on update cadence (staff said Chapter 9 would require the CAP be updated every five years) and dashboard frequency (staff said many indicators should and likely will be updated annually when data allow). The commission then voted to adopt a resolution urging the Board to support the proposed Chapter 9 updates; roll-call votes recorded unanimous approval by members present.

Next steps: staff will present the final CAP after Chapter 9 adoption, publish a public dashboard to track indicators and continue public engagement through late summer.