Climate Action Plan
Sacramento County Climate Action Plan
Section titled “Sacramento County Climate Action Plan”Adopted November 4, 2024
Introduction to the Climate Action Plan
Section titled “Introduction to the Climate Action Plan”Sacramento County, located in the heart of California’s Central Valley, was incorporated in 1850 as one of the original 27 counties in the state. It covers approximately 990 square miles and is a pivotal hub for government, agriculture, education, information technology, and transportation, among other economic sectors. Sacramento County includes a mix of developed and agricultural lands, seven incorporated cities (i.e., Sacramento, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova), and a number of both mature and planned communities in the unincorporated areas of the county (hereinafter referred to as “unincorporated county”). Over the coming years, Sacramento County is projected to experience notable growth, but with this growth, the County of Sacramento government (hereinafter referred to as “County”) must take climate change into account and ensure that steps are being taken to build a more sustainable and resilient future.
Throughout California, local governments are developing climate action plans, which serve as strategic planning frameworks that include tailored measures and specific actions that can be taken to address the urgent need to both mitigate and adapt to climate change. Climate change presents new challenges and exacerbates existing challenges, but also serves as an opportunity for the County to invest in policies and infrastructure to address climate related issues. The broader Sacramento region is currently experiencing the effects of climate change, including extreme heat and prolonged drought and wildfire seasons, among other effects. These impacts are already negatively affecting the lives of residents across the county in a variety of ways. In response, the County has developed this Climate Action Plan (CAP) to provide a comprehensive roadmap to achieve the following objectives for the unincorporated county and the County’s government operations:
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Implement the County’s Final Environmental Impact Report for the Sacramento County General Plan of 2005-2030 (General Plan), adopted in November 2011, Mitigation Measure CC-2 to prepare and adopt a CAP that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts from implementing the General Plan.
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Include reasonably foreseeable projects and population growth in GHG emissions forecasts.
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Identify GHG emission reduction targets tailored to the unincorporated county and the County’s government operations that align with State and County climate goals.
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Establish GHG emissions reduction measures and actions to achieve the County’s GHG emissions reduction targets for communities in the unincorporated county and County operations.
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Set a framework of sufficiently adaptable long-term strategies that will consider and incorporate, as appropriate, additional GHG reduction strategies that embrace continued innovation, technological advances, and creating high-quality jobs in the county.
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Provide a mechanism for streamlining project-level GHG emissions analysis consistent with Section 15183.5 of the State California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (see Section 1.4 for more details).
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Develop climate adaptation measures to guide the County to a more resilient future.
This CAP is organized into five chapters:
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This chapter, Chapter 1, serves as the introduction to the CAP, outlines the CAP’s objectives, and provides important CAP-specific context and background information.
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Chapter 2 presents the GHG emissions inventories, forecasts, and reduction targets, along with a suite of GHG reduction measures for both the community and government operations.
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Chapter 3 serves as the basis for climate adaptation and resilience, presenting a summary of the vulnerability assessment findings along with a suite of adaptation measures.
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Chapter 4 presents the implementation, monitoring, and reporting strategy of the GHG reduction and climate adaptation measures.
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Lastly, all works cited throughout this CAP are listed in Chapter 5.