Updates to the Climate Action Plan Update Project Schedule

09/23/21

Following the direction of its Board of Supervisors to take bold climate action that mitigates beyond state targets to net zero and below by 2035-2045, the County of San Diego is committed to crafting its Climate Action Plan (CAP) Update using the most current data available.

The use of current transportation modeling data that is consistent with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) new Regional Plan is critical to establishing a CAP that supports the attainment of regional GHG targets. The most accurate transportation/vehicle miles traveled (VMT) estimates will come from modeling services which will only be available after the SANDAG Board of Directors adopts the Final Regional Plan in December 2021.

SANDAG’s transportation modeling data is the cornerstone of the CAP’s foundation and is built into the CAP Update's new GHG baseline inventory, GHG reduction targets, and CAP measures and unlike other land use-related projects, each component of the CAP is built sequentially on the former so there is little opportunity to build project components concurrently. Based upon an estimated receipt of final data in mid-February 2022, the County is reviewing the impacts to its CAP timeline, but estimates that the new timeline will result in the project being heard by the Board in Spring of 2024.

In the meantime, staff will continue to advance the work by preparing conceptual CAP measures and vetting the concepts with the public and continue to develop and foster engagement on the required smart growth overlay option directed by the Court and for consideration by the Board.