Climate Resiliency Plan

You can get involved with this plan in multiple ways!

• If you want to learn more about climate action and resiliency, you can find education and engagement materials on the "Educational Resources" tab above. 

• If you would like to have your voice heard in the Climate Resiliency Plan, stay up to date on upcoming virtual community workshops and online surveys you can find them on the "Meeting Agendas and Recordings"  and "Climate Action Event Calendar" tabs.

• If you would like to volunteer your time to be an ambassador of the Climate Resiliency Plan, sign up to be a part of our Community Climate Volunteer Group by emailing ced@cityofpa.us. 

Climate Resiliency Planning Effort with Consultant Cascadia Consulting, Inc.

In February of 2020 City Council directed staff to pursue a consultant to complete the City’s climate resiliency planning effort and in November of 2020 City Council approved the selection of Cascadia Consulting, Inc. to complete four tasks: (1) Kick-Off Meeting & Project Management, (2) Public Outreach & Participation Plan, (3) Community & Municipal Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and (4) Climate Resiliency Plan.

A project kick-off meeting (See Appendix C) took place in January of 2021 with City Staff, City Council Climate Action Subcommittee members, Planning Commission CAPG members, a volunteer member of the CAPG, and the Clallam County Internal Climate Taskforce Leader.

A Greenhouse Gas Inventory (See Appendix B) and Public Outreach Plan (See Appendix D) were adopted in coordination with city staff, Planning Commission, the Council Climate Action Subcommittee, and CAPG volunteer input. Staff also led the Planning Commission in a Climate Action SWOT analysis of each Comprehensive Plan element (See Appendix E). These initial planning efforts helped to guide the creation of the Climate Resiliency Plan. 

Two virtual community workshops took place at integral steps in the plan’s development. The first, on November 17^th workshop focused on the goals and priorities of the plan (See Appendix F). The second workshop, held on March 16^th focused on the Plan’s strategies, actions, and multicriteria analysis (See Appendix G). Each step was initiated by staff and the consultant and was reviewed by the CAPG volunteers, Planning Commission, and Council Climate Action Subcommittee. Each of these processes informed the next step and engagement opportunities and the collective result of all aforementioned individual efforts is the Draft Climate Resiliency Plan that is provided as Appendix A of this staff report.

Appendix B – Greenhouse Gas Inventory Council Memo
Appendix C – Kick Off Meeting Notes
Appendix D – Public Outreach Plan
Appendix E – Planning Commission Comprehensive Plan SWOT Analysis
Appendix F – November 19 Workshop Results
Appendix G – March 16 Workshop Results

PROPOSED PLAN ELEMENTS

The plan is built to mirror the planning and public engagement process that was detailed in the executive summary. It introduces the purpose and background of the plan, details the process and results of the greenhouse gas inventory, describes the goals strategies and actions, and outlines the planned next steps for an implementation process that is scheduled to begin in June 2022.

Greenhouse Gas Study

The greenhouse gas study is broken into both municipal government and community-wide inventories and categorizes emissions into several sectors, including:

Municipal Government Emissions
Buildings & Facilities
Streetlights & Traffic Signals
Vehicle Fleet
Solid Waste Facilities
Water & Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Community Emissions
Commercial Energy
Industrial Energy
Process & Fugitive Emissions
Residential Energy
Solid Waste
Transportation 
Upstream Impacts of Activities
Water & Wastewater

Climate Resiliency Plan

The Resiliency Plan itself is broken down into five sectors. The sectors include:
Community Health and Wellbeing;
Ecosystem Health;
Transportation;
Buildings and Energy; and
Consumption and Waste

Each sector includes goals that focus on the broad interest of the sector, city progress, and community-wide progress. The first public workshop served to direct what goals should be included and what goals didn’t fit Port Angeles’ unique circumstances. Two strategies defining the success of the plan are included in each sector and actions are provided that define how that success will be achieved. In all, 70 actions are included in the plan, 40 of which went through a multicriteria analysis (MCA) to evaluate the actions relative performance based upon impact, equity, affordability, feasibility, community support, and co-benefits.

The MCA process is new to the City’s comprehensive planning efforts. The process is designed to assess a representative set of priority actions as well as actions that may be controversial or need additional refinement. It is very important to note that this means that some of the most promising actions were intentionally excluded from the MCA, due of a high confidence each would be included in the Plan. Conversely, less promising actions (e.g., less impactful, more controversial) were included in the MCA, to gather more data on whether they were appropriate for Port Angeles to pursue. Whether or not an action was evaluated with the MCA is not an indicator of its overall level of priority, impact, or importance—all actions in the Plan are recommended for implementation. 

Finally, indicators are provided that serve to measure the relative success various strategies and actions developed during the outreach process achieve in meeting the goals within that element. The indicators provide a metric for the relative success of the Plan’s strategies and actions that serve to improve each sector and, as an outcome, quality of life in the City of Port Angeles.

Climate Resiliency Plan Request for Proposal

In response to Council direction at the February 18, 2020 meeting, City Staff published an RFP on July 23^rd in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, Peninsula Daily News, the American Planning Association RFP webpage, and on the City’s Newsflash and Bids and RFP’s pages that included five tasks for the potential proposal:

1.  Project Management 
2. Public Outreach and Participation Plan
3. Community and Municipal Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Develop a Greenhouse Gas 
4. FEWsion Supply Chain Inventory and Mapping 
5. Climate Resiliency Plan

At the August 7, 2020 deadline, two consulting firms had submitted proposals. The Planning Division formed a review and selection committee comprised of a Planning staff member, a Public Works and Utilities staff member, a Planning Commissioner, and a representative of the community’s climate action volunteer group. The selection committee evaluated the proposals using a qualitative scale and determined that both responding firms should be invited to a virtual interview. After interviews, the committee decided unanimously that Cascadia Consulting Group should be awarded the contract. The firm’s references were favorable, and the project manager was notified of the committee decision to award the contract on October 16^th. Planning staff drafted a statement of work with four tasks:

Task 1 – Kick-Off Meeting & Project Management
Task 2 – Public Outreach & Participation Plan
Task 3 – Community & Municipal Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Task 4 – Climate Resiliency Plan

Cascadia Consulting Group Scope of Work and Tasks

The City Council approved the recommendation of Cascadia Consulting Group on November 11, 2020. A contract and scope of work was signed by the City and Consultant in mid-December. View Contract and Scope of Work Here

Late 2019: Planning Commission Climate Action Leadership

On November 6, 2019 the City Council voted to recommend the Planning Commission Subcommittee achieve the following from the CAPG Resiliency Plan:
1. Adoption of Resolution 20-19
2. Pursue the FEWsion program
3. Adopt CAPG Summary of Recommendations

The Planning Commission Climate Action Subcommittee met twice a month between December 2019 and February 2020. The Subcommittee recommended approval of an 18-month workplan that included a greenhouse gas inventory, supply chain analysis, and public participation plan with the anticipation of a final Climate Resilience Plan being completed and approved by City Council in June of 2021. These three tasks were to be supported by community volunteer groups. 

Due to City Council strategic plan priorities and workload requirements, on February 18, 2020 staff recommended that the City Council approve a professional services agreement with an estimated cost of $50,000 to manage the FEWsion project, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) inventory, consider action items and strategies that would emphasize city-wide energy-use reduction, and draft of a climate resiliency plan for Planning Commission review.

City Council made five motions in response to staff’s request, including amending their previous motion in order to remove recommending a Planning Commission Subcommittee be created—as well as removal of the same recommendation from the CAPG "Summary of Recommendations"—and pursue a professional services agreement to manage the FEWsion project, ICLEI inventory, and draft a climate action plan for staff review. This authorization contemplates a joint approach with Clallam County, in collaboration with Clallam County if the County is willing to participate and with collaboration with community volunteers.

2019 Climate Action Planning Group

The 2019 City Work Plan included an item that called for the creation of a local working group to put together a community driven Climate Action Plan. This community driven Climate Action Plan included proposed strategies and actions for both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.  A City Climate Action Planning Group (CAPG) was formed and met regularly from January to October 2019. The group prepared a report containing recommendations and strategies for the creation of a Climate Action Plan for consideration by the City Council. 
View the Resiliency Plan Here 

2016 Comprehensive Plan Update

The City embarked on a robust public engagement process during the 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update Process. During this process the Olympic Climate Action grassroots organization submitted goal and policy changes to the plan based on the North Olympic Resource Conservation Council Report, Climate Change Preparedness Plan for the North Olympic Peninsula. This report is considered best available science when it was published in 2015.
View the Report Here

Statewide

• Anacortes Climate Related Comprehensive Plan Element
• Bainbridge Island Climate Change Advisory Committee Ordinance
• Bainbridge Island Climate Impact Assessment
• Bellingham Climate Protection Action Plan
• Jefferson County Climate Action Plan
• Seattle Climate Action Plan

Nationwide

• Green House Gas Inventory Guidebook
• San Luis Obispo Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service Report #565: Assessing Sustainability for Local Governments
• American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service Report #596: Planning for Infrastructure Resilience

Federal

• 2013 Federal Climate Action Plan
• National Biodefense Science Board (NBSC) Community Health Resilience Report
  

General Climate and Resilience Related Links

• ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
• FEWsion - Supply Chain Mapping
• Department of Ecology Greenhouse Gas Reduction Landing Page
• 2019 Climate Priorities for Washington State
• Municipal Research Service Center (MRSC) Climate Change Page
• United Nations Climate Action
• Resilience 101
• FEMA Community Resilience Indicators
• The Universal Ecological Fund - The Economic Case for Climate Action in the United States

Previous Work Accomplished

• Climate Action Planning Group "Resiliency Plan: Recommendations Addressing Climate Change For City of Port Angeles" - 9/6/2019 

2021-22 Climate Resiliency Plan Deliverables

• Task 1: Project Workplan - First Amendment approved July 7, 2021
• Task 2: Public Outreach and Participation Plan
• Task 3: Greenhouse Gas Inventory
  • Overview of Results
  • Detailed Report (Coming Soon)
• Task 4: Draft Climate Resiliency Plan (Coming Winter 2022)