A group of residents concerned about resource use and carbon emissions in our city. We're supported by members and groups that want to establish guidelines for our city to implement, following California state law. These guidelines are developed and adopted by the community, resulting in a Climate Action Plan.

What is a CAP?


A Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a document that inventories a community's GHG emissions from all sources, creating a baseline from which to measure reductions in emissions with specific strategies adopted by that community. It identifies key sources of these emissions and then describes the specific policies, practices and actions that will be taken to reduce these emissions in order to comply with the state requirements by 2020. These strategies are developed by the community in public workshops with the assistance of a qualified engineering specialist that develops the GHG computations using a state-approved engineering program so that all the cities and counties calculate their numbers in the same way.

These elements can include Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Sustainable Mobility and Land Use, Solid Waste Reduction, Water Conservation and Urban Greening. Once these strategies have been laid out and analyzed, they must be implemented, and the GHG emissions are monitored and documented each year against the original benchmark.

The impacts of climate change itself are also estimated and projected into the future. This includes climate events such as more droughts and intense rains, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. These conditions precipitate floods and fires, which the infrastructure must be resilient enough to withstand.

Regulatory Context:

In 2002, AB 1493, also known as the Pavley Law, directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to establish regulations to reduce GHG emissions from passenger vehicles. CARB approved the first set of regulations to reduce GHG emissions from passenger vehicles in 2004, with the regulations to take effect in 2009.

AB 32, signed in 2006 by Governor Schwarzenegger, sets the state requirements in place for emissions controls. The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill (AB) 32, is a California State Law that fights global warming by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state. AB 32 requires municipalities and counties to have an integrated plan in place and registered with the CARB by December 31, 2020.

SB 375 followed up later in 2008, with specific methodologies for each agency to meet the state requirements. It has a deadline of Dec. 31, 2020 to be completed and filed with the state.It cited CARB requirements and focused on transportation issues. It was amended in 2014 with the AB 32 Updated Scoping Plan to evaluate how to align the State's "longer-term" GHG reduction strategies with other State policy priorities for water, waste, natural resources, clean energy, transportation, and land use.

The first update to the AB 32 Scoping Plan took place in 2014 (the first legislation that kicked off the GHG emissions cap implementation, supported by SB 375 requirements) The AB 32 Scoping Plan update identifies specific actions needed to reach the 2020 goal as well as lay the foundation to reach post- 2020 goals, in 2030 and 2050.

California Air Resources Board administers the climate action plan oversight required throughout the state by different Metropolitan Planning Organizations. This tells local municipalities how to develop the required CAP to comply with AB 32 targets. The MPO that oversees San Marino is the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

With the State requirement to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 as required by AB 32, local governments need to submit a CAP produced under the necessary public process requirements in order to meet the GHG reduction targets.


Elements of these  implementation actions are developed in public hearing, with the participation of the residents as well as input from the local community stakeholders, such as the utilities and service providers. This CAP is reviewed by the City Council, and then adopted and incorporated into the city's General Plan.

A major resource webpage is here
More details are in these model policies

Adopted CAP plan, City of Pasadena
Adopted CAP plan, La Canada Flintridge
Adopted CAP plan, Los Angeles County
Adopted CAP plan, City of Santa Monica
Adopted CAP plan, Woodland, California

In 2016, SB 379 passed, which simply allows this element to be incorporated into city General Plans as a policy position that doesn't require setting and meeting specific benchmarks.

In May 2007, Los Angeles released “Green LA: An Action Plan to Lead the Nation in Fighting Global Warming.” which is an implementation plan put into place prior to the formal City Council adoption of its CAP because of pushback by the various communities inside the LA city boundaries. It's experimenting with various initiatives and pilot programs in partnership with industry. A four-year update to the city's original sustainability plan, released in 2015, expands and accelerates the city's climate action goals. That pLAn is here. At the same time, the city declared Jane Goodall's 85th birthday, April 3, 2019, to be “Dr. Jane Goodall Day”. This effort is in concert with other cities that have progressive climate policies that exceed the state mandate.


What the CAP helps accomplish to meet US and international goals:







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