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Regular-General Government   # 36.
Board of Supervisors
County Administrator
Meeting Date:
10/21/2025
Brief Title
Approve Climate Action Commission Charter
From:
Michael Webb, County Administrator, County Administrator's Office
Staff Contact:
Kristen Wraithwall, Sustainability Manager, County Administrator's Office, x8047
Supervisorial District Impact:
Countywide

Subject

Approve Updated Yolo County Climate Action Commission Charter. (No general fund impact) (Webb/Wraithwall) (Est. Staff Presentation: 5 min)

Recommended Action

Approve  Updated Yolo County Climate Action Commission Charter. (Att.C.)

Strategic Plan Goal(s)

Collaborative Community
Sustainable Environment

Reason for Recommended Action/Background

BACKGROUND
On September 29, 2020, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors (Board) passed a resolution (Resolution No. 20-114) (Att. A) declaring a climate crisis requiring an urgent and inclusive mobilization of public and private resources to initiate a just transition to an inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and resilient local economy while also supporting and advocating for regional, national, and international efforts necessary to reverse the climate, social justice, and economic crises. The emergency resolution called for the creation of an advisory body charged with engaging the broader Yolo County community to ensure inclusivity in the development and implementation of the Yolo County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). On May 4, 2021, the Board approved the Yolo County Climate Action Commission (Commission) composition and directed staff to begin recruiting individuals to serve on the group. The Board later approved a full Commission charter on March 22, 2022 (Att. B).

Between September 2021 and June 2025, the Commission’s primary duty was to make recommendations guided by science, data, best practices, equity, and justice to the Board regarding the development of the Yolo County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). During this period, the Commission met 39 times and successfully: 
  • Selected, secured funding for, and began implementation of 7 Early Action Projects prior to the adoption of the CAAP, including a Countywide Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action. 
  • Allocated $1,000,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to 22 projects. 
  • Developed a Scope of Work for the CAAP request for proposals (RFP) and appointed Commission representatives to serve on the RFP selection committee.  
  • Guided the CAAP development process from January 2023 to December 2024. 
  • Oversaw extensive community engagement, including more than 80 events, workshops, and presentations, and collecting more than 1,200 survey responses from community members. 
  • Recommended approval of a comprehensive set of climate action and adaptation strategies, measures, and actions to the Board of Supervisors for inclusion in the CAAP.  
  • Established implementation phasing priorities and identified priority actions to tackle in phase I of CAAP implementation (2025-2027).  
  • Advised on the development of an updated Commission scope of work focused on CAAP implementation.
The original Commission Charter was designed to support the development of the County’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). With the CAAP now adopted and implementation underway, the Commission’s structure and purpose must evolve to align with this next phase of work. To inform this transition, the current Commission convened six times between October 2024 and June 2025 to discuss and provide input on updated charter language and the overall direction of the next iteration of the Commission. These discussions focused on identifying how the Commission can most effectively support CAAP implementation and progress towards the County’s goal of reaching net-negative emissions by 2030, including through activities such as reviewing and recommending approval of an annual CAAP work plan and related progress reports.

UPDATED COMMISSION CHARTER
The updated draft Commission charter presented to the Board for consideration (Att. C), differs from the previous charter iteration in two major ways:

Changes to the Commission Membership
The initial Commission charter (Att. B) recommended an 11-member body comprised of the following seats:
  • Category A: Five (5) Supervisorial District Representatives – Appointed by each County Supervisor
  • Category B: Two (2) At-large Members Appointed by Supervisorial District Representatives  
  • Category C: One (1) Technical Lead (Climate Scientist/Subject-Matter Expert) – Board Appointed with staff recommendation  
  • Category D: Two (2) Climate Scientist/Subject Matter – Appointed by Supervisorial District Representatives  
  • Category E: One (1) Environmental Justice Lead – Board Appointed with staff recommendation  
The updated Commission charter (Att. C) recommends a streamlined 9-member body. To ensure CAAP implementation is informed by deep, sector-specific knowledge, the Commission includes four subject-matter expert seats (categories B, C, D, and E below), each appointed by an external agency or through Board/staff recommendation. These positions provide vital insight, strengthen partnerships, and help operationalize the goals of the CAAP through on-the-ground expertise and community connection:
  • Category A: Five (5) Supervisorial District Representatives – Appointed by each County Supervisor
  • Category B: One (1) Environmental Justice Lead – Board Appointed with staff recommendation
  • Category C: One (1) Business Community Lead – Board Appointed with staff recommendation
  • Category D: One (1) Natural and Working Lands Subject-Matter Expert – Appointed by Yolo County Resource Conservation District (RCD)
  • Category E: One (1) Transportation Subject-Matter Expert – Appointed by Yolo Transportation District (YoloTD)
Additional information about the new subject-matter expert seats and their desired qualifications can be found in Att. C (page 6). The updated charter recommends that the University of California, Davis, and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation both continue to serve on the Commission in an ex officio capacity.

Changes to the Purpose Statement
While the initial Commission charter was focused on CAAP development, the updated Commission purpose statement (Att. C, pages 2-4) reflects the dynamic needs of implementing a CAAP with 183 actions, including annual strategic planning and continued public engagement. The proposed purpose statement below reflects the input received from the Commission and the Board’s Climate Ad-Hoc Subcommittee. Notably, the recommended purpose statement includes a narrow role for the Commission in advising on “high-impact” discretionary land use projects with potentially-significant greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to note that the Commission’s role is advisory only and will not constitute project approval, denial, or modification. The Commission shall not approve, deny, or condition projects, nor make CEQA determinations. This review is intended solely to provide early, principle-based guidance to staff and applicants to support CAAP consistency during the Request for Comment/Early Agency Review stage. The complete text of Section II. Purpose of the proposed Commission charter update is included immediately below.

1. Reviewing and Recommending Approval of an Annual CAAP Implementation Plan. 
  1. Staff will work with the County’s Interdepartmental Green Team and associated advisory committees to develop a draft annual CAAP implementation plan, which will outline the priority actions for implementation in a given year. The Commission will support the development and review of this annual plan and recommend the plan to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
  2. The Commission will participate in an annual review of CAAP implementation metrics, including data from the CAAP tracking dashboard, to evaluate progress and inform priorities for the following year.
  3. The Commission will support the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to help identify and overcome implementation barriers.
2. Reviewing and Recommending Approval of an Annual Funding Strategy. 
  1. Based on the Implementation Plan, the Commission will work with staff to outline key measures, actions, and programs to target for funding, including state/private grants and other creative funding mechanisms. The Commission will support the development and review of this funding strategy and recommend the strategy to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
3. Reviewing and Recommending Approval of an Annual Engagement Strategy. 
  1. The Commission will support the development and review of an annual equity & engagement plan that outlines engagement objectives for the year to support CAAP implementation. The Commission will recommend this strategy to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
4. Advising on the Development and Implementation of Climate and Sustainability Initiatives as Needed. 
  1. The Commission will advise staff and the Board of Supervisors on climate and sustainability efforts in support of Resolution No. 20-114 and the CAAP, including new initiatives and emerging priorities as needed.
5. Advising on High-Impact Discretionary Projects
  1. To support alignment between discretionary land use decisions and the CAAP, the Commission shall provide advisory review and comment on County discretionary projects that, in the discretion of Sustainability Staff, may materially affect greenhouse gas emissions, CAAP implementation, or climate equity objectives.
  2. Advisory review shall occur at the Request for Comment/Early Agency Review stage prior to the initiation of CEQA analysis. Sustainability Staff, upon learning of a potential project from Planning staff, will present a concise project overview at a Commission meeting.
  3. Sustainability Staff, in coordination with Planning staff, shall determine which projects to refer to the Commission, focusing on discretionary proposals of a scale or type likely to have significant climate implications or policy conflicts with the CAAP. Referral decisions and the basis for referral shall be documented in a short staff memo to the Commission accompanying project materials. Sustainability staff’s decision on whether to refer a project to the Commission shall be final.
  4. Sustainability Staff, in coordination with Planning staff, shall refer discretionary projects to the Commission if they meet one of more of the following criteria:
    1. Board-level land use approvals (including General Plan amendments, rezonings, development agreements, major subdivisions) that Sustainability staff has determined, based on the information available at the early review stage, may have potentially-significant greenhouse gas impacts.
    2. Proposals resulting in the conversion of more than 20 acres of agricultural or habitat land to non-agricultural/habitat uses.
    3. New building construction exceeding 100,000 gross square feet.
    4. Subdivisions creating more than 50 residential lots, excluding projects that are exempt from CEQA.
    5. Proposals involving new fossil fuel production, storage, or distribution, or fossil-fuel-fired energy generation.
  5. Given the early stage of review, Commission comments shall be limited to potential CAAP alignment concerns, climate equity implications, and opportunities to reduce long-term emissions or enhance resilience. The Commission will not determine precise project GHG impacts at this stage.
  6. Sustainability Staff will compile Commission feedback into a staff comment letter and transmit it to Planning staff as part of the Request for Comment stage of the project review process. This letter shall inform internal staff review and CEQA scoping, but shall not delay, duplicate, or supplant Planning Commission or other decision-making body processes.
  7. The determination of whether a project will have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions and the appropriate mitigation measures will be made by the approving body (i.e. Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, or Zoning Administrator).
  8. The Commission’s role is advisory only, and will not constitute project approval, denial, or modification. The Commission shall not approve, deny, or condition projects, nor make CEQA determinations. This review is intended solely to provide early, principle-based guidance to staff and applicants to support CAAP consistency.
  9. To avoid delays, Sustainability Staff shall place eligible projects on the next available Commission agenda following referral. Staff will aim to distribute project materials at least 14 calendar days before the Commission meeting.
  10. The cost of Sustainability staff time associated with the advisory review shall be billed to the project, to the extent authorized by law.
The thresholds outlined in Section 5.d. were developed using a combination of existing Yolo County code provisions and established CEQA thresholds from similar jurisdictions across the state. Where Yolo County had not previously codified a specific threshold, comparable benchmarks from other agencies were referenced.
  • Agricultural Land Conversion (5.d.ii.) – Based on Yolo County Code Sec. 8-2.404, Agricultural Conservation and Mitigation Program, which identifies projects under twenty (20) acres as “small projects.”
  • New Building Construction (5.d.iii.) – While not a codified Yolo County threshold, the 100,000 gross square foot standard aligns with thresholds commonly used by the jurisdictions including the County of San Diego, San Diego Air Pollution Control District, and the City of Los Angeles for CEQA review and planning purposes.
  • Subdivision Size (5.d.iv.) – Based on Yolo County Code Sec. 8-4.503, Standards for Subdivisions, which identifies proposed developments greater than fifty (50) lots as requiring floodplain or Base Flood Elevation documentation. Neighboring Placer County and Butte County also use a 50-lot breakpoint in their subdivision and/or fee standards.
NEXT STEPS 
The Climate Action Commission has been on recess since July 2025. Pending approval of the updated charter by the Board, the timeline for the Commission re-launch is as follows:
  • Fall 2025:
    • Recruitment of members for new CAAP implementation-focused Commission.
  • January 2026 [Tentative] 
    • Board considers appointments of Subject-Matter Experts:
      • Category B: One (1) Environmental Justice Lead
      • Category C: One (1) Business Community Lead
    • Re-launch of the new Commission.
  • Ongoing:
    • Commission meetings resume every 2 months, or more frequently as needed for discretionary project review. 
    • Staff present Annual CAAP Implementation Plan, Engagement Strategy, and Funding Strategy to the Board for approval each spring.  

Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies)

County Administrators Office, Department of Community Services, Planning Division, County Counsel, Climate Action Commission, Board Climate Ad-Hoc Subcommittee. 

Fiscal Impact

No Fiscal Impact

Fiscal Impact (Expenditure)

Total cost of recommended action:
$    0
Amount budgeted for expenditure:
$    0
Additional expenditure authority needed:
$    0
On-going commitment (annual cost):
$   

Source of Funds for this Expenditure

General Fund
$0

Attachments

Form Review

Inbox Reviewed By Date
Mark Bryan Mark Bryan 10/07/2025 04:31 PM
County Counsel Kimberly Hood 10/13/2025 09:32 AM
Michael Webb Michael Webb 10/14/2025 04:20 PM
Yen Nguyen Yen Nguyen 10/15/2025 10:00 AM
Form Started By:
Kristen Wraithwall
Started On:
10/02/2025 05:40 PM
Final Approval Date:
10/15/2025