Laws, Regulations, Policy Analysis, and Strategies
This tab includes strategies for serving communities on the frontline of climate change, including best practices, legal and policy analysis, laws, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to equity and adaptation.
Resources are automatically presented by date. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by organization type of author, state, jurisdictional focus, region, or resource type.
214 results are shown below.
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Miami-Dade County, Florida’s Million Trees Miami initiative aims to plant 1 million trees in lower-income communities with insufficient tree canopy in order to alleviate heat stress in the county. This initiative stems from the County’s 2006 Street Tree Master Plan, which set a goal to achieve 30% tree canopy in Miami-Dade by 2020. Neat Streets Miami, a multi-jurisdictional County Board, is working to implement this goal through the Million Trees Miami initiative. Through a 2016 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, the County determined that lower-income areas, including predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, had significantly less tree canopy than their wealthier counterparts. As a result, the County is prioritizing tree planting in its most impoverished and low-canopy areas through initiatives such as the Street Tree Matching Grant. Increased tree canopy cover in communities provides many important adaptation benefits, including protection from flooding, urban heat island mitigation, and improved water and air quality.
Resource Category: Solutions
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June 2, 2020
The North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan is the state’s first climate change adaptation plan. It includes the results of vulnerability assessments within 11 critical sectors, climate justice concerns and strategies, and recommendations for nature-based solutions to enhance ecosystem resiliency and sequester carbon in the state’s natural and working lands. North Carolina Governor Cooper’s 2018 Executive Order 80 directed state agencies to integrate climate adaptation and resiliency planning into their policies, programs, and operations; and mandated that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) lead the development of this climate risk assessment and resiliency plan for the state.
Resource Category: Planning
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June 2020
Developed by California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), this document (“EJ guidelines”) provides guidance for local governments on integrating an Environmental Justice (EJ) Element into the local General Plan. Senate Bill 1000, an amendment to California Government Code Section 65302, mandates that jurisdictions with disadvantaged communities must incorporate an EJ element into general plans. The EJ guidelines provide a history of EJ in California and associated policies, guidance for policymakers in determining if a general plan must include EJ requirements, and guidance for drafting policies and fulfilling these EJ requirements. The EJ guidelines are included in Chapter 4 (Required Elements) of California’s overall General Plan Guidelines.
Resource Category: Planning
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2020
The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Resilience Toolkit offers descriptions of natural hazard risks and ideas for adaptation actions that communities can take to increase their resilience to climate change. State and local governments receiving HUD Community Planning and Development (CPD) funds can use this guide to identify types of adaptation actions that are eligible for CPD funding. Specific attention is drawn to the risks to vulnerable populations as well as adaptation actions that prioritize low- and moderate-income communities.
Resource Category: Solutions
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May 2020
Prepared by the American Flood Coalition in collaboration with the American Public Health Association, the Dual Disaster Handbook provides six recommendations for local leaders to cope with flooding during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. The recommendations emphasize the importance of using emergency planning processes, legal authorities, and volunteers and supplies effectively to simultaneously address dual threats, while focusing in particular on needs of at-risk populations. The Handbook draws on expertise and best practices from emergency management professionals and is intended for use by local officials involved in emergency preparedness and response.
Resource Category: Solutions
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December 19, 2019
This report from Rebuild By Design describes a proposal to create a Resilient Infrastructure Fund to support green and grey infrastructure projects that reduce flooding, coupled with a buy-out program, to improve the physical, social, and ecological resilience of New York State. It proposes a transparent, inclusive, and equitable approach to finance climate adaptation planning and implementation throughout the state. Though designed for New York, the recommendations are applicable to and can serve as a model for other states.
Resource Category: Solutions
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December 10, 2019
The Kresge Foundation established the Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity (CRUO) initiative in 2014 to advance climate resilience by building capacity within low-income urban communities. Kresge believes that climate resilience requires a comprehensive approach which incorporates climate change mitigation, adaptation, and social cohesion. CROU offered $29 million over 5 years to 15 community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs) across the U. S. to advance equitable climate resilience. This report reviews the impact of the initiative, outcomes and lessons learned from across the funded projects.
Resource Category: Solutions
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October 2, 2019
California Assembly Bill 38, passed in 2019, aims to boost wildfire resilience through real estate disclosures regarding home wildfire risk and mitigation measures, financial assistance mechanisms, and local/regional capacity reviews.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 13, 2019
Resource Category: Solutions
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September 2019
When Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in September of 2017, thousands of its inhabitants were forced to flee their homes - many of whom ended up in in the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Between 2017 and 2018, over 5,400 people moved from Puerto Rico to Holyoke. In the years that followed, the city and partners at Hunter College and the University of Connecticut surveyed these families, intending to learn what aspects worked in response to their displacement and resettlement. Officials also hoped to assess how other cities could duplicate the incorporation of Puerto Rican climate migrants into Holyoke as more frequent climate events displace additional communities in the coming years.
Resource Category: Solutions
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