Delaware Climate Solutions Act of 2023
The Delaware Climate Solutions Act of 2023 was signed into law in August 2023, building on the framework provided in 2021 by Delaware’s Climate Action Plan and calling for the state to boost efforts to reduce emissions and build resilience. The Climate Action Plan includes recommendations for both mitigating and adapting to climate change in a whole of government approach. The Act calls for Delaware to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve Delaware’s resilience to climate change impacts resulting from sea level rise, increasing temperatures, and precipitation changes. The Act is codified within a new Part X – Climate Change – of the Delaware state code, Title 7.
The Act identifies climate change impacts threatening Delaware, such as “sea level rise, flooding, saltwater intrusion into drinking water, coastal erosion, wetland loss, beach loss,” increasing temperatures, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. It emphasizes Delaware’s particular vulnerability due to its status as the state with the lowest mean elevation in the United States.
The Act establishes a Chief Climate Change Officer (designated as the Director of the Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy at the DNREC) and requires certain named cabinet-level departments each to appoint a Climate Change Officer, who will assist in collaboration across these departments and support implementation of the state’s Climate Action Plan. The Climate Change Officers are obligated to provide necessary data and analysis to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) for Climate Action Plan updates, which include assessments on greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies, assessment of current local, state, and federal resiliency strategies, and changes in the “State’s current and future vulnerability to climate change risks from the prior update of the Climate Action Plan, including but not limited to impacts to human health, infrastructure agriculture, water resources, and natural resources.”
The Act also establishes Technical Climate Advisors, who are to act in an advisory role to evaluate Delaware’s sea level rise, temperature, and precipitation scenarios, which must be updated at least every five years. These scenarios are discussed in the Climate Action Plan updates.
The Act also establishes requirements for future updates to the Climate Action Plan every five years. For example, future plan updates must consider the most current scientific understanding of climate change and climate change impacts, and include guidance to ensure equitable implementation of emissions reduction and adaptation measures. In developing Climate Action Plan updates, DNREC must solicit input from overburdened and under-served communities as well as the broader public.
The Act calls for an “all of government” approach to implementing the Climate Action Plan, and state agencies must consider emissions reduction targets, the Climate Action Plan, and climate impact scenarios provided by the Technical Climate Advisors when promulgating or amending regulations. Departmental Climate Change Officers and the Chief Climate Change Officer meet biannually to review progress toward emissions reduction and Climate Action Plan strategies. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) provides a Climate Action Plan Implementation Report every two years to the General Assembly to summarize progress on implementing the most recent Climate Action Plan, including agency actions to increase resiliency.
Publication Date: August 3, 2023
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