The application period has closed.
Pending legislative appropriation, Commerce expects to distribute statewide grants to support climate change planning that is required as part of the Growth Management Act (GMA) periodic update process.
Grants are available to those local governments across Washington that must include a Climate Change and Resilience element (RCW 36.70A.095) in their comprehensive plans during their next periodic update. The following activities, when conducted to meet the requirements of the mandatory element, are eligible for grant funding (not all inclusive):
- Preparing public outreach materials and conducting public outreach activities.
- Preparing staff reports and conducting public meetings and public hearings.
- Developing a local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory; Vehicle Miles Traveled Per Capita (VMT) studies; and GHG emissions reduction projections.
- Conducting transportation and VMT studies if they are in support of the GHG Emissions Reduction Sub-element.
- Utilizing the University of Washington’s Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington web tool and other resources to explore expected local climate change impacts; audit existing plans and policies to strengthen climate change resilience, assess vulnerability and risk for local assets, and develop science-based climate resilience goals and policies for comprehensive plans.
Please note: At this time, funds for implementation activities will not be available. If funds become available through a budget appropriation or due to other budget savings, Commerce will announce the available funds and open a grant application process for implementation activities.