Cities and counties planning under the Growth Management Act must have a climate element as part of their comprehensive plan. This page provides information on planning guidance, grants and other resources for developing a climate element that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions and builds community resilience.
Planning for climate change
Legislation signed into law in 2023 (HB1181) added a climate goal to the Growth Management Act (GMA) and requires local comprehensive plans to have a climate element. Climate elements must maximize economic, environmental, and social co-benefits and prioritize environmental justice in order to avoid worsening environmental health disparities. A climate element can take the form of a single comprehensive plan chapter or be integrated into several chapters/elements such as housing, transportation, and land use.
Intermediate guidance
Commerce has prepared intermediate climate element planning guidance and a list of more than 200 model climate goals and policies that jurisdictions can integrate into their comprehensive plans.
Cities and counties with a 2025 comprehensive plan periodic update deadline will be the first cities required to have a climate element and should use the intermediate guidance.
- Intermediate guidance – Updated Jan. 2024 (PDF)
- Intermediate guidance Overview (PDF)
- Intermediate guidance FAQ (PDF)
Translated versions
- Khmer (Cambodian)
- Chinese (Simplified/Mainland China)
- Korean
- Pashto
- Vietnamese
- Spanish
- Nepali
- Farsi (Persian)
Appendices
- Climate Justice (PDF)
- Climate Element Workbook (Excel)
- Best Practices for Integrating Climate into a Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF)
- Crosswalk Comparison of FEMA/Commerce Guidance (Excel)
- Sample RFP for GHG Inventory (PDF)
- Summary Report: Climate Resilience Pilot Program (PDF)
- Guiding Principles for Climate Planning (PDF)
- Multi-criteria Analysis Examples (PDF)
- Handbook for Analyzing GHG Reductions (PDF)
- Glossary (PDF)
- Menu of Measures (Excel)
- Climate Change Resources (Excel)
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Survey of Small and Mid-sized Cities results (PDF)
Climate policy explorer
Use the Climate Policy Explorer to search more than 200 model climate measures and more than a 100 planning resources using multiple criteria.
Refer to the climate policy explorer user guide to learn how to use the Climate Policy Explorer.
Jurisdictions planning under the Growth Management Act must add a climate element to their comprehensive plans in a timeframe based on the periodic update schedule.
A resilience sub-element is mandatory for all fully planning counties and cities under the GMA and is encouraged for all other counties and cities.
A greenhouse gas emissions reduction sub-element is mandatory only for the following 11 counties (and their cities with a population greater that 6,000 as of April 1, 2021):
- Benton
- Clark
- Franklin
- King
- Kitsap
- Pierce
- Skagit
- Snohomish
- Spokane
- Thurston
- Whatcom
Commerce made approximately $30 million available in statewide grants for the 2023-2025 biennium with an expectation that additional funding will be appropriated through the current periodic update cycle. Each fully planning city and county is eligible for funding, though the current biennium’s funding prioritizes cities and counties with comprehensive plan updates due in 2025 and 2026.
Contact gmsclimate@commerce.wa.gov to inquire about grant availability.
Commerce will be updating the Washington Administrative Code to provide guidance that cities and counties can use when developing comprehensive plan updates and describe new regulatory authority by which Commerce will review and approve city and county climate elements submitted as part of comprehensive plan updates. Please see the following link to our rulemaking page to review the CR-101 notice.
Climate support from Commerce is provided with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.