Camarillo City Council
AGENDA REPORT
Date: July 8, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Greg Ramirez, City Manager
Submitted by: Bradley Calvert, Community Development Director Subject: Climate Action Plan
BACKGROUND
Climate change continues to affect Camarillo through rising temperatures, prolonged drought conditions, and more frequent extreme heat events that impact residents, infrastructure, and natural resources. In response to statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals and local resiliency needs, the City contracted with Rincon Consultants in March 2022 to prepare a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to guide the community’s transition toward a more sustainable and climate-resilient future.
The CAP is intended to serve as a strategic framework for reducing GHG emissions, identifying communitywide climate actions, and supporting long-term planning and implementation. The draft CAP builds on prior City sustainability efforts, including the Sustainability Master Plan for Municipal Operations (SMP) adopted by the City Council in October 2023.
Staff presented the draft CAP to the Economic Development and Land Use Committee (EDLUC) on October 23, 2025 and moved forward to the Planning Commission on November 4, 2025, which recommended approval to the City Council with the incorporation of minor edits.
Following the Planning Commission meeting, staff and the City’s consultant conducted additional review of the draft CAP measures, actions, and associated quantification methodology. As a result of that review, further revisions were identified that materially affected the structure and defensibility of the CAP. In response, the CAP has been updated to remove reliance on quantification and identification as a qualified CAP for CEQA purposes.
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Because these revisions go beyond those previously considered, staff presented the revised draft CAP to the EDLUC on June 18, 2026, and the Planning Commission on June 30, 2026, and incorporated the comments received.
DISCUSSION
The CAP measures and actions were initially drafted in 2022, refined in early 2023 in coordination with City staff, and further revised following the Planning Commission meeting through additional staff and consultant review. Throughout that process, certain quantifiable metrics associated with the water, transportation, energy, and waste measures were modified through consultation with staff across multiple City departments.
These revisions were made to ensure the measures and associated targets were realistic and achievable. Specifically, the near-term feasibility to achieve reduction targets by 2030 presents a limited amount of time to realistically achieve aggressive targets.
Revisions to the measures include the following:
Metrics were removed from the water measures, resulting in no per-capita key performance indicators to track or measure progress.
The active transportation measure shifted from increasing overall active transportation by 2030 and 2045 to increasing the City’s Bicycle Network Analysis score by 2045.
The public transportation target was reduced to 2 percent by 2030. Metrics were removed from the waste measures.
Revisions to energy-related measures were necessary in part due to legal and policy considerations, including changes in the regulatory context following recent court decisions. These updates required additional coordination with staff to align the CAP with current best practices.
These cumulative changes reduced the level of evidence supporting the CAP’s originally anticipated GHG reductions. The City’s consultant advised that while minor revisions can often be accommodated without affecting a CAP’s overall defensibility, cumulative changes can make it more challenging to validate the quantifiable emissions reductions identified in the CAP. In such cases, continued reliance on the CAP for CEQA streamlining may increase litigation risk. To reduce that risk, the CAP has been updated to remove reliance on quantification and identification as a qualified GHG reduction plan for CEQA purposes.
Additional updates to the Draft CAP were made to incorporate the comments from the Planning Commission to include additional clarity about airport emission, reference to Sustainability Master Plan and regional collaboration, update Urban Tree Forest Actions Climate Action Plan
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(Carbon Sequestration 2.a and Carbon Sequestration 2.f), and update Electrification Concierge Program Action (Building Energy 3.e) to include residents.
The CAP will continue to present a bold and inclusive vision for a resilient, low-carbon future by promoting measures and actions that protect the environment and enhance public health and quality of life. It supports Camarillo’s goal of reducing GHG emissions, builds on the City’s existing sustainability leadership, and complements the SMP.
Together, these plans form an integrated framework for climate action in which municipal and community efforts reinforce one another.
CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLAN FY 2025/26
The CAP supports the following City Council Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives:
Goal 7 – Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship: It is the goal of the City Council to advance sustainable practices in City operations, infrastructure and facilities to reduce environmental impacts and promote long term resilience. Objective 7.1 – Implement the City’s Sustainability Management Plan (SMP).
The CAP implements Action M-SL-1.1 of the SMP to prepare a citywide CAP that outlines specific goals, measures, and actions, as well as realistic timelines for reducing GHG emissions.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no budget impact as a result of this action.
CEQA DETERMINATIONS
City staff has determined, in accordance with Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, that the CAP is not subject to CEQA review because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the CAP may have a significant effect on the environment. The CAP is a policy document from which projects may be derived; those individual projects will be subject to CEQA.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Find the Climate Action Plan is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines.
2. Adopt a resolution approving the Climate Action Plan.
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ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution (includes Exhibit A – Climate Action Plan) REFERENCE MATERIALS – AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT CITY HALL None