Montgomery County Releases Second Quarter Updates of Climate Action Plan Implementation

Per Montgomery County:

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Montgomery County has released its Quarter 2 updates of the Fiscal Year 2022 Climate Work Plan. The updates highlight the progress that is being made to implement actions in the County’s ambitious Climate Action Plan that was unveiled last year. Through the second quarter of FY22, the County has made progress on dozens of actions to help reach the goals of the plan.

The Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a strategic plan to cut community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent by 2027 and 100 percent by 2035. The plan also seeks to reduce climate-related risks to the County’s residents, businesses and the built and natural environment. The annual climate work plan describes the actions that the County is making progress on in the near-term in support of the CAP.

“Implementing the Climate Action Plan is an all-hands-on-deck effort and requires concerted action to address emissions from the buildings, transportation and energy sectors and to also enhance climate resilience, all while prioritizing racial equity and social justice in the community,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “County departments have rolled up their sleeves and are already actively implementing many of the actions that were identified in the Climate Action Plan—from developing policies to reduce energy use in existing buildings to expanding the County’s bus infrastructure. We will continue to accelerate our climate efforts to meet the biggest challenge of our time.”

Adriana Hochberg, acting director of the Department of Environmental Protection and the County’s climate change officer, said an important element of the Climate Action Plan is to keep residents informed of actions that are being put in place.

“The quarterly progress updates on the Climate Action Plan are an important tool to share with the community all of the work that is taking place across Montgomery County Government,” said Ms. Hochberg. “These quarterly updates provide a near real-time view into the climate actions taking place right now and how they relate to the County’s climate goals.”

Highlights of Quarter 2 progress include:

• Clean Energy: The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) selected EV Advisors, LLC, to assist with the development of a Community Choice Energy Program.
• Buildings: Montgomery College installed submeters to monitor and track thermal energy (chilled water and hot water) in 37 buildings across its three campuses. Using real-time data, this effort will generate accurate benchmarking data and allow building operations diagnosis.
• Buildings: Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has issued a Request for Proposals for Energy Savings Performance at two schools.
• Transportation: The County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) implemented the first dedicated bus lane project in the County (in Germantown) and expanded micromobility services to the Germantown area.
• Transportation: The MCPS Electric Vehicle school bus charging infrastructure is complete and operational for the first location at the Bethesda Depot. Fourteen buses have been delivered to MCPS and are in the process of road-testing.
• Carbon Sequestration: MCDOT is administering a tree-planting grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, with approximately100 trees planted in the right-of-way in Q2 and an additional 150 planned for planting in spring 2022.
• Carbon Sequestration: Montgomery Parks held its first-ever urban wood sale, making wood slabs and lumber from its portable sawmill available to the public for purchase. Montgomery Parks’ urban wood reuse program turns hazardous trees removed from parkland into lumber and other wood products.
• Climate Adaptation: The County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) has signed a grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to receive 24-34 new flood sensors. The new sensors will be placed on or near road crossings that frequently flood and at privately owned dams that do not currently have flood sensors.
• Governance: The County Department of General Services (DGS), MCDOT and DEP are working with the Department of Defense/Walter Reed and the surrounding community to identify climate change-related vulnerabilities in the transportation, energy and stormwater sectors and develop a Resiliency Implementation Plan for the installation.
• Public Engagement, Partnerships and Education: The Maryland Coalition of Counties and Cities for Climate Action, a statewide climate coalition of local governments, has launched and is meeting regularly.

To view the Quarter 2 FY22 Climate Work Plan progress report, visit: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/green/Resources/Files/climate/fy22-climate-work-plan-q2-updates.pdf.

For more information about the Climate Action Plan, visit: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/green/climate/index.html.