Addressing Climate Change. Rhode Island will continue to experience a range of impacts from climate change including increases in air and water temperature, changes to precipitation patterns, sea level rise (SLR), more intense weather events and flooding, and seasonal shifts. The impacts of climate change are already affecting the lives and livelihoods of our residents and visitors, degrading ambient and indoor air quality, threatening public health, and damaging infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems. As a result, there is broad consensus of the need to holistically address mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to limit the magnitude and rate of climate change while also adapting to those impacts that are unavoidable. This approach should be integrated across all programs and media to the greatest extent possible. RIDEM and EPA share a common goal to tackle the climate crisis. Continuous coordination and communication can enhance and complement each agency’s efforts. Meetings such as the New England State Climate Coordinator calls allow for peer-to-peer learning and discussion of barriers and lessons learned, as well as present new opportunities for interstate collaboration. Additionally, the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) Planning grant program, which is not funded as part of this PPA, provides an opportunity to plan, prioritize and implement multipollutant emissions reduction measures across key economic sectors. To support development of CPRG plans, EPA organized Technical Assistance Forums to facilitate dialogue among grant recipients, including RIDEM. The CPRG planning program encourages robust stakeholder engagement and interagency coordination. RIDEM, with the support of EPA-provided tools, training, and technical assistance, will continue to engage their partners to inform the development of the emissions mitigation plan and the and mitigation measures outlined in the Priority Climate Action Plan required under the CPRG planning program. EPA and RIDEM shall continue this dialogue and evaluate the opportunities for multipollutant emissions reductions under CPRG and other CAA, IIJA (BIL), IRA, and other EPA annual appropriations. What a Successful Environmental, Public Health, or Efficiency Outcome Looks Like: • Continued communication between RIDEM and EPA to share successes and lessons learned regarding climate resilient actions and GHG reductions; • Collaboration within agencies in your state and across different states to consider how climate change may...
Addressing Climate Change. Massachusetts will continue to experience a range of impacts from climate change including increases in air and water temperature, changes to precipitation patterns, sea level rise (SLR), more intense weather events and flooding, and seasonal shifts. The impacts of climate change are already affecting the lives and livelihoods of our residents and visitors, degrading ambient and indoor air quality, threatening public health, and damaging infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems. As a result, there is broad consensus of the need to holistically address mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to limit the magnitude and rate of climate change while also adapting to those impacts that are unavoidable. This approach should be integrated across all programs and media to the greatest extent possible. Massachusetts and EPA share a common goal to tackle the climate crisis. Continuous coordination and communication can enhance and complement each agencies’ efforts. Meetings such as the New England State Climate Coordinator calls allow for peer-to-peer learning and discussion of barriers and lessons learned, as well as present new opportunities for interstate collaboration. EPA and Massachusetts shall continue this dialogue and evaluate the need for additional options. What a Successful Environmental, Public Health, or Efficiency Outcome Looks Like: Continued communication between Massachusetts and EPA to share successes and lessons learned regarding climate resilient actions and GHG reductions; Collaboration within agencies in Massachusetts and across different states to consider how climate change may affect their work and any adaptive measures that may be taken to mitigate those vulnerabilities; Collaboration within MassDEP programs to ensure that the agency’s outreach and education activities, loan and grant programs, rules and regulations, and public policy positions account for changing climatic and environmental conditions as well as minimize GHG emissions; and Continued education and engagement with communities—especially those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change—to help respond to changing environmental conditions. Planned Actions: Priority actions planned by XxxxXXX are described in Section II (1) of this Agreement. Massachusetts will participate in quarterly New England State Climate Coordinator calls and similar meetings to increase collaboration and communication on priorities and implementation strategies among state agencies and EPA. ...
