Monroe County lawmakers are set to vote on the second phase of a countywide Climate Action Plan.
Earlier this week a Legislature committee approved sending the plan to the full Legislature for approval. Legislators will consider it during their Aug. 13 meeting.
"The idea here is to really just to put together a guiding framework for a lot of those individual actions that the county and community partners within the county have already taken to kind of align with a specific goal," said Clement Chung, deputy commissioner of the county's Department of Environmental Services.
The first phase of the plan focused on identifying and reducing emissions from county government facilities, vehicles and activities. Phase two focuses on reducing emissions generated by residents, businesses, and other organizations.
The goal is to reduce emissions in those areas by 80% compared to 2019 levels. Chung said that the county has already started putting the first phase of the plan into action.
"Some of the implementation actions that we've undertaken as part of phase one is to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, (and) we are looking to purchase hybrid and electric vehicles for our fleet," Chung said.
Most greenhouse gas emissions in Monroe County come from transportation and energy use. Among the strategies recommended in the second phase is increasing bike infrastructure, expanding public transit, and enacting policies to encourage rooftop solar development.
Legislator Virginia McIntyre, R-Gates, voted against the plan. She said that was because of feedback she'd received from residents in her district, including concerns about a recommendation to consider changing local zoning laws so multi-family housing can be built on lots currently designated for single-family housing.
"I really, really appreciate that this was put together by a bipartisan committee," McIntyre said, "and that the people involved have done their best to make this plan for a very diverse community ... It's very difficult to make a document that can satisfy an entire county."
If the Phase II plan is approved, the county will put together an advisory body to help implement it.