
San Mateo County RICAPS Climate Collaborative
The RICAPS program helps San Mateo County’s 21 local jurisdictions develop and implement climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet countywide reduction goals. It provides a collaborative space and a suite of planning tools for all 20 incorporated cities and the County to advance climate action efforts.
Program staff host monthly working group meetings for local government staff, fostering collaboration, idea sharing, and problem solving among participants. To join monthly meetings and receive announcements, please contact energy@smcgov.org.
Climate Action Resources
RICAPS offers comprehensive resources for cities to create or update their climate action plans, including a recently updated template for 2030 goals, a menu of measures, and a forecasting tool. Cities can also receive technical assistance from Rincon Consultants, Inc. to support the use of these tools.
These documents undergo frequent revision. Please email Avana Andrade at aandrade@smcgov.org for the most recent version.
The RICAPS program provides community greenhouse gas emissions reports for each city in San Mateo County as well as the county’s unincorporated areas every two years. Below, please find a summary of each jurisdiction’s emissions inventory to learn about local efforts to reduce the effects of climate change.
Please contact us if you have questions about these summaries.
- Atherton (PDF)
- Belmont (PDF)
- Brisbane (PDF)
- Burlingame (PDF)
- Colma (PDF)
- Daly City (PDF)
- East Palo Alto (PDF)
- Foster City (PDF)
- Half Moon Bay (PDF)
- Hillsborough (PDF)
- Menlo Park (PDF)
- Millbrae (PDF)
- Pacifica (PDF)
- Portola Valley (PDF)
- Redwood City (PDF)
- San Bruno (PDF)
- San Carlos (PDF)
- South San Francisco (PDF)
- Woodside (PDF)
- Unincorporated San Mateo County (PDF)
The RICAPS program provides access to a climate action plan template document that jurisdictions can use to save staff time and resources. The template includes: guidance for collaborating with community groups when developing and implementing the climate action plan, identification of emissions from consumption activities (such as air travel, food, and purchases), and information about carbon sequestration and workforce development. With colorful photos, icons, and informative call-out boxes, the document is designed to be accessible to the public. Since it is formatted in Microsoft Word, jurisdiction staff can edit it to include their own goals and strategies. The document was prepared in collaboration with an ad hoc advisory group of sustainability coordinators from seven San Mateo County cities, with technical support from Rincon Consultants, Inc. It was developed for San Mateo County jurisdictions but any jurisdiction is welcome to use it.
This Excel-based tool documents the calculations associated with the menu of climate action measures for RICAPS. This Menu of Measures provides a pre-set list of greenhouse gas reduction measures most applicable to the San Mateo County region and a recommended approach to estimating potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided from each measure. It was originally prepared by Rincon Consultants, Inc. This document undergoes frequent revision. Please email Avana Andrade at aandrade@smcgov.org for the most recent version.
This Excel workbook provides assistance to estimate the business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions through 2020, 2030, 2040, 2045, and 2050. It assists jurisdictions in calculating the metric tons of greenhouse gasses reduced by California statewide measures and the city-specific measures selected in the RICAPS Menu of Measures Tool, and analyzes whether the reduction targets will be met by the climate action plan. This document undergoes frequent revision. Please email Avana Andrade at aandrade@smcgov.org for the most recent version.
- Building Electrification Best Practices Review (PDF): RICAPS has released this Review to inform all-electric reach code development in the County. The Review identifies the five most frequently exempted building types from all-electric reach codes: commercial kitchens, accessory dwelling units, affordable housing, public emergency centers, and labs and life sciences buildings.
- For more information, resources, recommended reach codes, and more, visit Bay Area Reach Codes and the BayREN Codes and Policies website.
- To reference one current example of an existing building reach code, see the City of San Mateo’s reach codes for home renovations (effective January 1, 2023).
Past Working Group Meetings
RICAPS hosts monthly working group meetings to support city sustainability coordinators in developing and implementing climate action plans.
Date | Topics |
---|---|
January 28 Virtual Meeting |
Implementation Group Kickoff, Updates from PCE, Review of RICAPS Tools & Resources |
February 25 Virtual Meeting |
Charting the Course for 2025 Reach Codes with TRC + Overview of Review of RICAPS’ Goody Bag of Tools and Resources |
March 4 In Person Convening |
Power of Local Collaboration on Climate Action + Implementation Group Updates |
Date | Topics |
---|---|
January 23 Webinar |
Advanced Clean Fleet Regulation Compliance – Municipal Fleet Electrification |
February 27 Meeting |
Moving Forward from Berkeley – Local Building Electrification Code 2.0 |
March 26 Webinar |
Local Building Electrification Codes 2.0 – Local Approach Showcase |
April 23 Meeting |
Kickstart Projects: Permit Simplification, Collaborative Grant Funding, Countywide Electrification Communication Campaign |
May 28 Webinar |
Creating Countywide Collaboration on Grant Applications |
June 27 Webinar |
Collaborating on Countywide Funding |
July Meeting |
Collaborating on Countywide Grant Funding Application & Launch of Countywide Electrification Communications Campaign |
August Webinar |
Green Business Program Update + Discussing Successful Models in Regional Collaboration |
September Meeting |
EV Charging Infrastructure: Exploring Possible Municipal Intervention |
October 22 Webinar |
Regional Planning Efforts: Air Quality Management District & Peninsula Clean Energy |
November 19 Webinar |
Creative Approaches to Building EV Infrastructure in Your City + Partner Updates from PCE & C/CAG |
December 3 Meeting |
Year-In-Review & Visioning 2025: Celebrating our Success and Looking Ahead |
Date | Topics |
---|---|
January 23 Webinar |
Existing Building Electrification |
February 28 Webinar |
Existing Building Electrification |
March 28 Webinar |
Existing Building Electrification, BAAQMD Ruling on Gas-Powered Furnaces and Water Heaters |
April 25 Webinar |
Electrification & Grid Reliability (Grid Basics), Berkeley New Building Electrification Federal Appeals Court Ruling |
May 23 Webinar |
Electrification & Grid Reliability Planning (CPUC, PG&E, PCE Planning and Forecasting Processes), Berkeley New Building Electrification Federal Appeals Court Ruling |
June 27 Webinar |
Municipal Facilities Electrification: Leading Electrification By Example – Local Examples Highlight Successes & Challenges |
July 25 Webinar |
Using the Capital Improvement Plan to Support Municipal Facilities Electrification |
August 22 Meeting |
Leading by Example: Municipal Electrification (RICAPS & Facilities Working Group) |
September 26 Webinar |
Municipal Opportunities to Electrify: Implementation Focus |
October 24 Webinar |
Wrapping up Focus on Capital Improvement Planning for Municipal Facility Electrification & Kicking off Electric Vehicle Theme |
November 14 Webinar |
RICAPS & Facilities Working Group: Fleet Electrification – Vehicle Procurement and Charger Installation and Maintenance |
December 12 Meeting |
2023 RICAPS Highlights & 2024 Visioning |