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Humboldt’s Regional Climate Action Plan (RCAP) cleared another bureaucratic hurdle on Tuesday, securing unanimous approval from the Eureka City Council. 

The ambitious environmental document — developed in collaboration with the County of Humboldt, local cities and other government agencies — outlines an array of strategies and measures aimed at reducing regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of these strategies focus on transportation, which accounts for 73 percent of the county’s total GHG inventory, and prioritize expanding access to public transit, electric vehicle charging stations and walking/biking trails.

Pie chart depicting the region’s 2022 greenhouse gas emission inventory. | Image: RCAP.

The RCAP, adopted by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors in December, aligns with the state’s goal of reducing GHG emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next four years and achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.

“The RCAP includes over two dozen measures, which are further broken down into well over 100 individual action items,” senior planner Chris Lohoefener explained at last night’s meeting. “Those action items are not mandates. … The city still has local flexibility for moving forward on priorities we’re already working on, and would gain a long-term menu of strategies to draw from as opportunities arise.”

Lohoefener added that the city has “discretion over implementation strategies” and can tailor them to existing policies, including Eureka’s 2040 General Plan. “The RCAP is also designed to be implemented over time with regional progress tracking and periodic updates as conditions, funding and capacities change,” he said.

Once the document gets the rubber stamp from the county’s seven city councils, the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) and other regional partners will assemble a Regional Climate Committee and select a Regional Climate Manager to oversee and support RCAP implementation. 

“[City] staff would also continue participating in regional discussions to help finalize the recommended placement and structure of the committee and program manager,” Lohoefener said. “Any future steps — whether related to staffing, funding, policy updates or a city-specific work plan — would come back to council for consideration and direction.”

After some discussion among the council, Councilmember Scott Bauer made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation, approving the RCAP and its associated environmental documents. Councilmember Kati Moulton seconded the action.

“This is a huge endeavor,” Bauer said. “We don’t have a lot of time to make pretty significant changes to how we live, and this is the first step, right? This is simply laying the groundwork for us to take real action. … It’s been a long time, and I’m grateful that the staff have put together a great document.”

Councilmember Leslie Castellano echoed his sentiment, adding that she looks forward to “creating a guidebook for how the city is going to [enact] these measures once it goes back to the county and we are further along in the process.”

The motion passed in a 5-0 vote.

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What else happened at last night’s meeting?

Staff provided a glowing update on the Eureka Visitor Center, which received its official state designation as a California Welcome Center in 2024. In 2025, Old Town Eureka had a total of 1.2 million visitors (not including residents or employees) and 24,000-plus visitors to the welcome center, according to data staff members had sourced from Placer.ai.

The council accepted the report but did not take any formal action on the item.

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