To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Anna Yip 565-2132
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sonoma County Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Chair to execute a professional service agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. to conduct a Sonoma County Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study through December 31, 2023 in the not-to-exceed amount of $279,265.
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Executive Summary:
The County of Sonoma has set ambitious climate-related goals and objectives through its 5-Year Strategic Plan, including a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030. Since reducing emissions to zero is not possible with current technology and other constraints, carbon sequestration will play a critical role to achieving net neutrality. Thus, it is imperative that the County understand what its baseline carbon sequestration capacity is and what potential exists to better optimize carbon sequestration rates. The Climate Action and Resiliency Division of the County Administrator’s Office released a request for proposals for a Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study. After rigorous review of a competitive pool of proposals, the proposal received from Rincon Consultants, Inc. was unanimously selected by a rating panel of subject matter experts. Using Strategic Plan Year 1 funds your Board approved in February 2022 for this effort, staff recommends your Board authorize the Chair to execute a professional services agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. in the not-to-exceed amount of $279,265 to complete this work.
Discussion:
Background
On September 17, 2019, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors formally joined cities, counties, and countries across the world in declaring a climate emergency, establishing the climate crisis as a top priority. In a 5-year Strategic Plan, approved on March 2, 2021, your Board identified a series of climate-related goals and objectives for the County in the Strategic Plan’s Climate Action and Resiliency (CAR) Pillar. The CAR Pillar sets targets to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through decarbonization and sequestration, make County facilities carbon free, invest in the community to reduce emissions, and to ultimately achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. While the County is already making progress towards these overarching targets, full achievement of many of the CAR goals and objectives hinges on acquiring a baseline understanding of the county’s carbon sequestration capacity.
Some work has been done to evaluate the potential of carbon sequestration within specific projects or specific land types, however no comprehensive report summarizing the total capacity of carbon sequestration throughout Sonoma County exists. The current study will cover both incorporated and unincorporated lands, with a dedicated discussion of County-owned lands. Further, the study will analyze the region's capacity to sequester carbon, and will evaluate factors affecting sequestration to produce recommendations on how to optimize carbon sequestration in the future.
In February 2022, your Board allocated $500,000 from Year 1 Strategic Plan funds to conduct both an internal municipal GHG emissions inventory and a study evaluating the potential of carbon sequestration. This professional services agreement (PSA) is to conduct the carbon sequestration study. A separate PSA has been executed for the GHG emissions inventory with a different consultant. Together, the carbon sequestration study and the GHG emissions inventory will provide the necessary information for the County to develop the path to achieve net carbon neutrality. Any remaining funds from the $500,000 Year 1 Strategic Plan allocation will be used to analyze and integrate the results of these two studies to develop a County Climate Action Plan.
Request for Proposals
Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on February 14, 2023, for the completion of Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study (Study). The RFP closed on March 20, 2023, with three qualified proposals received. Proposers were required to demonstrate their ability to complete a carbon sequestration inventory and potential study as described in the RFP that is rigorous, detailed, and is editable for periodic in-house updates in the years that follow. Proposers were also asked to provide information on prior successful contract achievements with similar clients or similar deliverables. The full evaluation criteria used to rank the three proposals can be found beginning on page 14 of the RFP (Attachment B: Sonoma County Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study RFP). The evaluation committee included staff from the County Administrator’s Office Climate Action and Resiliency Division, Permit Sonoma, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, Sonoma Water, University of California Cooperative Extension, and the Regional Climate Protection Authority. Upon selecting a top proposal, staff conducted thorough reference checks before finalizing their decision.
Rincon Consults, Inc.
After thorough deliberations, the evaluation committee selected Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Rincon) as the top bidder. Rincon’s proposal provided a detailed approach to producing a carbon inventory and sequestration study as described in the RFP that was both impressive and realistic, as supported by prior related successes and positive reference checks. As a science based environmental and climate consulting firm with experience working on greenhouse gas and carbon sequestration projects across California, the Rincon team holds the necessary skillsets to execute the Study successfully. Their experience with completing similar projects for other jurisdictions and their thoughtful response to the RFP made their proposal stand out amongst the others.
As described in detail in the scope of work (Attachment A: Rincon Contract and Scope of Work), Rincon will produce a study that will include a quantitative estimate of the existing above- and below-ground carbon stored in the county's land base and an analysis of how this has changed in the last decade. Rincon will also evaluate of the stability of such carbon stocks, and projections and estimates of how different scenarios, such as active land restoration, potential land use changes, and wild and prescribed fires, would affect carbon sequestration storage and stability in the county. The Study will evaluate both incorporated and unincorporated lands, with a dedicated discussion of County-owned lands. Results and deliverables will inform conservation planning, land management, and land use policy aimed at achieving carbon neutrality. At the end of the project, Rincon will conduct a handoff task with the County and will share all data, assumptions, and processes followed to complete the Study. This handoff task will ensure that the County is equipped to conduct periodic in-house updates to the carbon inventory in the years following the contract period.
Staff recommends your Board authorize the Chair to execute the professional services agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. in a not-to-exceed amount of $279,265 with a term from April 18, 2023, to December 31, 2023, to create a carbon inventory and sequestration potential study.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 5: Maximize opportunities for mitigation of climate change and adaptation through land conservation work and land use policies
Objective: Objective 1: By 2025, update the County General Plan and other county/special district planning documents to incorporate policy language and identify areas within the County that have the potential to maximize carbon sequestration and provide opportunities
and
Objective: Objective 2: Develop policies to maximize carbon sequestration and minimize loss of natural carbon sinks including old growth forests, the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and rangelands. Encourage agricultural and open space land management to maximize sequestration
This Study will provide necessary prerequisite information to inform the development of a comprehensive plan for the County of Sonoma to achieve net carbon neutrality. The project has been developed in partnership with County departments and agencies to ensure the proposed scope of work will result in a report that is helpful in developing policies and projects that will optimize carbon sequestration. It will also support informed and integrated carbon sequestration work on public and private lands across Sonoma County.
Prior Board Actions:
March 2, 2021 - Approved 5-Year Strategic Plan
February 1, 2022 - Allocated funds from the Strategic Plan Fund for this project
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$279,265 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$279,265 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
$279,265 |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$279,265 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Your Board allocated $500,000 from Year 1 Strategic Plan funding on February 1, 2022 to conduct both an internal municipal GHG emissions inventory and a study evaluating the potential of carbon sequestration. This professional services agreement (PSA) is to conduct the carbon sequestration study. Appropriations are included in the department’s FY22-23 budget. If the contract is not fully expended in FY22-23, funds will be re-budgeted as part of the routine fiscal year-end process.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment A: Rincon Contract and Scope of Work
Attachment B: Sonoma County Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study RFP
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None