Rockville is making progress on many of the 42 initiatives in the city’s first Climate Action Plan, with several action items completed and other efforts well underway.
The Mayor and Council adopted the plan in January 2022 with the goal of equitably reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and improving community resilience to extreme weather. City staff will provide a progress report during the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, April 29. Achievements in the 2023 report include:
- More than $1 million in grants and rebates awarded to the city to support light-emitting diode (LED) streetlight conversions, facility energy upgrades, solar canopies, flood resiliency master planning and a tree planting project at RedGate Park.
- Twelve more vehicles in the city fleet converted to electric or hybrid models.
- The opening of the city’s second food waste compost drop-off station, doubling collection capacity. The drop-off stations, at the Rockville Senior Center at 1150 Carnation Drive and the city’s maintenance facility at 14635 Rothgeb Drive, collected 97 tons of food scraps for composting.
- Launching the Stormwater Incentive Program, which included partnering with the Chesapeake Bay Trust to expand the RainScapes Rebates program and launch a competitive grants program for outreach and restoration projects.
- Reimbursing $99,148 through the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program to residents who made flood protection improvements to their properties. Visit www.rockvillemd.gov/climate for more, including the first Climate Action Plan Progress Report.
Get email updates when the 2023 progress report is available and learn what you can do to take climate action: Sign up for the “Environment and Sustainability News” email newsletter at www.rockvillemd.gov/newsletters.