Nebraska’s Priority Climate Action Plan submitted to the EPA

LINCOLN, Neb. — The State of Nebraska has its first-ever Climate Action Plan.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) has submitted the state’s Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 1. The PCAP is available on NDEE’s website: http://dee.ne.gov/ndeqprog.nsf/onweb/cprg.

This PCAP was developed with a $3 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) from the EPA through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The CPRG awarded funds to state and local governments to develop climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG).

NDEE conducted outreach throughout the development of the PCAP to solicit input and feedback from Nebraska citizens and stakeholders. NDEE hosted webinars and online and in-person meetings to ensure the PCAP reflected the needs of Nebraska and its residents.

“Nebraska’s Priority Climate Action Plan focuses on voluntary, incentive-based programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all economic sectors while promoting environmental stewardship and economic growth throughout the state, including low-income and disadvantaged communities,” NDEE Director Jim Macy said. “This paired with the fact that the state is building on already successful programs and innovations gives us a strong action plan.”

Now that Nebraska’s PCAP has been submitted, the state is eligible to apply for funds to implement the GHG reduction measures outlined in the plan. The implementation grant funds are competitive, and NDEE is currently working on Nebraska’s application, due to the EPA April 1, 2024.

The GHG reduction measures included in the PCAP are:

-Promote energy efficiency and electrification upgrades for non-residential facilities
-Incentives for home energy efficiency equipment upgrades for low- and middle-income homeowners
-Residential pre-weatherization program
-Incentives for irrigation well conversion from diesel to electric
-Incentives for micro-solar arrays for critical infrastructure in low-income rural communities
-Funding for solar projects on unused/contaminated land, ag and industrial facilities, and parking lot/feedlot solar canopies
-Establish a Carbon Intensity Score Registry
-Provide incentives for regenerative agricultural practices
-Provide incentives for precision agriculture equipment
-Establish hub-and-spoke anaerobic digester/biogas hubs for agricultural waste
-Incentives to reduce food waste
-Incentives for production and use of biochar to reduce organic waste and sequester carbon in soil

In addition to the PCAP, the CPRG also provided funds for development of a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP). While the PCAP focused on GHG reduction measures that can be readily implemented, the CCAP will provide long-term planning to continue reducing GHG emissions. The CCAP is due in August 2025. NDEE will continue its outreach efforts as it develops the CCAP.