Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) Draft Priority Measures

Vision: Identify, create, and provide support for equitable clean transportation funding opportunities and incentives.

Measure 1: Increase the number of zero emissions and electric vehicles on the road through partnerships, technical assistance, financial incentives, and other mechanisms.

Measure 2: Identify, install, and maintain a public electric vehicle charging network accessible to all North Carolinians.

Measure 3: Increase the number of zero emissions and electric vehicles in the state fleet, school buses, and transit buses.

Measure 4: Pursue programs to increase efficiency and reduce GHG emissions at ports and freight terminals, such as vehicle or equipment idle reduction, vessel-speed reduction, equipment electrification, and shore power

Vision: Expand the amount of renewably sourced power generated in North Carolina, prepare the electrical grid for a dispersed generation future, and increase grid resilience, especially in underserved communities.

Measure 1: Increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable resources in North Carolina.

Measure 2: Create a pilot program to install a Resiliency Hub and measure community impacts at a K-12 public school system in a Tier 1 or 2 county in North Carolina.

Vision: Decarbonize buildings in North Carolina through energy efficiency, removal of fossil fuel combustion sources, improving building energy management, training, improving materials management and recycling in new buildings and retrofits, and other measures.

Measure 1: Reduce per square foot energy usage in buildings in North Carolina.

Measure 2: Decarbonize buildings in North Carolina, through replacement of fossil fuel combustion sources and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Vision: Identify, create, and provide support for industrial sector decarbonization through funding opportunities and incentives.

Measure 1: Programs to support or incentivize implementation of energy efficiency measures in industry, including energy audits, strategic energy management, equipment upgrades, and waste heat utilization.

Measure 2: Programs to support or incentivize greenhouse gas reductions in industrial energy use and industrial processes, including use of low/no carbon fuels, electrification, renewable energy, and process improvements. 

Vision:  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize the collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of wastes through sustainable waste management

Measure 1: Programs to reduce food waste entering the waste management system which will reduce the methane emissions from food waste landfilling and direct food to communities in need and create organic resources through composting or digestion.

Measure 2: Decarbonize waste collection to reduce GHG emissions during the collection and transport of wastes through electrification of fleets or through engine conversion from diesel to natural gas.

Measure 2: Programs to reduce landfill gas emissions through improved landfill operations to collect gas earlier in a landfill life and more efficiently.

Vision: Expand and develop programs to protect and restore high-carbon habitats.

Measure 1.  Forest Protection and Development.  Expand cost-share program(s) for forest development on private lands and develop a program to acquire, protect, and restore floodplain forests on public and private lands. Create initiatives to expand the scale and magnitude of urban forestry.

Measure 2.  Peatland Conservation and Rewetting.  Acquire and restore high-carbon pocosin wetland and other peatland ecosystems that are uniquely indigenous to the region through the creation of a dedicated program.

Measure 3.  Coastal Protection and Restoration. Develop a protection and restoration program for high-carbon coastal habitats and wetlands to mitigate large, imminent greenhouse gas emission arising from sea-level rise (SLR) and land conversion. Develop a pilot program to evaluate and quantify the effectiveness of strategic NBS applications to mitigate loss and slow conversion of high-risk carbon sinks due to SLR.

Measure 4.  Cross-cutting NBS Implementation.  Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) through Request for Proposals (RFPs) supported by a revolving fund. 

DEQ reviewed 48 state documents and identified and collated goals, existing actions, and proposed actions and categorized them by sectors within North Carolina’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory for a total of 348 potential measures. The full list of potential measures can be downloaded here. 

Once all actions and goals were collated, DEQ consolidated them into an initial measure list by categorizing actions by sectors, grouping actions into similar topics, and reviewing grouped actions by areas or topics to develop overall measures. After compiling the consolidated list of measures by sector, DEQ reviewed the state goals and initial measure list to determine where there may be gaps for greenhouse gas reduction opportunities. Afterwards, DEQ screened the initial list of measures based on air pollution benefits, authority to implement, and impacts to low-income and disadvantaged communities to narrow the list to priority measures. The priority measures to be included in the Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) were then grouped into six sectors as identified by the EPA along with a broad range of actions and projects identified during the planning process. 

Projects, activities, or measures not identified in this list or the Priority Climate Action Plan may still ultimately be included in the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.