Celebrating Three Years of Acting Boldly to Combat Climate Change

Published on September 08, 2023

Tucson, AZ.—On Saturday September 9, Mayor Regina Romero celebrates the actions the City of Tucson has taken to combat climate change since our Climate Emergency Declaration three years ago. Mayor Romero brought the emergency declaration to Mayor and Council in September of 2020. The unanimous vote committed Tucson to becoming a carbon neutral city by 2030. She led the passing of the City's collaborative, people-powered Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, Tucson Resilient Together in March of this year.

The City of Tucson is already in the implementation phase of Tucson Resilient Together, directing $80M into ongoing and new climate projects. While climate action in Tucson began in advance of the full plan adoption over the past three years, Mayor Romero has been a champion for bringing federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding and Inflation Reduction Act dollars to Tucson, advocating for communities on the frontlines of climate change before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and working with her colleagues on the Council and city staff to ensure Tucson is a national leader on climate action policies.

“Since 2020, we have worked quickly to bring a world-class climate action and adaptation plan to Tucson, with 128 strategies developed in collaboration with stakeholders across our community, in particular, people whose voices are often not included in this type of work and who often feel the effects of climate change first,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero. "What better way to celebrate three years of taking bold action to mitigate the effects of climate change and build climate resiliency than hiring Tucson's first Chief Resilience Officer who will help lead our implementation efforts,” added the Mayor.

Timeline of Actions:

Sept 2023: City of Tucson hires its first Chief Resilience Officer
Sept 2023: City of Tucson’s One Water 2100 plan comes before Mayor and Council
Aug 2023: The City of Tucson’s Urban Forestry Program completes the Tree Best Practices and Standards, to be ready for implementation in Fall of 2023. This plan was funded by the Arizona Department of Fire and Forestry (AZDFF) and guided by a stakeholder working group
July 2023: City of Tucson is awarded $21.4M federal grant to purchase 39 new compressed natural gas buses, phasing out its remaining diesel bus fleet
July 2023: City of Tucson, in partnership with New Buildings Institute, local jurisdictions, state agencies, researchers, industry partners, and community-based groups are being awarded $3.5M from the Department of Energy’s Resilient and Efficient Code Implementation (RECI) to develop southwest climate-adapted building code that addresses affordability
May 2023: The City of Tucson’s EV Roadmap receives Arizona Forward’s 2023 Crescordia Environmental Excellence Award in the Climate Action Category
May 2023: Mayor and Council adopt the city’s Zero Waste Roadmap
May 2023: Mayor Romero signed a groundbreaking water conservation agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the Central Arizona Project (CAP), making Tucson one of the first cities in Arizona to leave a significant allocation of Colorado River water in Lake Mead
May 2023: Mayor and Council vote to make transit fare permanently free
April 2023: Mayor and Council pass implementation strategy directing resources to take near term actions to advance over 50% of actions in Tucson Resilient Together in the areas of Climate Leadership and Governance; Energy, Transportation and Land Use; Resource Recovery and Management; and Community Resilience
April 2023: Mayor Romero inaugurates the City of Tucson’s TREE Center (Tree Resource Education and Ecology Center) with the capacity to grow 5,000 desert adapted trees and plants. The TREE Center supports Mayor Romero's Tucson Million Trees initiative
March 2023: Tucson Mayor and Council adopt City's climate action plan, Tucson Resilient Together
2023: The City of Tucson adds 15 light duty vehicles and a F15 Lighting truck to its fleet
Jan 2023: Mayor and Council approved the City’s first Green Fleet Transition Plan to advance the EV Readiness Roadmap and transition the City’s light duty fleet to electric
Oct 2022 – Mayor and Council allocate $900,000 to create a Solar Empowerment Program to improve access to solar power for low-income families
May-Nov 2022: City staff carry out community engagement for climate action plan, including: 13 community dialogues, 2 large public workshops, 9 pop up events, 2 community organizations and business sector meetings
Sept 2022: Mayor Romero testifies before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on State and local governments
Aug 2022: Mayor and Council require new multi-family and commercial buildings to be EV-ready
Aug 2022: Sun Tran is awarded a $12M FTA Low or No Emission grant for 10 electric buses for Sun Tran, seven electric vehicles for Sun Van, two electric vehicles for a new transit route to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, and to install five dual-sided charging bays at the Sun Tran north yard, four Sun Van charging stations, and one charging station dedicated for the Sabino Canyon service
Feb 2022: Mayor and Council allocate $250,000 to develop the City’s first Tree Inventory and a request for proposals resulting in contracting with Davey Resource Group. The Tree Inventory will be completed in Fall 2023 and data integrated in 2024
Feb 2022: Mayor and Council adopt the final Electric Vehicle (EV) Readiness Roadmap which provides a foundation to advance EV adoption city-wide
Feb 2022: City of Tucson selects nationally-recognized firm Buro Happold to develop the city's Climate Action and Adaption Plan (CAAP)
Jan 2022: Mayor and Council legalized casitas, or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to support energy-efficient infill development and more affordable housing options
Jan 2022: The City of Tucson and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality inaugurate the Central Tucson PFAS Project to prevent the chemicals from impacting additional water sources
Dec 2021: City of Tucson officially opened the SHARP facility to recharge and store up to 1.3 billion gallons of recycled water annually in the local aquifer
Nov 2021: The City of Tucson launches the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project Irvington Outfall Site, extending the length of the flowing river to restore native wetlands, support native plants and animals, and replenish Tucson’s underground aquifers will be replenished for future generations.
Sept 2021 – The City launches first five 40ft zero-emissions electric buses, partners with TEP to install its charging infrastructure, and incorporates workforce development
Aug 2021: Every City Department that manages trees as assets now have Standard Operating Procedures related to tree pruning and removal
July 2021: Mayor and Council rename Los Reales Landfill to Los Reales Sustainability Campus, embracing waste as an asset
July 2021: Mayor and Council commit the City of Tucson becoming a Zero Waste City by 2050
June 2021: Mayor and Council pass EV ready code amendment for all new residential development
March-July 2021: Mayor Romero and UC3 partners develop and implement 12 climate listening session resulting in over 1300 unique comments
May 2021: City of Tucson adopted the SolarAPP+ system allowing for same-day solar permits. Since its adoption, the City has already issued 4,371 permits using SolarAPP+, resulting in 29,927 kilowatts approved and an estimated 4,451 hours saved on initial permit reviews
April 2021: Mayor and Council adopt the EV Readiness Roadmap draft
Feb-May 2021
Feb 2021 – Mayor Romero joins 1t.org US Chapter Stakeholder Council to inform the strategic direction of the US Chapter of 1t.org
Dec 2020 – The City of Tucson is recognized by the US Conference of Mayor’s 2020 Mayors Climate Protection Awards for the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project
Nov 2020: The City of Tucson hires its first Urban Forest Program Manager
Oct 2020: Mayor Regina Romero was given the honors of reintroducing the Gila topminnow into the flowing waters of the Santa Cruz River in downtown Tucson
Sept 2020: Mayor and Council declare Climate Emergency, commit the city to carbon neutrality by 2030 and develop a climate action plan that centers frontline communities
June 2020: Sun Tran is awarded $3.8M FTA Low or No Emission grant for 5 E-Buses
May 2020: Sun Tran add electric buses to our transit fleet, installs EV charging infrastructure
April 2020: Sun Tran pilots its first electric bus via lease to test its performance for 10 months
April 2020: City of Tucson partners with UArizona Compost Cats to open a new compost facility at Los Reales Sustainability Campus
April 2020: Mayor Romero launches nature-based climate initiative, Tucson Million Trees, to increase tree cover in heat vulnerable communities; Mayor and Council adopt Tree Equity Score Map
Feb 2020: Storm to Shade program is created by ordinance
Feb 2020: Mayor Romero joins Climate Mayors, hires Climate and Sustainability Policy Advisor
Jan 2020: Mayor and Council identify need for climate action plan, implementation strategy