If you are still wondering whether municipalities are serious about planning for climate change, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s announcement this week of its new draft Guidelines for the inclusion of planning for climate change in its Article 80 review (basically the Boston local version of NEPA) might convince you.  While the Guidelines are fairly broad, the accompanying Climate Change Resiliency and Preparedness Checklist gets way down into the weeds.

Over the expected life the of the project, the proponent must analyze how the project is prepared to address extreme weather events, including heat waves, storms, wind, and coastal flooding.  Details will have to be providing concerning building energy efficiency, interaction with the project and existing infrastructure, plans for operating in the event that utilities are unavailable, stormwater management, and many similar factors.

Will you be ready, not just for next year’s storm surge, but for that in 2050?  Time to start planning for it.

The Guidelines and Checklist are not yet final, but it is expected that the BRA will finalize them in the next month.