The PBC Climate Risk Assessment and Action Plan is a project designed to address environmental hazards and climate risks exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise. Funded by the Florida Department of Commerce's Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) through the Resilient Florida Grant program​, this initiative will provide a comprehensive roadmap for PBC to enhance its resilience.

​Collaboration is central to this project, involving a diverse range of stakeholders, from elected officials to environmental groups, ensuring both technical expertise and community insights are considered. Furthermore, the project emphasizes social equity and climate justice throughout the development and execution.

​Ultimately, the Climate Risk Assessment and Action Plan aims to create a cohesive and collaborative strategy for a resilient region, addressing various environmental hazards and complying with state legislation requirements. The resulting action plan will guide County actions and partnerships with the broader community. Additionally, it will allow PBC to become eligible for future State and Federal grant funding. 

Climate Risk Assessment:

A risk assessment is a systematic procedure aimed at identifying a community's susceptibility to adverse impacts from climate threats. PBC is conducting a climate risk assessment to understand these impacts better and prepare for the future. The climate risk assessment will cover PBC's unincorporated area and western municipalities. 

Palm Beach County's Climate Risk Assessment will assess the impacts of climate threats and the potential magnitude, severity, and extent of rainfall flooding, tidal flooding, and current and future storm surge flooding in combination with various sea level rise projection scenarios. This science-driven data will be derived from sources such as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Specifically, it will analyze the effects on County-owned or maintained critical assets. 

To fully identify climate risks and vulnerabilities for the County's unincorporated areas and western municipalities for future disaster mitigation planning efforts are also underway. The results will improve state, regional, and local plans to address extreme heat, drought, severe storms, wildfires, and coastal erosion.  After determining the vulnerability of the community assets, the next phase involves assessing risk. Risk involves evaluating the likelihood of an event occurring and the level of vulnerability of an asset to a specific threat, coupled with the potential consequences of that hazard. 

Resilience Action Plan:

​​The climate risk assessment's findings will inform the County's Resilience Action Plan, which will offer strategies for County-wide resilience, including climate adaptation options to prepare for the risks identified. The action plan will prioritize projects based on the climate risk assessment results and provide realistic implementation plans benefitting PBC. Hazard mitigation efforts, emergency preparedness, land use planning, code & policy development, infrastructure investment, and public health policies & programs will be considered. 

Figure 1. Climate Risk Assessment and Action Plan Steps

Recordings of Past Community Workshops

Unincorporated PBC ​Climate Risk Assessment Workshop, February 28, 2024​

Belle Glade & South Bay ​Climate Risk Assessment Workshop, February 21, 2024​

​Pahokee Climate Risk Assessment Workshop, Aug 31, 2023

Unincorporated PBC ​Climate Risk Assessment Workshop, Aug  17, 2023

Belle Glade & South Bay ​Climate Risk Assessment Workshop, July 11, 2023​

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Upcoming Workshops:

Save the dates! OOR will be hosting community workshops to share information on the climate risk assessment resilience action plan and seek stakeholder feedback. A light dinner and refreshments will be served at each event.

PBC Community Workshop

Date: TBD

Location: TBD

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PBC Community Workshop

Date: TBD

Location: TBD

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PBC Community Workshop

Date: TBD

Location: TBD

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Take Our ​Climate Risk Assessment Survey- Click HERE! 

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 Resources  

Florida Adaptation 

Planning Guidebook

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Resilient Florida Program​

This work was funded in part through a grant agreement from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection Resilient Florida Program. The views, statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the State of Florida or any of its suba​​gencies.​​

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Community Development Block Grant - Mitigation Funds

This work was funded in part through a grant agreement from the Florida Department of Commerce's Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds. The views, statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the State of Florida or any of its suba​​gencies.​​

Palm Beach County complies with all applicable federal and state grant funding requirements. PBC's Sheriff's Office has an Excessive Force policy available [here] and a Written Directive policy available [here]. For more information on PBC Sheriff's Office policies, contact their main headquarters at 561-688-3000.