Delaware
Governor
Matt Meyer (Democrat)
House Party
Democratic Majority
Senate Party
Democratic Majority
24
38
Southeast
Progress by Policy Area
- Enacted Enacted policies have been passed or established in a state by a governing body via legislation, executive orders, rules, regulations, and/or other program creation, and remain in effect.
- In-progress In progress policies have been established in a state, but final regulations, rules, or plans are pending final approval. This also includes legislation and executive orders that require regulations to be put into effect.
- Partially Enacted Partially enacted policies have been enacted in the state, but are missing one or more policy components. Dashboard policies cannot be considered partially enacted unless policy components are available.
- Not Enacted Not enacted policies have not been passed or established in the state or are no longer in effect.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Delaware
Climate Policies in Delaware
Status | Policy | Policy Area | Policy Category | Year Enacted | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Climate Governance | 2023 | ||
Empty column | 50% by 2030 | Net-zero by 2050 Relative to 2005 levels | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Climate Governance | 2021 | ||
Empty column | Delaware's Climate Action Plan and the 2023 Implementation Report on Delaware's Climate Action Plan | ||||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Climate Governance | 2024 | ||
Empty column | The 1990-2020 Greenhouse Gas Inventory was published in March 2024. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Climate Governance | 2023 | ||
Empty column | The Director of the Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy at DNREC is designated the "Chief Climate Change Officer" and each Secretary of Cabinet departments must designate a "Climate Change Officer" to coordinate updating climate plans. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Climate Governance | |||
Empty column | Climate advisory bodies often write or advise on a state's climate plan, and make non-binding recommendations on climate policy design and implementation. The bodies can consist of all non-government members, or be a mix of government and non-government members. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | |||
Empty column | Environmental justice (EJ) community definitions identify the specific, quantifiable thresholds that designate a geographical area as an EJ community. These definitions account for multiple factors, including both environmental and socioeconomic stressors, that may contribute to persistent environmental health disparities. | ||||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | 2022 | ||
Empty column | EJ Area Viewer | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | |||
Empty column | Environmental justice (EJ) community investment requirements help ensure communities most impacted by environmental burdens are benefitting equitably from public programs by requiring a certain percentage of funds and/or benefits from other policies are allocated to EJ communities. | ||||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | |||
Empty column | DNREC – Environmental Justice Office | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | 2021 | ||
Empty column | Justice Forty Oversight Committee Community Involvement Advisory Council GEAC Environmental Justice and Energy Equity Workgroup | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Environmental Justice and Equity | |||
Empty column | Cumulative impact assessments determine the health and environmental impacts of renewing or granting a permit for certain pollution-generating facilities in environmental justice communities. Increased pollution burdens in communities may result in the permit application being denied. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Just Transition | |||
Empty column | Just transition plans are documents that outline policies and recommendations aimed at supporting communities, workers, and industries affected by the transition away from fossil fuels. The plans often focus on workforce development and retraining, job creation, and economic diversification. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Just Transition | |||
Empty column | Just transition offices and staff assist workers and communities transitioning away from fossil fuel extraction and use, typically through retraining programs and support with relocation and economic diversification. Offices and staff also coordinate with other state agencies to effectively design policy to achieve a just transition. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Just Transition | |||
Empty column | Just transition advisory bodies write or advise on a state's just transition plan or report, and make recommendations on ways to support affected workers, communities, and industries. The bodies can consist of all non-government members, or be a mix of government and non-government members. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Climate Governance and Equity
|
Just Transition | |||
Empty column | Just transition funds support initiatives and investments aimed at facilitating the equitable transition of workers and communities affected by shifts in industries or policies that transition from fossil fuels. | ||||
Enacted |
Cross-Sector
|
Climate Finance | 2007 | ||
Empty column | Energize Delaware | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Cross-Sector
|
Carbon Valuation | 2005 | ||
Empty column | The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) covers the electricity sector. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Cross-Sector
|
Carbon Valuation | |||
Empty column | The social cost of carbon is a monetary estimate of the damage of each ton of greenhouse gases emitted. The social cost of carbon is used to quantify and monetize climate damages, representing the net economic cost of climate pollution to society. | ||||
Enacted |
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | 2021 | ||
Empty column | 25% renewable energy by 2025 | 40% by 2035 | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | |||
Empty column | Electricity greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets are set by a state to limit GHG emissions in the electricity sector. These targets aim to reduce emissions by different amounts over time, often expressed as percentage relative to a baseline year. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | |||
Empty column | Clean energy plans are documents that outline the policies and strategies states can implement to meet clean energy targets. Draft plans are often published first, and after a period of public comments and revisions, a final plan is released. | ||||
Partially Enacted |
Electricity
|
Clean Energy Generation | |||
Empty column | The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. | Establishing Policies
| Policy Components
4/5
| ||
Partially Enacted |
Electricity
|
Clean Energy Generation | |||
Empty column | The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. | Establishing Policies
| Policy Components
10/11
| ||
Partially Enacted |
Electricity
|
Clean Energy Generation | |||
Empty column | The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. | Establishing Policies
| Policy Components
4/6
| ||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Clean Energy Generation | |||
Empty column | Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage | |||
Empty column | Energy storage targets establish procurement targets for energy storage systems by a certain date, often with interim targets. Targets can vary from broad megawatt (MW) requirements to more specific mandates that focus on the adoption of certain storage technologies. | ||||
Enacted |
Electricity
|
Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage | 2023 | ||
Empty column | Delaware received a D grade from Freeing the Grid. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Coal Retirement | |||
Empty column | Coal phaseouts establish a target year by which states must end coal-fired power generation. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Electricity
|
Coal Retirement | |||
Empty column | Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers. | ||||
Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Codes | 2020 | ||
Empty column | The statewide energy code for residential construction is 2018 IECC. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Codes | 2020 | ||
Empty column | The statewide energy code for commercial building construction is 2018 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2016. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Codes | |||
Empty column | Stretch building energy codes are an optional, more stringent building code established by the state that local jurisdictions can adopt to require that newly constructed buildings are more efficient than the baseline state codes. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Standards | |||
Empty column | Appliance standards set minimum energy and water conservation requirements for appliances and equipment. | ||||
In-Progress |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Standards | |||
Empty column | Delaware will receive $10M to develop and adopt a building performance standard through the federal Inflation Reduction Act's Support for Building Energy Codes and Innovative Codes. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Standards | |||
Empty column | Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers. | ||||
Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Efficiency | 2014 | ||
Empty column | Electric and gas utilities are subject to voluntary energy savings targets, which are determined by the Delaware Energy Efficiency Advisory Council. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Efficiency | 2018 | ||
Empty column | Delaware has enacted commercial PACE-enabling legislation and has active programs. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Partially Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Efficiency | |||
Empty column | The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. | Establishing Policies
| Policy Components
1/4
| ||
Not Enacted |
Buildings and Efficiency
|
Building Electrification | |||
Empty column | All-electric buildings policies require new buildings to be constructed with all-electric heating, cooling, and cooking systems to transition away from fossil-fuel use in buildings. | ||||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
Light-Duty Vehicles | 2023 | ||
Empty column | Delaware LEV Program | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
Light-Duty Vehicles | 2023 | ||
Empty column | Model Year (MY) 2027: 43% of new passenger vehicle sales are ZEVs | MY 2030: 68% of new sales are ZEVs | MY 2032: 82% of new sales are ZEVs. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
Light-Duty Vehicles | 2023 | ||
Empty column | The Delaware Clean Vehicle Rebate Program offers rebates for new and used EVs: up to $2,500 for battery EVs and $1,000 for plug-in hybrid EVs. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles | |||
Empty column | Low NOx Omnibus Rules establish stringent tailpipe emission standards for heavy duty vehicles, updated testing procedures, and technology-neutral compliance mechanisms to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) pollution. The regulation must be adopted first by California, and other states may adopt the regulation under the federal Clean Air Act. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles | |||
Empty column | Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) zero-emission vehicle mandates, also known as "Advanced Clean Trucks", require automakers to produce and sell a certain number of zero-emission MHD vehicles to fulfill a quota based on a percentage of total sales in states. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles | |||
Empty column | Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) electric vehicle rebates consist of programs and policies that offer rebates to make MHD electric vehicles more affordable to increase their adoption in a state. | ||||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
Lead by Example | 2024 | ||
Empty column | 15% of passenger and light-duty vehicles owned and operated by the state must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2026 | 15% are ZEVs by 2029 | 50% are ZEVs by 2035 | 100% are ZEVs by 2040 | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
Lead by Example | 2023 | ||
Empty column | 5% of annual school bus purchases are electric in 2025 | 10% in 2026 | 15% in 2027 | 20% in 2028 | 25% in 2029 | 30% in 2030 | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
EV Charging Infrastructure | 2023 | ||
Empty column | Requires new single-family residential dwellings to install at least one EV capable parking space, and new multi-family dwellings to install at least 5% of total parking spaces as EV charging spaces and an additional 10% as EV-capable spaces. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Enacted |
Transportation
|
EV Charging Infrastructure | |||
Empty column | The Clean Transportation Incentive Program offers rebates of up to $2,500 per port for the purchase and installation of Level 2 EV charging stations for public, workplace, fleet, and multi-family residential locations. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Transportation Plans and Targets | |||
Empty column | Electric vehicle (EV) and EV charging infrastructure plans are documents that provide a framework to guide the development, coordination, and adoption of EVs and EV charging infrastructure. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Transportation Plans and Targets | |||
Empty column | Transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets are set by a state to limit emissions in the transportation sector. These targets aim to reduce emissions by specific amounts over time, often expressed as a percentage reduction from a baseline year. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Transportation
|
Transportation Plans and Targets | |||
Empty column | A low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is a market-based mechanism to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and account for the fuel's life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. | ||||
Partially Enacted |
Transportation
|
Public and Active Transportation | |||
Empty column | Delaware is ranked 7th out of 50 in the 2024 Bicycle Friendly State rankings by the League of American Bicyclists. | Establishing Policies
| Policy Components
3/5
| ||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
Industrial Decarbonization | |||
Empty column | Buy clean requirements mandate or incentivize the use of low-carbon construction materials, such as concrete and steel, in public projects to address embodied carbon. | ||||
Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
F-gas Regulations | 2021 | ||
Empty column | The state prohibits certain HFCs in specific stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning end-uses. | Establishing Policies
| |||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
F-gas Regulations | |||
Empty column | Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce SF6 usage and emissions. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
Oil and Gas Regulations | |||
Empty column | Oil and gas methane regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, leak detection and repair, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
Oil and Gas Regulations | |||
Empty column | Fracking bans prohibit the practice of hydraulic fracking for the production of oil and/or natural gas by a certain year. Legislation often requires an environmental agency or department to promulgate regulations. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
Waste Management | |||
Empty column | Landfill methane regulations include rulemakings, emissions monitoring, emissions control, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from decaying organic waste in landfills. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Industry, Materials, and Waste Management
|
Waste Management | |||
Empty column | Food waste bans and targets include policies that prohibit certain entities that generate specified amounts of food waste (typically commercial businesses and larger institutions) from sending this waste to landfills. Targets aim to reduce total food waste by a certain percentage each target year. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Natural and Working Lands
|
Agriculture | |||
Empty column | Agriculture financial incentives support healthy soils and regenerative agriculture. Incentives may include reduced crop insurance premiums, property tax exemptions, grants, or cost-share programs. | ||||
Not Enacted |
Natural and Working Lands
|
Agriculture | |||
Empty column | Agriculture technical assistance programs provide state-driven technical assistance, apprenticeship and mentorship programs, and support securing additional funding for farmers to increase uptake of soil health practices. |