Community Coalitions & Community Benefit Agreements: Opportunities to Ensure Climate Change Mitigation Through Collaborative Planning

Abstract

The overall purpose of the paper is to study the obstacles and opportunities faced by community coalitions (coalitions) and community benefit agreements (CBAs). Coalitions are multi-purpose alliances based on voluntary membership that work on a set scale locally or regionally to address issues of interest. A CBA is a fully negotiated and executed contract between parties to an agreement. Coalitions have been around for centuries and CBAs arose in the 1990s. Both are commonly used by community interest groups to facilitate collaboration or sharing of expertise and resources between groups, improve public participation in local decision-making processes, and enable local interest groups to address common, local threats. This research will assist Global Ocean Health, a Washington NGO, in the development of a coalition of coastal communities along the West Coast for the purpose of addressing ocean acidification to reduce risks to fisheries. The study was designed to consist of a literature review to inform the direction, a document review to review relevant law, and an analysis of three case studies to compare the obstacles and opportunities faced by coalitions and CBAs. The literature review informed the direction of the project by highlighting, (1) coalitions and CBAs are different mechanisms with differing levels of enforceability; and, (2) work product and coalitions and CBAs have arisen as a means of increasing cross-jurisdictional collaboration and public participation in planning processes, and are highly utilized by community interest groups looking to address environmentally related issues. The document review illustrated the regulatory environment formulated through federal and state environmental and land use law. The case studies were then chosen based on a diversity of membership from each other and varying levels of incorporation or enforceability. The case studies selected were the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition (NWTCC), the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association (OCZMA), and the Community Package Coalition (CPC). These case studies revealed that the sharing of expertise and resources as well as the increased levels of collaboration are opportunities for coalitions and CBAs. Additionally, the contribution of charismatic leaders, particularly those with planning, political, and policy experience, assist coalitions and CBAs. In contrast, many coalitions and CBAs face difficulty obtaining funding, may face legislative hurdles, and may experience a lack of support from local communities. Based on this research and other existing research, state governing bodies should implement policies allowing local communities to employ formal coalitions and CBAs as part of their land use decision powers to increase the enforceability of agreements. Overall, future research should more extensively research the opportunities and obstacles faced by coalitions and CBAs because they offer a way for local governments and community interest groups to increase local capacity to effectively deal with issues facing their locality.