County Integrates AB 96 Heat Mitigation Mandates Into Master Plans to Combat Urban Heat Islands

LAS VEGAS, NV — Planning commissions across Clark County and major Southern Nevada municipalities are officially embedding mandatory heat mitigation strategies into regional master plans, complying with state requirements under newly enacted Assembly Bill 96.

The legislative mandate requires Nevada’s most populous jurisdictions to factor extreme urban heat directly into long-term infrastructure and land-use approvals.

Addressing the Southwest Urban Heat Crisis

Reno and Las Vegas consistently rank among the fastest-warming metropolitan areas in the nation. In Southern Nevada, coroner records documented over 500 heat-related fatalities in 2024, emphasizing the urgent need for structural urban adaptation.

Under Assembly Bill 96—signed into law by Governor Joe Lombardo following amendments that clarified local planning flexibility—counties and cities with populations exceeding 100,000 (specifically Clark and Washoe counties) must update the conservation elements of their comprehensive master plans.

The updated land-use rules require future commercial, residential, and transit development proposals to incorporate explicit cooling features.

+--------------------------------------------------------+
|          ASSEMBLY BILL 96 (AB 96) MANDATE MATRIX       |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
|  - Target Jurisdictions: Counties Pop. 100,000+        |
|  - Statutory Deadline: Effective July 2026             |
|  - Required Core Element: Heat Mitigation in Master Plan|
|  - Key Strategies: Shaded Transit, Tree Canopy, Fountains|
|  - Priority Areas: Historic Westside & East Las Vegas   |
+--------------------------------------------------------+

Focus on Tree Canopy and Cool Surfaces

Local sustainability directors point out that lower-income urban corridors—such as East Las Vegas and the Historic Westside—exhibit significantly fewer trees and higher concentrations of heat-retaining asphalt than surrounding suburban developments like Summerlin. These “urban heat islands” trap ambient daytime thermal energy and radiate extreme heat late into the night.

To satisfy AB 96 compliance, municipal plans now mandate:

Expanded Shade Structures: Required canopy and shelter integration over bus stops, paved sidewalks, and high-density pedestrian walkways.
Cool Building Practices: Encouraging reflective roofing materials, cool pavement coatings, and heat-reducing architectural techniques.
Urban Forestry Expansion: Aligning municipal development codes with long-term goals, such as the City of Las Vegas’s initiative to plant 60,000 trees by 2050.
Public Cooling Access: Expanding mapped networks of accessible indoor cooling spaces and public drinking water infrastructure.

Local government agencies are aligning existing municipal programs—such as Clark County’s All-In Sustainability initiative and Las Vegas’s updated 2050 Master Plan—to ensure full statutory compliance for all future commercial zoning and site development reviews.

Source: Nevada Legislature AB 96 Enrolled Text, Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability Reports, City of Las Vegas Planning Division Records.