HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.2 Public Hearing: Climate Action Plan & Neg Dec
OF D
I STAFF REPORT
1 82 PLANNING COMMISSION
DATE: October 26, 2010
TO: Planning Commission
SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING: City of Dublin Climate Action Plan and Negative
Declaration
Report prepared by Martha Aja, Environmental Specialist
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The proposed City of Dublin Climate Action Plan (CAP) provides policies and measures aimed
at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the City. The goal of the CAP is to reduce
Dublin's community-wide GHG emissions by 20% below a business-as-usual scenario by 2020.
The CAP identifies a variety of ineasures to achieve the City's GHG reduction target. The
various GHG reduction measures are organized into three broad categories, which include: 1)
transportation and land use measures; 2) energy measures; and 3) solid waste and recycling
measures. The CAP describes baseline GHG emissions produced in Dublin in 2005, and
forecasts GHG emissions that could be expected if the proposed CAP is not implemented - the
business-as-usual scenario. The City expects to reduce GHG emissions through a combination
of reduction measures that are included in the CAP. These include measures that are under the
City's control and State initiatives aimed at reducing GHG emissions. The proposed CAP and
draft Negative Declaration are being presented to the Planning Commission for review and
recommendation to the City Council.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission: 1) Receive Staff presentation; 2) Open the
public hearing; 3) Take testimony from the public; 4) Close the public hearing and deliberate; 5)
Adopt a Resolution recommending City Council adoption of a Negative Declaration for the City
of Dublin Climate Action Plan; and 6) Adopt a Resolution recommending City Council approval
of the City of Dublin Climate Action Plan.
Submitted B~ : eviewed By
Environmental Specialist Communi y Development Director
COPIES TO: ~
ITEM NO.: ~
Page 1 of 8
G:IPA#120100ublin Climate Action Plan & Neg DecIPC Meefing 10.26.101PCSR 10.26.10.doc
DESCRIPTION:
Background
State. National and International
In 1997, 10,000 international delegates, observers and journalists gathered in Kyoto, Japan,
to participate in the drafting and adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrialized
nations to reduce their collective GHG emissions to 5.2% below 1990 levels. As of May
2008, one-hundred-eighty-one (181) countries have ratified the agreement representing over
61 % of the emissions from developed countries.
In 2005, cities and counties took the lead at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and developed
the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, which urged federal and
state governments to enact policies and programs to meet the Kyoto Protocol target. The
agreement included a commitment to strive to meet the Kyoto Protocol target by taking local
actions, such as conducting a baseline emissions inventory, setting reduction targets, and
creating a climate action plan.
In September 2006, the State of California enacted Assembly Bill (AB) 32, the Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which requires California to reduce Statewide GHG
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. AB 32 directs the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to
develop and implement regulations that reduce statewide GHG emissions. The Climate
Change Scoping Plan (Scoping Plan) was approved by ARB in December 2008 and outlines
the State's plan to achieve the GHG reductions required in AB 32. The Scoping Plan
contains the primary strategies California will implement to achieve a reduction of 169 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT C02e), or approximately 30% from the
State's projected 2020 emissions level. In the Scoping Plan, the ARB encourages local
governments to adopt a reduction goal for municipal operations emissions and to move
forward with establishing similar goals for community emissions, which parallel the State's
commitment to reduce GHG emissions. However, the specific role local governments will
play in meeting the State's AB 32 goals is not established in the Scoping Plan.
Bay Area Air Quality Manaqement District
In June 2010, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) air quality thresholds of significance for use within its
jurisdictional boundaries, which includes the City of Dublin. The BAAQMD has direct and
indirect regulatory authority over sources of air pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area Air
Basin. The overall goal of this effort was to develop CEQA significance criteria to ensure that
future development includes appropriate and feasible emission reduction measures to mitigate
significant air quality and GHG emissions impacts.
The BAAQMD adopted project level thresholds, which include an emission level threshold of
1,100 MT COze per year and a threshold of 4.6 metric tons of GHG emissions per service
population (i.e. residents and employees) per year for individual development projects. For
general references, the adopted project threshold (1,100 metric tons of C02e/yr) is equivalent to
the approximate amount of GHG emissions that 60 single-family units, or 78 multi-family units,
or a supermarket exceeding 8,000 square feet, or an office park exceeding 50,000 square feet
would generate.
Projects with emissions greater than the adopted threshold (1,100 MT COZe per year) would be
required to mitigate to the proposed threshold level or reduce project emissions by an amount
deemed feasible by the lead agency. The BAAQMD's approach is to identify the emissions level
2 of 8
for which a project would result in a less than significant impact under CEQA and would not be
expected to substantially conflict with existing California legislation adopted to reduce Statewide
GHG emissions. If a project were to generate GHG emissions above the threshold level
established by the BAAQMD, it would be considered as contributing substantially to the
cumulative impact of GHG emissions within the community and would be considered a
significant impact under CEQA.
Alternatively, a city may prepare a qualified GHG Reduction Strategy or Climate Action Plan that
furthers AB 32 goals. The BAAQMD encourages such planning efforts and recognizes that
careful early planning by local agencies is invaluable to achieving the State's GHG reduction
goals. If a project is consistent with a qualified GHG Reduction Strategy, which addresses the
projecYs GHG emissions, the Strategy can be used as the basis for determining that the project
would have a less than significant impact on the community's cumulative GHG emissions under
CEQA.
CEQA contains standards for GHG Reduction Strategies that can be used in the cumulative
impacts analysis for projects covered under the Plan (CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5). The
BAAQMD recognizes these CEQA standards as meeting the DistricYs standards for a Reduction
Strategy. The BAAQMD CEQA Thresholds contain some standards in addition to those under
CEQA.
The proposed City of Dublin CAP has been developed to meet both the CEQA and BAAQMD
standards for a qualified GHG Reduction Strategy.
Citv of Dublin
On July 17, 2007, the City Council approved participation in the Climate Protection Project
for Alameda County jurisdictions (Resolution 139-07). The Alameda County Climate
Protection Project (ACCPP) was launched by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
in partnership with StopWaste.Org and the Alameda County Conference of Mayors. In
committing to this project, the jurisdictions within Alameda County embarked on an on-going,
coordinated effort to reduce emissions, improve air quality, reduce waste and cut energy
use. In doing so, the City of Dublin committed to ICLEI's 5-milestone methodology for
reducing GHG emissions, which include:
Milestone 1: Conduct a baseline emissions inventory and forecast;
Milestone 2: Adopt an emissions reduction target;
Milestone 3: Develop a Climate Action Plan for reducing emissions;
Milestone 4: Implement polices and measures to reduce emissions; and
Milestone 5: Monitor and verify results.
The City completed the first milestone in 2008. The second and third milestones are the
subject of this agenda item. The creation of a CAP is included as a high priority goal within
the Fiscal Year 2010/2011 City Council Goals & Objectives Program.
In March 2010, the Dublin City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a Consulting
Services Agreement between the City of Dublin and AECOM to assist the City in the
preparation of the proposed CAP. AECOM calculated the GHG emissions reductions to be
achieved by implementation of the measures in the CAP and State initiatives that would
mitigate GHG emissions within the community. AECOM also peer reviewed the City of
Dublin's CAP for technical accuracy.
3of8
ANALYSIS:
The proposed CAP (Attachment 1) provides policies and measures aimed at reducing GHG
emissions within the City to further the goals of AB 32. The goal of the CAP is to reduce
Dublin's community-wide GHG emissions by 20% below the business-as-usual projection of
GHG emissions emitted during 2020 by said year. The City anticipates the GHG reduction
goal to be achieved through a combination of efforts at the local, regional and State levels.
The reduction measures included within the proposed CAP, which contribute to the City's
reduction goal, include locally-focused activities as well as State initiatives under ARB's
Scoping Plan.
A program or project would be considered consistent with the CAP if it substantially complies
with the applicable measures set forth within the CAP and not obstruct the attainment of the
estimated GHG emissions reductions.
Emission Inventorv, Baseline and Proiections
The CAP (Chapter II, "Emissions Inventory") presents a GHG emissions inventory for 2005,
which includes an inventory of both community level and municipal level emissions. The
community-level-emissions inventory includes sources of GHG emissions emitted from the
residential, commercial/industrial, transportation and waste sectors. The municipal-level-
emissions inventory includes those sources that fall under the direct jurisdictional control of the
City of Dublin Municipal Corporation, which includes City facilities, the City's vehicle fleet, public
lighting, municipal water consumption and municipal solid waste generation. The emissions
inventory was developed by the City in collaboration with ICLEI. Total community-wide
emissions were determined to be 357,211 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005
(refer to Table 1 below). Government-related emissions were estimated to be 1,573 metric tons
of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005 (refer to Table 2 below).
Table 1 Communit Greenhouse Gas Emissions b Sector (MT COZe)
2005 Community Percent of Total Energy Equivalent
Emissions b Sector MT COZe COZe MMBtu
Residential 51,154 14.3% 886,617
Commercial/Industrial 60,183 16.8% 986,302
Local Roads 49,670 13.9% 670,383
State Hi hwa s 183,714 51.4% 2,479,544
Waste 12,490 3.5% 0
TOTAL 357,211 100% 5,022,846
Table 2- Government GHG Emissions b Sector
Energy
2005 Government Percentage of Equivalent
Emissions MT COZe Total COZe MMBtu
Buildin s 770 49.0% 12,787
Vehicle Fleet 286 18.2% 3,681
Public Li htin 484 30.8% 7,377
Water 22 1.4% 335
Solid Waste 11 0.7% 0
TOTAL 1,573 100% 24,180
4of8
Chapter III of the CAP, "Forecast for Greenhouse Gas Emissions," includes projections of
emissions in 2020. ICLEI conducted an emission forecast for the year 2020 based on projected
trends in energy use, driving habits, job and population growth from the baseline year (2005)
through 2020. The inflation factors were determined using the Association of Bay Area
GovernmenYs 2009 projections for growth within the City of Dublin. Under a business-as-usual
scenario, it is estimated that the City of Dublin's emissions will grow over the next decade and a
half by approximately 31.9% from 357,211 to 471,205 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
(refer to Table 3 below).
Table 3- Communit Greenhouse Gas Emissions Growth Pro'ections b Sector
Community Emissions 2005 2020 Annual Percent
Growth Forecast by MT COZe MT COZe Growth Change
Sector Emissions Emissions Rate (2005 - 2020)
Residential 51,154 80,187 2.850% 54.2%
Commercialllndustrial 60,183 96,625 2.087% 36.3%
Transportation 233,384 292,151 1.509% 25.2%
Waste 12,490 19,579 2.850% 52.4%
TOTAL 357,211 471,205 - 31.9%
Dublin's GHG reduction goal is 20% below the business-as-usual projection of GHG emissions
emitted during 2020 by said year. This goal will lower the projected GHG emissions in 2020
from 471,205 metric tons of carbon dioxide to 376,964. While the City expects significant
residential, commercial and industrial growth through 2020, the total amount of GHG emissions
emitted within the community will not be increasing significantly from 2005 levels. This is
illustrated by the fact that the City's service population will grow by nearly 50% during the same
period, where service population is the summation of population and the number of jobs within
the City.
Further, the City of Dublin's CAP is designed to meet or exceed the goals of AB 32. To delineate
the City's commitment to the goals of AB 32, the City's CAP employs BAAQMD's GHG
efficiency based metric for Climate Action Plans of 6.6 MT COze per service population per
year. The City's per capita efficiency metric is 5.88 for 2005 and 4.22 for 2020, which represents
a 28% decrease in GHG emissions between the base year and forecast year. The City of
Dublin's efficiency metric is well below the established threshold in both the Base Year 2005
and the Forecast Year 2020. Thus, the City will be growing significantly over the 15-year period
covered by the CAP, but during this same time, the City's GHG emissions will be decreasing
significantly on a per individual basis, which is not clearly visible when simply inspecting the
business-as-usual scenario.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures
The proposed CAP identifies a variety of ineasures to achieve the City's GHG reduction target.
The inclusion of quantifiable GHG reduction measures is the primary focus of the proposed
CAP. The anticipated emissions reduction of each individual measure is used to contribute to
the overall GHG reduction goal. Measures that would aid in reducing GHG emissions, but which
are not quantified, are also included in the proposed CAP. While these measures do not
mathematically contribute to the City reduction target, they ultimately will result in GHG
reductions beyond those included in the reductions calculation. That is, they will reduce
emissions, but the reduction is not being measured at this time. The various GHG reduction
5of8
measures are organized into three categories: 1) transportation and land use; 2) energy; and 3)
solid waste management and recycling. These categories follow the major sources of emissions
found in the City of Dublin 2005 GHG emissions inventory.
Results of Implementation
Implementation of the City-controlled measures in the CAP would result in annual community-
wide GHG emissions reductions of 46,737 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (a 9.92%
total reduction per year relative to 2020). A list of the local measures that are under the City's
control can be found in Table 12 of the CAP (Attachment 1). The City-controlled measures
include transportation and land use measures, energy measures and solid waste and recycling
measures. The Municipal Operations Measures and Public Outreach Programs are also
included as part of the City-controlled measures.
Additionally, implementation of statewide initiatives (AB 1493 and Renewable Portfolio
Standard) would result in annual GHG emissions reductions of an additional 52,263 metric tons
of carbon dioxide equivalent (11.09% total reduction per year relative to 2020). AB 1493
requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop and adopt regulations to reduce GHG
emissions from vehicles primarily used for noncommercial transportation. In 2004, the ARB
approved amendments to California's existing standards for motor vehicles to meet the
requirements of AB 1493. These amendments require automobile manufactures to meet fleet-
average GHG emission limits for all passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty
passenger vehicle weight classes, beginning in 2009.
Senate Bill 1078 established the Renewable Portfolio Standard. The Renewable Portfolio
Standard requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources such as
wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. The Renewable Portfolio Standard requires electricity
providers to increase purchases of renewable energy sources by 1% per year until they have
attained a portfolio of 20% renewable sources. Executive Order S-14-08, which was signed by
the Governor in 2008, expands California's Renewable Energy Standard to 33% renewable
power by 2020.
The community-wide measures combined with the statewide initiatives would reduce the
anticipated emissions in the community by 99,000 metric tons/year of carbon dioxide equivalent
and would achieve the City's reduction goal of reducing GHG emission by 20% below the
Business-As-Usual projection of GHG emitted during 2020 by said year.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A Public Notice was mailed to interested parties, including surrounding jurisdictions and various
state and regional agencies. Additionally, the Public Notice was published in the Valley Times
and posted at several locations throughout the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The overall purpose of the proposed CAP is to reduce GHG emissions and the impacts that
these emissions will have on the community and the global environment, and therefore, is a
project designed to benefit the environment. As a result, it may not constitute a"projecY' under
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), or it may qualify for an exemption under
CEQA. However, as with a proposal involving activities relating to development, implementation
of the proposed CAP could potentially result in adverse impacts on the physical environment.
6of8
Therefore, an Initial Study was prepared by the City pursuant to CEQA to evaluate whether
there are any potentially adverse environmental impacts of implementing the CAP.
The Initial Study/Negative Declaration was circulated for public review from July 7, 2010 to
August 5, 2010 (Exhibit B of Attachment 2). During the public review period, the City received 6
comment letters (Exhibit C of Attachment 2), which include the following:
• County of Alameda Public Works Agency, dated July 27, 2010
• City of Dublin Parks & Community Services Department, dated August 4, 2010
• Dublin San Ramon Services District, dated August 4, 2010
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), dated August 5, 2010
• City of Dublin Police Services
• Alameda County Fire Prevention Bureau
The letter from the BAAQMD was the only letter that raised concerns. The City of Dublin worked
cooperatively with the BAAQMD and made minor modifications to the Climate Action Plan to
address the concerns outlined in the BAAQMD letter. One of the changes that the City made to
the CAP was the inclusion of the BAAQMD's GHG significance threshold for CAPs which is an
efficiency based metric of 6.6 MT COze per service population per year. The CAP results in an
efficiency level of 4.22 MT COze per service population per year in 2020, which is 36% below
the threshold established by the BAQMD. It also represents a 28% decrease in GHG emissions
between the base year and forecast year. Additionally, the City used ABAG's 2009 projections
to determine the forecast for 2020 instead of the 2005 projections. The City also changed the
multiplier used to determine the emission reductions anticipated from AB 1493 from 15.76°/o to
12.2%, which resulted in a decrease of anticipated emission reductions from AB 1493. This
change was made based on updated information from the Air Resources Board. This change in
the projected reductions from statewide measures is largely the basis for the change in the
reduction target to 20%. The level of reduction from Citywide measures remains in the same
(9.92%) and the City did not make any changes to any of the Citywide reduction measures in
the CAP.
The environmental analysis of the proposed CAP focused solely on the new policies and
changes in existing policies that will be implemented as a result of the proposed CAP. It did not
analyze the impacts of existing programs included in the proposed CAP, which have already
undergone their own environmental review. In particular, the proposed CAP will not result in any
change in land use designations or permit greater intensity of development than already allowed
under the existing City General Plan, Specific Plans and zoning. The environmental impacts
from these types of activities are already addressed by the CEQA review adopted by the City
relating to these actions.
CEQA allows cities to develop climate action plans or GHG reduction plans to provide
programmatic analysis of the cumulative impacts of GHG emissions for future projects in the
City. CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5 authorizes the use of these Plans for the analysis of the
cumulative impacts of projects consistent with the Plan. The BAAQMD adopted CEQA
Guidelines and Significance Thresholds for GHG emissions also authorize the use of these
Plans for CEQA review of future projects. The proposed CAP serves as the City's qualified
7 of 8
GHG Reduction Plan and programmatic tiering document for the purposes of CEQA for analysis
of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The City has determined that the
reduction target under the Plan will reduce the impact from activities under the Plan to a less
than significant level under CEQA (i.e., the project will not make a cumulatively considerable
contribution to a significant cumulative impact). 7herefore, the Climate Action Plan may be used
for the cumulative impact analysis for future projects and development in the City covered by
the Plan. As such, it satisfies CEQA review requirements for all applicable projects within the
City. If a proposed project is consistent with the applicable emissions reduction measures
identified in the proposed CAP, the project would be considered to have a less than significant
impact (i.e., less than cumulatively considerable contribution to significant cumulative impact)
due to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change consistent with Public Resources Code
21083.3, CEQA Guidelines Sections 15183.5, 15064 and 15130, and BAAQMD adopted CEQA
Guidelines and GHG Significance Thresholds.
CONCLUSION:
GHG emissions are an issue of growing concern for communities across the U.S. and around
the world. The City of Dublin has displayed leadership and foresight in choosing to confront this
issue now. By reducing the amount of GHG emissions emitted by the community, Dublin joins
hundreds of other American cities in stemming GHG emissions and the impacts associated with
it. The City of Dublin will benefit in many other ways from the proposed measures outlined in the
proposed Climate Action Plan, including better public health, improved public spaces, economic
growth and long-term savings for property owners.
The goal of the proposed CAP is to reduce Dublin's community-wide GHG emission by 20°/o
below a business-as-usual scenario by 2020 which will result in an emissions level of 4.22 MT
COze per service population per year. Additionally, the proposed CAP will streamline CEQA
review for GHG emissions. If a project is consistent with a qualified GHG Reduction Strategy,
which addresses the projecYs GHG emissions, the Strategy can be used as the basis for
determining that the project would have a less than significant impact on the community's
cumulative GHG emission under CEQA.
ATTACHMENTS: 1) City of Dublin Climate Action Plan.
2) Resolution recommending City Council adoption of a
Negative Declaration for the City of Dublin Climate
Action Plan, with draft City Council Resolution attached
as Exhibit A, the Initial Study/Negative Declaration
attached as Exhibit B and the comment letters attached
as Exhibit C.
3) Resolution recommending City Council approval of the
City of Dublin Climate Action Plan, with draft City
Council Resolution attached as Exhibit A.
8of8