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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPCSR Item 8.2 PH CAP Update & Neg Dec OF DU��`2 1 19 X82 STAFF REPORT %Z PLANNING COMMISSION O�LIFOR��� DATE: September 24, 2013 TO: Planning Commission SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARING: City of Dublin Climate Action Plan Update and Negative Declaration Report prepared by Martha Aja, Environmental Coordinator EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The proposed City of Dublin Climate Action Plan Update (CAP Update) provides policies and measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the City. The goal of the CAP Update is to reduce Dublin's community-wide GHG emissions by 15% below 2010 levels by 2020. The CAP Update identifies a variety of measures 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 Update describes baseline GHG emissions produced in Dublin in 2010, and forecasts GHG emissions that could be expected if the proposed CAP Update is not implemented (business-as-usual scenario). The City expects to reduce GHG emissions through a combination of reduction measures that are included in the CAP Update. These include measures that are under the City's control and State initiatives aimed at reducing GHG emissions. The proposed CAP Update 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 Update; and 6) Adopt a Resolution recommending City Council approval of the City of Dublin Climate Action Plan Update. Submitted By: Reviewed By Environmental Coordinator Community Development Director COPIES TO: (� ITEM NO.: i7 Page 1 of 9 G:IPA#120131C1imate Action PlanIPCSR 9 24 13.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. Currently there are 192 parties to the Kyoto Protocol. 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 CO2e), 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 Management 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 CO2e 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 CO2e/yr) is equivalent to the approximate amount of GHG emissions that would be generated by 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. The BAAQMD also adopted a plan threshold of 6.6 MTCO2e per service population per year, where service population is the summation of population and the number of jobs. The City of Dublin's CAP Update employs the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) GHG efficiency threshold of 6.6 MTCO2e per service population per year as evidence of the City's intent to meet the intent of AB 32 to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Projects with emissions greater than the adopted threshold (1,100 MT CO2e 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 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 2of9 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. On March 5, 2012, the Alameda County Superior Court issued a judgment finding that the BAAQMD had failed to comply with CEQA when it adopted the thresholds. The court did not determine whether the thresholds were valid on the merits, but found that the adoption of the thresholds was a project under CEQA. The court issued a writ of mandate ordering the BAAQMD to set aside the thresholds and cease dissemination of them until the BAAQMD had complied with CEQA. The BAAQMD appealed the ruling, and on August 13, 2013, the California First District Court of Appeal reversed the Alameda County Superior Court's decision. The City as a lead agency continues to rely on the substantial evidence based on statewide data and analysis relative to AB 32 that underlie the BAAQMD thresholds in making a determination of significance of plan-level GHG impacts. Under the BAAQMD guidelines, a city may prepare a Qualified GHG Reduction Strategy that furthers AB 32 goals. If a project is consistent with an adopted Qualified GHG Reduction Strategy that addresses the project's GHG emissions, the strategy/plan can be used as a basis for determining that the project would have a less than significant impact (i.e., less than cumulatively considerable contribution) due to GHG emissions and climate change under CEQA. CEQA contains standards for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plans that can be used in the cumulative impacts analysis for projects covered under the CAP (CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5). The BAAQMD recognizes these CEQA standards as meeting the district's standards for a Qualified GHG Reduction Strategy. The CAP has been developed to meet both the CEQA and BAAQMD standards for a Qualified GHG Reduction Plan/Strategy. City 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 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's original CAP was adopted by the City Council in November 2010. The City's CAP established a GHG emissions reduction target of 20% below the 2020 GHG emissions forecast (business-as-usual scenario). The 2010 CAP included 34 reduction measures. Since adoption of the 2010 CAP, the City has implemented 11 new reduction measures, bringing the reduction measures in the CAP Update to 45. 3 of 9 CAP Update The City is committed to periodically reviewing its CAP to determine the progress made in reducing GHG emissions with the City. The process of conducting a periodic review allows the City to demonstrate progress toward local emission reduction targets and identify opportunities to integrate new or improved measures into the plan. As stated in the original CAP, the City will re-inventory its GHG emissions every 5 years. The first inventory was conducted for calendar year 2005 and the inventory in the CAP update is for calendar year 2010. Additionally, the GHG emissions inventory for calendar year 2010 was a City Council key initiative for FY 12-13. The update to the CAP is a City Council key initiative for FY 13- 14. The City contracted with PMC to assist Staff in preparing the Climate Action Plan Update. PMC calculated the GHG emissions reductions to be achieved by implementation of the measures in the CAP Update and State initiatives that would mitigate GHG emissions within the community. PMC also peer reviewed the City of Dublin's CAP Update for technical accuracy and provided assistance coordinating with the BAAQMD. The proposed CAP Update (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 Update is to reduce Dublin's community-wide GHG emissions by 15% below 2010 levels by 2020. This reduction target is more aggressive than the reduction target in the original CAP, which included a reduction target of 20% below business-as-usual GHG emissions by 2020. The Planning Commission is being asked to review and make a recommendation to the City Council regarding adoption of the proposed CAP Update and the accompanying environmental document. ANALYSIS: The purpose of the baseline emissions inventory is to establish an initial level of GHG emissions for the community, which allows the City to measure future progress. The City's original CAP used calendar year 2005 as its base year. As part of the CAP Update, the City prepared an updated emissions inventory for calendar year 2010. Switching to 2010 as the baseline is a better choice for many reasons. Community activities that effect GHG emissions have changed considerably since 2005 due to increased awareness of sustainability, as well as the downturn in the economy. In addition, numerous efficiency improvements have occurred in electric equipment, vehicles and other devices, resulting in lower emissions per use. Furthermore, the 2010 inventory contains additional subsectors and activities not accounted for in the 2005 inventory (e.g. water emissions, wastewater emissions and BART emissions). As a result, the 2010 emissions inventory is more complete and accurate than the 2005 inventory. The shift from the base year from 2005 to 2010 enables the City to more fully capture community emissions and employs more aggressive calculation methodologies not present in 2005, thereby, producing a more precise GHG reduction goal. 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 CAP Update, which contribute to the City's reduction goal, include locally-focused activities as well as State initiatives under ARB's Scoping Plan. 4of9 A program or project would be considered consistent with the CAP Update if it substantially complies with the applicable measures set forth within the CAP Update and does not obstruct the attainment of the estimated GHG emissions reductions. Emission Inventory, Baseline and Projections The CAP Update (Chapter II, "Emissions Inventory") presents a GHG emissions inventory for 2010, 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 energy, commercial/industrial energy, transportation, water and wastewater and solid waste sectors. Total community-wide emissions were determined to be 328,155 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010 (refer to Table 1 below). Table 1 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector(MT CO2e) 2010 Community Emissions by Percent of Total Sector MTCO2e CO2e Residential 55,966 17.1% Commercial/industrial 60,098 18.3% Transportation 204,151 62.2% Solid waste 5,330 1.6% Water&wastewater(electricity and fugitive emissions) 2,610 0.8% TOTAL 328,155 100.0% 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, employee commute, municipal water consumption and municipal solid waste generation. Government-related emissions were estimated to be 2,343 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010 (refer to Table 2 below). Table 2—Government GHG Emissions by Sector Government Emissions Percentage of Total 2010 MTCO2e CO2e Buildings and facilities 790 33.7% Streetlights and traffic signals 548 23.4% Water delivery 12 0.5% Vehicle fleet 687 29.3% Employee commute 249 10.6% Mobile source refrigerants 8 0.3% Solid waste 49 2.1% TOTAL 2,343 100% Chapter III of the CAP Update, "Forecast for Greenhouse Gas Emissions," includes projections of emissions in 2020. The emission forecast for the year 2020 is based on projected trends in energy use, driving habits, and job and population growth from the baseline year (2010) through 2020. The inflation factors were determined using a variety of sources, including US 2010 Census data, ABAG One Bay Area Plan, the Dublin Economic Development Strategy, MTC Transportation data and the BART 2008 Fiscal Year Short-Range Transit Plan. Under a business-as-usual scenario, it is estimated that the City of Dublin's emissions will grow over the 5 of 9 next decade by approximately 14% from 328,155 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to 374,790 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (refer to Table 3 below). This amounts to a 1.3% annual growth rate in community emissions between 2010 and 2020 and underscores Dublin's predicted jobs and population growth in the next decade Table 3-Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Growth Projections by Sector Community Emissions 2010 2020'' Percent` Growth Forecast by MTCOZe Emissions MTCO2e Change Sector Emissions 2010-2020 Residential 55,966 65,200 16.5% Commercial/industrial 60,098 71,156 18.4% Water&wastewater 2,610 3,419 31.0% electricity Transportation 204,151 228,037 11.7% Solid waste 5,330 6,982 31.0% TOTAL 328,155 374,790 14.2% Dublin's GHG reduction goal is 15% below 2010 levels by 2020. This goal will lower the projected GHG emissions in 2020 from 374,790 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to 272,410 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. While the City expects significant residential, commercial and industrial growth through 2020, the total amount of GHG emissions emitted within the community will be decreasing. Further, the City of Dublin's CAP Update 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 CO2e per service population per year. The City's per capita efficiency metric is 5.04 for 2010 and 3.20 for 2020, which represents a significant decrease in GHG emissions between the base year and forecast year on a per capita basis. The City of Dublin's efficiency metric is well below the established threshold in both the Base Year 2010 and the Forecast Year 2020. Thus, the City will be growing significantly over the 10-year period covered by the CAP Update, but during this same time, the City's GHG emissions will be decreasing significantly on a per individual basis. Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures The CAP Update identifies a variety of measures to achieve the City's GHG reduction target (Attachment 1, Section V, pages 25-42). The inclusion of quantifiable GHG reduction measures is the primary focus of the CAP Update. 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 CAP Update (supporting measures). 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 because there are insufficient data/assumptions to quantify the anticipated GHG emissions reduction. The various GHG reduction measures are organized into three broad 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 2010 GHG emissions inventory. 6 of 9 Results of Implementation Implementation of the local reduction measures in the CAP Update (includes Community-wide measures, Municipal Operations Measures & Public Outreach Programs) would result in annual community-wide GHG emissions reductions of 38,920 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. A list of the local measures and the estimated GHG reductions can be found in Table 13 of the CAP Update (Attachment 1, pages 47-48). Additionally, implementation of statewide initiatives (AB 1493, Renewable Portfolio Standard and Title 24) would result in annual GHG emissions reductions of an additional 63,460 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. A description of the measures being implemented by the State can be found in Section VI of the CAP Update (Attachment 1, pages 43-46). The community-wide measures combined with the statewide initiatives would reduce the anticipated emissions in the community by 102,380 metric tons/year of carbon dioxide equivalent and would achieve the City's reduction goal of reducing GHG emission by 15% below 2010 levels by 2020. 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 CAP Update 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 "project" 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 CAP Update could potentially result in adverse impacts on the physical environment. 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 Update. No adverse impacts were identified and a Negative Declaration was prepared. The Initial Study/Negative Declaration was circulated for public review from July 26, 2013 to August 26, 2013 (Exhibit B of Attachment 2). During the public review period, the City received three comment letters (Exhibit C of Attachment 2), which include the following: • Dublin San Ramon Services District, dated August 21, 2013 • Colorado River Board of California, dated August 23, 2013 • Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), dated September 5, 2013 The letter from the BAAQMD was the only letter that raised concerns. The City of Dublin is proposing minor modifications to the CAP Update to address concerns expressed by the BAAQMD. The proposed modifications to the CAP Update are a result of a verbal discussion with Air District Staff and those concerns outlined the BAAQMD comment letter. Please refer to the Climate Action Plan Errata (Exhibit A of Attachment 1) for the proposed modifications to the 7of9 CAP Update. Most notably, the proposed modifications to the CAP Update include the following: • An update on the ruling of the California First District Court of Appeal decision relating to the BAAQMD thresholds. • Discussion on stationary source emissions within Dublin. • Clarification on the transportation sector analysis and how the emissions were determined. • A discussion on how the City's CAP and the GHG reduction target meets the goals of AB 32. • Modifications to Appendix D to include more detail on the data sources. The letter from the BAAQMD requests that Appendix D be revised to include more detailed information on the assumptions behind the emission reduction estimates. The requested information has not been provided in Appendix D. The assumptions used do not affect the material outcome of the document. The back-up data is available in the City's file and can be viewed as requested. The letter from the BAAQMD further suggests that the City of Dublin include additional reduction measures, such as expanding the City's Green Building Program beyond new development, adding a time of sale energy efficiency upgrade requirement to residential and commercial buildings, adding heat island mitigation strategies, adding a transportation demand management requirements and adding measures addressing parking requirements. The City of Dublin's strategy with its Climate Action Plan is to include new programs, practices and policies into the plan as they are developed and implemented. The community-wide measures combined with the statewide initiatives would achieve the City's reduction goal of reducing GHG emission by 15% below 2010 levels by 2020. The City is committed to continuing to explore new actions to reduce GHG emissions and to supplementing these actions in future years, if needed to achieve the reduction target. As new programs, practices and policies are adopted by the City, they will be included in future CAP updates; therefore, we aren't proposing to incorporate additional reduction measures proposed by the BAAQMD. The environmental analysis of the CAP Update focused solely on the new policies and changes in existing policies that will be implemented as a result of the CAP Update. It did not analyze the impacts of existing programs included in the original 2010 CAP, which have already undergone their own environmental review. In particular, the CAP Update 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 CEQA Guidelines and Significance Thresholds for GHG emissions also authorize the use of these Plans for CEQA review of future projects. 8 of 9 The CAP Update serves as the City's qualified 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). Therefore, the Climate Action Plan Update 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 CAP Update, 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. ATTACHMENTS: 1) City of Dublin Climate Action Plan Update with the Climate Action Plan Errata attached as Exhibit A. 2) Resolution recommending City Council adoption of a Negative Declaration for the City of Dublin Climate Action Plan Update, 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 Update, with draft City Council Resolution attached as Exhibit A. 9of9