03 - Laserfiche WebLink

Introduction 1 Introduction 1 .1 GHG Emissions Analyses Under CEQA The California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) requires discretionary plans and projects to undergo an environmental review process,which includes an evaluation of plan-or project-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.'Section 15183.5 of the CEQA Guidelines establishes a framework for developing a qualified2 Climate Action Plan (CAP)to cumulatively reduce GHG emissions and allow lead agencies to analyze and mitigate the effects of plan-and project-level GHG emissions. This GHG Thresholds and Guidance Document is intended to provide methodological guidance and quantitative thresholds of significance for use by City planners, applicants,consultants, agencies, and members of the public in the preparation of GHG emissions analyses under CEQA for plans and projects located within the City of Pleasanton. The City of Pleasanton (City) prepared a CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5-consistent CAP 2.0 adopted in February 2022 and updated in August 2022with the goal of achieving a 70 percent reduction in per capita GHG emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2030(which equates to 51 percent below the total (or mass) 1990 GHG emissions levels by 2030) and carbon neutrality by 2045.3 While the City Council, City staff,and community will continue to develop an approach to the longer-term goal of carbon neutrality,the CAP 2.0 includes specific actions to achieve the shorter- term communitywide emissions reduction target of 70 percent below 1990 per capita emissions(or 4.11 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents [MT of CO2e]4 per person) by 2030,which is consistent with and exceeds California's goal of reducing GHG emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030(per Senate Bill [SB] 32).The City has also adopted a goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045,consistent with Executive Order [EO] B-55-18).Therefore, implementation of the Pleasanton CAP 2.0 actions would result in GHG emissions reduction in both total and per capita emissions in a manner that exceeds the State 2030 goal.See Figure 1 for a representation and comparison of the Pleasanton and State GHG emissions reduction targets. 1 Refer to Appendix A for an overview of GHG emissions and climate change. 2 To be a qualified CAP,a CAP must meet the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5,as further discussed in Section 1.2. 3 Carbon neutrality is defined as net zero carbon emissions,which is achieved either by balancing carbon emissions with carbon removal or by completely eliminating carbon emissions. 4 Different types of GHGs have varying global warming potentials(GWPs).The GWP of a GHG is the potential of a gas or aerosol to trap heat in the atmosphere over a specified timescale(generally,100 years).Because GHGs absorb different amounts of heat,a common reference gas,CO2,is used to relate the amount of heat absorbed to the amount of the gas emissions,referred to as carbon dioxide equivalent(CO2e),and is the amount of a GHG emitted multiplied by its GWP.Carbon dioxide has a 100-year GWP of one.By contrast, methane has a GWP of 25,meaning its global warming effect is 25 times greater than CO2 on a molecule per molecule basis (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007). 1