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Regulatory and Legal Setting 3 Regulatory and legal Setting The following regulations, executive orders, and case law pertain to the analysis of GHG emissions consistent with CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. 3. 1 Relevant CEQA Guidelines Sections Pursuant to the requirements of SB 97,the California Natural Resources Agency has adopted amendments to the CEQA Guidelines for the feasible mitigation of GHG emissions or the effects of GHG emissions.The adopted CEQA Guidelines,which were last updated in December 2018, provide general regulatory guidance on the analysis and mitigation of GHG emissions in CEQA documents, while giving lead agencies the discretion to set quantitative or qualitative thresholds for the assessment and mitigation of GHG emissions and climate change impacts. Based on Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines, impacts related to GHG emissions generated by a proposed plan/project would be significant if the plan/project would: ■ Generate GHG emissions, either directly or indirectly, that may have a significant impact on the environment; and/or ■ Conflict with an applicable plan, policy or regulation adopted for the purpose of reducing the emissions of GHGs. The vast majority of individual projects do not generate sufficient GHG emissions to directly influence climate change. However, physical changes caused by a plan/project can contribute incrementally to cumulative effects that are significant,even if individual changes resulting from a plan/project are limited. As discussed in Appendix A,the adverse environmental impacts of cumulative GHG emissions, including sea level rise, increased average temperatures, more drought years,and more large forest fires,are already occurring. As a result,cumulative impacts related to GHG emissions and climate change are significant.Therefore, per CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.4(b),the analysis of GHG emissions under CEQA typically involves an analysis of whether a plan or project's contribution towards an impact would be cumulatively considerable. "Cumulatively considerable" means that the incremental effects of an individual project are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, other current projects,and probable future projects (CEQA Guidelines Section 15064[h][1]). The following sections of the CEQA Guidelines (last updated on December 28, 2018) pertain to the creation of significance thresholds and the analysis of a plan/project's GHG emissions. CEQA Guidelines Section 15064(b) (1) The determination of whether a project may have a significant effect on the environment calls for careful judgment on the part of the public agency involved, based to the extent possible on scientific and factual data. An ironclad definition of significant effect is not always possible because the significance of an activity may vary with the setting. For example, an activity which may not be significant in an urban area may be significant in a rural area. (2) Thresholds of significance, as defined in Section 15064.7(a), may assist lead agencies in determining whether a project may cause a significant impact.When using a threshold,the 13