RES 231365 - Laserfiche WebLink

City of Pleasanton CEQA GHG Emissions Thresholds and Guidance directly tied to the population and employment growth anticipated by the Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization,the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)and in alignment with the Pleasanton 2005-2025 General Plan Land Use/Community Character and Housing Elements as well as to the City-specific GHG emission reduction measures that the City has proposed to reduce communitywide and per capita emissions. In addition,the magnitude of local GHG emission reduction achieved by State legislation/policies (i.e.,vehicle fuel efficiency standards,the Renewable Portfolio Standard [RPS], and Title 24)was estimated based on City-specific growth and vehicle miles travelled (VMT)forecasts. As a result,these locally appropriate thresholds directly address the concerns raised in the Golden Door Properties, LLC v. County of San Diego/Sierra Club, LLC v. County of San Diego (2018) case, because they are based on local GHG emissions data rather than Statewide GHG emissions data. Disaggregation of Existing versus New Development For the City of Pleasanton, a GHG threshold disaggregated between new and existing development places a disproportionately high emphasis on emissions reduction from existing development,given the proposed CAP measures. This necessitated applying the emissions reduction across both new development and measures impacting existing development to produce per capita GHG thresholds. CAP-adjusted emissions for existing and new development were combined to create communitywide GHG emissions thresholds.This approach is more conservative than disaggregating by new versus existing development as it accounts for the relative ease for new development to be decarbonized and builds in some buffer for emissions reduction required of existing development to achieve CAP 2.0 reductions.Therefore,these thresholds directly address the concerns raised in the Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (2015)case regarding the different rates of GHG emissions reduction anticipated for new development as compared to existing development in order to meet the specified GHG reduction target. Selection of Sector-Specific Thresholds The quantitative thresholds are separated into three categories—residential, non-residential, and mixed-use—which are intended to apply to the three main types of development projects in Pleasanton.These thresholds were calculated by disaggregating the City's business-as-usual GHG emissions forecasts for residential and non-residential development.The emissions reduction specific to residential and non-residential development achieved by State legislation/policies and the CAP 2.0 were then subtracted from the business-as-usual forecast to determine "caps" of emissions for new residential and new non-residential development for year 2030.These emissions "caps"were then divided by the numbers of residents and employees forecast for the year 2030 to determine efficiency thresholds for residential and non-residential projects, respectively. For mixed- use development,the residential and non-residential emissions "caps"were summed,then divided by the service population forecast for 2030 to determine an efficiency threshold for mixed-use projects. As a result,these project-specific thresholds directly address the concerns raised in the Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife(2015)case, because they are specific to each development project type. Adoption via Public Review Process In compliance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.7(b),this guidance document and the quantitative thresholds contained herein will be presented to the City Council for formal adoption via resolution through a public review process, which will include an opportunity for public input. The public review process for these City of Pleasanton CEQA GHG Thresholds and Guidance will 30