Draft Environmental Impact Report - California Off Highway Vehicle ...

3.11 Climate Change
New development shall comply with Green Building Standards adopted by the California
Building Standards Commission at the time of building permit application, including
requirements about low‐ or no‐toxicity building materials.
New development should use recycled‐content construction materials.
Continue to update the County program to replace County fleet vehicles with the lowest
emission technology vehicles, wherever possible.
3.11.3 Thresholds of Significance
CARB and Butte County AQMD have not identified a significance threshold for analyzing GHG
emissions associated with development projects such as the General Plan, or a methodology for
analyzing impacts related to GHG emissions or global climate change. By adopting AB 32, the state
has identified goals for reducing GHG emissions and the effect of GHG emissions on global climate
change. While the emissions of one single project will not cause global climate change, GHG
emissions from multiple projects throughout the world could result in a cumulative impact on
global climate change.
To meet AB 32 goals, California would need to generate less GHG emissions than current levels.
However, for most projects no simple metric is available to determine whether a single project
would substantially increase or decrease overall GHG emission levels. Although AB 32 did not
amend CEQA, it identifies the myriad of environmental problems in California caused by global
warming (California Health and Safety Code, Section 38501[a]). Senate Bill 97, however, did
amend CEQA by directing the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to
revise the State CEQA Guidelines to address the mitigation of GHGs or their consequences. As an
interim step toward developing the required guidelines, OPR published a technical advisory in
June 2008 (CAPCOA 2008). In this technical advisory, OPR recommends that the lead agencies
under CEQA make a good‐faith effort, based on available information, to estimate the quantity of
GHG emissions that would be generated by a proposed project, including the emissions associated
with vehicular traffic, energy consumption, water usage, and construction activities, to determine
whether the impacts would have the potential to result in a project or cumulative impact. OPR also
recommends that the lead agencies mitigate GHG impacts when feasible mitigation is available.
OPR has asked CARB technical staff to recommend a method for setting thresholds that will
encourage consistency and uniformity in the CEQA analysis of GHG emissions throughout the
state. CARB has not yet completed this task.
In the absence of state‐level regulatory standards and significance thresholds, some air quality
management districts have adopted significance thresholds for projects and plans under their
jurisdiction that are consistent with the goals of AB 32. As discussed above, Butte County AQMD
has not adopted any thresholds at this time; however, as described above, climate change must be
addressed in CEQA documents according to Appendix G of the State CEQA Guidelines. Appendix G
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
Draft EIR 3.11-3 February 2012