BOARD MEETING DATE: October 2, 2009
AGENDA NO. 40

PROPOSAL:

Climate Change Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Climate Change Committee met on Friday, September 11, 2009. Following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Receive and file.
 

Dr. William Burke, Chair
Climate Change Committee

Background

Attendance

The Climate Change Committee meeting was held on September 11, 2009. Chairman Dr. William Burke, Josie Gonzales and Tonia Reyes-Uranga were present. Committee members Ron Loveridge and Miguel Pulido were absent.

The meeting was convened by Dr. Burke at 1:02 p.m.
 

Discussion Items

Update on CEQA GHG Significance Thresholds

Elaine Chang provided an update on staff’s efforts to develop interim CEQA significance thresholds for greenhouse gases (GHGs). When the Governing Board approved a GHG significance threshold for SCAQMD lead agency projects last December, additional time was needed to develop recommendations for residential and commercial projects.  Since CARB decided not to move forward on this issue, SCAQMD staff has been doing additional analysis to support the policy objective of covering 90 percent of emissions.

Staff has shared draft recommendations with the Working Group for residential, commercial, and mixed projects.  Options include a residential threshold of 3,500 MT, a commercial threshold of 1,400 MT or 3,000 MT for mixed use.  The latter number represents about 80 homes.  The second option is one threshold of 3,000 MT for any project.  Some Working Group members prefer a single threshold and some prefer separate thresholds, so staff may recommend that either is acceptable for a lead agency.  Staff has been asked to carefully document the process and methodology to help provide technical clarity.  Larger developers support the Tier 4 Performance Standards approach, with a percent reduction, regardless of project size, being considered insignificant. 

Staff has requested clarification from the California Resources Agency on their proposed CEQA Guidelines regarding GHG lifecycle analysis and boundary for CEQA analysis.  Work is continuing on this effort, and staff expects to have recommendations for the Board’s consideration in December.

Draft Green Policy for SCAQMD

Jill Whynot described a draft Green Policy that staff is developing for the Board’s consideration in October. The Policy would implement a portion of the SCAQMD Climate Change Policy and would continue District efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of our operations.

Ms. Whynot highlighted the major contributions of GHGs and other pollutants and described some of the key sectors and activities that contribute to GHGs. Examples of many of SCQMD’s historical actions and information on the District’s historical GHG emissions were briefly discussed.

The key elements of the draft Policy were described, including reducing impacts from the building such as energy use and efficiency measures, water use, and purchasing policies. Other areas of focus will be our fleet and travel-related activities, and reminders for employees.

Staff recommends that an internal committee meet quarterly to identify potential projects and track progress. Any expenses outside of the Budget will be brought back to the Governing Board for approval. Periodic reports to the Climate Change Committee and an annual report to the Board are suggested.

Dr. Burke asked if there was room on the roof for more solar panels and expressed his desire to have the District be self sufficient with respect to electricity needs.  Staff should look into the economic and physical possibilities of additional solar, wind or other technologies.  Supervisor Gonzales commented that the District should continue to be a test site for new technologies. 

Update on Tree Planting Partnership
Jill Whynot gave the briefing on this Chairman’s Initiatives that will assist cities in additional tree planting and provide employment opportunities for students.

Thirty-two cities applied and staff is recommending awarding 20 contracts to 19 cities at the October Governing Board meeting. Over 15,000 California-native trees will be planted and over 4,300 student hours will be provided. Awards range from several thousand dollars to over $100,000 each and include trees at the first park in a new city and new trees at a school. Some applications could not be funded at this time because they did not have any student employment or included trees that did not meet the specified criteria. Staff will recommend re-issuing the Program Announcement, which will allow cities that previously submitted applications to revise them and for other cities to apply. Outreach will include emails and an additional workshop. Staff will continue to assist cities. Total for this round of contracts would be $686,700.

Dr. Burke asked about the source of the funding, which is interest earned from Rule 1309.1 mitigation fees.   Councilmember Reyes Uranga noted that some of the projects seemed to have high dollar per tree requests.  Staff explained that some cities need to plant larger more hearty trees to survive, such as in the desert.  A minimum and maximum container size for each tree was included as a criteria, but a maximum amount per tree was not.  Other costs are included, such as supplies and up to 2 years maintenance for the trees.  Councilmember Reyes Uranga wants staff to work with the cities that are not being recommended for funding to make sure they understand what they need to change to be considered.  Staff is planning to do this.
 

Other Business

There was no other business.
 

Public Comment

There was no public comment.
 

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 1:37 p.m.
 

Attachment (DOC, 40k)

Attendance Roster