Environmental Setting. The issue of combating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) has been the subject of recent state legislation (AB 32 and SB 375). The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research has recommended changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, and the environmental checklist which is used for Initial Studies such as this one. The changes to the checklist are incorporated above in the two questions related to a project’s GHG impacts. A third question has been added by Yolo County to consider potential impacts related to climate change’s effect on individual projects, such as sea level rise and increased wildfire dangers. To date, specific thresholds of significance to evaluate impacts pertaining to GHG emissions have not been established by local decision-making agencies, the Yolo ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Air Quality Management District, the State, or the federal government. However, this absence of thresholds does not negate CEQA’s mandate to evaluate all potentially significant impacts associated with the proposed project. Yolo County has adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) which addresses these issues. The following discussion of GHG/climate change impact relies upon the draft CAP and “tiers off” the analysis, conclusions, and measures included in the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) of the 2030 Yolo Countywide General Plan (Yolo County, 2009b). The FEIR assumed th conversion of over 4,200 acres for open space uses including parks, trails, and habitat. While the FEIR analysis concluded that the severity of impacts related to planned urban growth and GHG/climate change could be reduced by some policies and some available mitigation measures, the overall impact could not be reduced to a less than significant level. The impacts of countywide cumulative growth on GHG emissions, and the impacts of climate change on cumulative growth, are considered significant and unavoidable at this time. The adopted 2030 Yolo Countywide General Plan (Yolo County, 2009a) contains several policies and implementation programs that require proposed development projects to reduce GHG emissions and conserve energy. The policies and action programs that are relevant to the proposed wetlands and wildlife habitat project include the following:
Appears in 2 contracts
Sources: Use Permit, Flood Hazard Development Permit, and Williamson Act Open Space Agreement, Use Permit, Flood Hazard Development Permit, and Williamson Act Open Space Agreement