Al Savay Community Development Director 600 Elm Street San Carlos, CA 94070 Phone: (650) 802-4490 Fax: (650) 595-6763
Draft Climate Action Plan - June 2009
Climate Action Plan
Through a collaborative process between a General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) Subcommittee (Suzanne Henderson-Emerson, Don Cook and Michelle Margiotta), community, staff and consultants, the City of San Carlos has prepared a Climate Action Plan. The Climate Action Plan is currently in draft form for public review and comment.
The Plan will be presented to and reviewed by the Planning Commission on July 6th and be presented to City Council on August 10, 2009.
Appendix A - Initial Cost Calculations (194 Kb PDF )
Appendix B - Green House Gas Calculations (120 Kb PDF )
Appendix C - Baseline GHG Emissions Inventory Report (938 Kb PDF )
Appendix D - Reduction Measure Selection Process (221 Kb PDF )
The Climate Action Plan serves as a guiding document to identify ways in which the community and City can achieve its greenhouse gas reduction target of 15% by 2020 and 35% by 2030 and adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change. Specifically, the Plan does the following:
Identifies sources of greenhouse gas emissions caused from actions within the City of San Carlos municipal boundary and estimates how these emissions may change over time;
Provides energy use, transportation, land use, and solid waste strategies to bring San Carlos’ greenhouse gas emissions levels to 15% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 35% below 2005 levels by 2030;
Mitigates the impacts of San Carlos on climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the direction of the State of California;
Allows the greenhouse gas emissions inventory and Climate Action Plan to be updated every five years and respond to changes in science, effectiveness of emission reduction measures and federal, state, regional or local policies to further strengthen the City's response to the challenges of climate change;
Provides substantial evidence that the emission reductions estimated in the Climate Action Plan are feasible;
Serves as the threshold of significance within the City of San Carlos for climate change, by which all applicable developments within the City will be reviewed;
Outlines ways in which the City can prepare for and adapt to the consequences of climate change; and,
Discusses the various outcomes of reduction efforts and how these reduction efforts can be implemented and advertised.
Based on comment from a public workshop, along with emails, public comment, and City staff input, the goals and reduction measures were selected and analyzed in the CAP. San Carlos’ 23 reduction measures are separated into three chapters for analysis: Energy, Transportation and Land Use, and Solid waste. Each reduction measure has its own greenhouse gas reduction goal and is supported by one or more components. The reduction goal of each measure is based on current knowledge and science. If for some reason science, technology, or politics change in the future, the components of each reduction measure can be modified or added to as long as the total greenhouse gas reduction adds up to that measure’s goal. This structure of tying the reduction target to the measure rather than the measure’s individual components will allow for flexibility and will ensure that San Carlos meets, if not exceeds, our overall reduction target of 35%.
San Carlos’ Commitment to Sustainability
On May 27, 2008, the City Council adopted the City of San Carlos Climate Protection Letter, establishing the City as an active participant in the fight against climate change. The letter urged federal and state governments to work on reducing their dependence on fossil fuels and to accelerate the development of clean, economical energy resources and fuel efficient technologies. Furthermore, it committed the City to addressing its own footprint through inventorying its emissions and developing this Climate Action Plan in conjunction with the General Plan update.The City received a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District specifically for the purpose of addressing climate change in the General Plan Update.
In addition to beginning this formal process, San Carlos has already made great strides in making itself more sustainable through city- and citizen-led initiatives. The City of San Carlos was a charter member of the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Climate Protection Initiative, which today includes all 39 cities and counties in Silicon Valley. The City also provided a Community Solar Discount Program promoted by San Carlos Green, which aims to inspire a more environmentally conscious and sustainable community. As of June 2009, the City boasts at least twenty certified green businesses with many more in the application phase.In developing this Climate Action Plan, the community of San Carlos is creating reduction measures suited specifically to our population and location.
Connection to the General Plan
The Climate Action Plan (CAP) was prepared to inform the General Plan primarily for the preparation of the Environmental Management Element. The CAP is a policy document with specific implementation measures and is meant to be considered in context with other General Plan programs and policy priorities. By preparing the CAP in parallel to the General Plan, the Goals, Policies and Actions in the General Plan are based on greenhouse reduction strategies and climate adaptations. The CAP was prepared to inform the General Plan primarily for the preparation of the Environmental Management Element. However, the CAP is also reflected in the Land Use, Housing, Parks and Recreation and Community Safety and Services Elements. In other words, throughout the General Plan.
The reduction measures are projected through 2030 with 2020 serving as an interim target. A recommended five-year Climate Action Plan update process and its relation to the General Plan are depicted below. This will ensure that the CAP is continuously up to date.
The 5-year CAP Update Process and its relation to the General Plan
General Plan EIR and the Climate Action Plan
If the community of San Carlos continues with the 2005 pattern of energy consumption, travel, and waste production, the level of greenhouse gas emissions is estimated to increase to 321,519 metric tons per year by 2020 and 365,787 metric tons per year by 2030. These “business-as-usual” forecasts of 20.3% and 36.9% higher than 2005 levels, respectively, are due to estimated increases in consumption, population, households, and commercial activity as outlined in the General Plan buildout scenario.
Greenhouse Gas base line data, buildout permitted by the General Plan and emission reduction strategies and adaptations are evaluated as part of the corresponding General Plan Environmental Impact Report. In many respects the Climate Action Plan is mitigation for the impacts of the buildout permitted by the General Plan. The greatest impact is in the area of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the transportation sector. With Highways on either side of the community, these impacts to San Carlos are a challenge to mitigate.
All of the measures recommended in the CAP to reduce energy consumption are expected to save at least 29,792 metric tons of CO2e per year by 2030.Transportation and Land Use measures are estimated to save 18,518 metric tons of CO2e per year by 2030. Reduction measures for Solid Waste are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 47,274 metric tons of CO2e per year by 2030. In total, the quantifiable reduction measures included in this plan are estimated to save at least 55,584 metric tons of CO2e per year by 2030 when implemented. This significant decrease in local emissions, in concert with State initiatives for renewable energy and vehicle efficiency is expected to result in the City meeting, if not exceeding, the emission reduction target of 15% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 35% below 2005 levels by 2030.
These reductions are important to quantify, as State Law requires Cities to address air quality and greenhouse gas reduction strategies in the General Plan and the General Plan EIR. As proposed, the CAP:
Mitigates the impacts of San Carlos on climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the direction of the State of California; via AB 32 and Governor's Order S-03-05 and Public Resources Code section 21083.3). The CEQA Guidelines encourage the adoption of policies or programs as a means of addressing comprehensively the cumulative impacts of projects. (See CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15064, subd. (h)(3), 15130, subd. (c).);
Serves as the threshold of significance within the City of San Carlos for climate change, by which all applicable developments within the City will be reviewed. If a proposed development is consistent with the emission reduction and adaptation measures included in the Climate Action Plan and the programs that are developed as a result of the CAP, the project would be considered to have a less than significant impact on climate change and emissions consistent with the direction of the California Attorney General (Climate Change, CEQA and General Plans, Revised March 6, 2009) and Public Resources Code 21083.3.
The General Plan Environmental Impact Report will be reviewed in more detail at the Planning Commission meeting on July 20, 2009 and the City Council meeting on August 10, 2009.
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