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SAN LEANDRO SHORELINE DEVELOPMENT DRAFT EIR <br />CITY OF SAN LEANDRO <br />GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS <br />change emissions, the potency of emissions that have already built up, their long atmospheric lifetimes <br />(see Table 4.6-1), and the inertia of the Earth's climate system could produce as much as 0.6 degrees <br />Celsius (1.1 degrees Fahrenheit) of additional warming. Consequently, some impacts from climate change <br />are now considered unavoidable. Global climate change risks to California are shown in Table 4.6-2 and <br />include public health impacts, water resources impacts, agricultural impacts, coastal sea level impacts, <br />forest and biological resource impacts, and energy impacts. Specific climate change impacts that could <br />affect San Leandro include health impacts from deterioration of air quality, water resources impacts from <br />a reduction in water supply, increased energy demand, and sea level rise (see also Chapter 4.8, Hydrology <br />and Water Quality, for flood impacts). <br />4.6.1.1 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK <br />This section describes the federal, State and local regulations applicable to GHG emissions. <br />Federal Regulations <br />The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 7, 2009 that GHG <br />emissions threaten the public health and welfare of the American people and GHG emissions from on - <br />road vehicles contribute to the threat. The EPA's endangerment findings respond to the 2007 U.S. <br />Supreme Court decision that GHG emissions fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants. The <br />findings did not in and of themselves impose any emission reduction requirements, but allowed the EPA <br />to finalize the GHG standards proposed in 2009 for new light-duty vehicles as part of the joint rulemaking <br />with the Department of Transportation." <br />The EPA's endangerment finding covers emissions of six key GHGs—0O2, CH4i N20, hydrofluorocarbons, <br />perfluorocarbons, and SF6—that have been the subject of scrutiny and intense analysis for decades by <br />scientists in the United States and around the world. The first three are applicable to the Project because <br />they constitute the majority of GHG emissions from the onsite land uses, and per BAAQMD guidance are <br />the GHG emissions that should be evaluated as part of a GHG emissions inventory. <br />US Mandatory Report Rule for GHGs (2009) <br />In response to the endangerment finding, the EPA issued the Mandatory Reporting of GHG Rule that <br />requires substantial emitters of GHG emissions (large stationary sources, etc.) to report GHG emissions <br />data. Facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons (MT) or more of CO2 per year are required to submit an <br />annual report. <br />18 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2009. Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the <br />Environment. Science overwhelmingly shows GHG concentrations at unprecedented levels due to human activity, December, <br />http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/08D1lA451131BCA585257685005BF252. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that <br />GHGs are pollutants under the Clean Air Act in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007). <br />4.6-6 DECEMBER 2014 <br />