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SAN LEANDRO SHORELINE DEVELOPMENT DRAFT EIR <br />CITY OF SAN LEANDRO <br />GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS <br />the BAAQMD 2011 CEQA Air Quality Guidelines provide the latest state-of-the-art guidance available. For <br />that reason, substantial evidence supports continued use of the BAAQMD 2011 CEQA Air Quality <br />Guidelines. <br />On August 13, 2013, the First District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court judgment and upheld the <br />BAAQMD's CEQA Guidelines. In addition to the City's independent determination that use of the <br />BAAQMD's CEQA Guidelines is supported by substantial evidence, they have been found to be valid <br />guidelines for use in the CEQA environmental review process. On November 26, 2013, the California <br />Supreme Court granted review on the issue of whether CEQA requires analysis of how existing <br />environmental conditions affect a project (California Building Industry Association v Bay Area Air Quality <br />Management District, Case No. A135335 and A136212). <br />In addition, CEQA grants local agencies broad discretion to develop their own thresholds of significance, <br />or to rely on thresholds previously adopted or recommended by other public agencies or experts so long <br />as they are supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, the City of San Leandro is using the BAAQMD's <br />2011 thresholds to evaluate project impacts in order to protectively evaluate the potential effects of the <br />project on GHG emissions. <br />Greenhouse Gas Emissions <br />In the absence of an applicable qualified GHG reduction strategy, BAAQMD has identified screening <br />criteria and significance criteria for development projects that would be applicable to the Project. If a <br />project exceeds the Guidelines' GHG screening -level sizes, the project would be required to conduct a full <br />GHG analysis using the following BAAQMD's significance criteria: <br />■ 1,100 MT of CO2e per year; or <br />■ 4.6 MT of CO2e per service population (SP). <br />Land use development projects include residential, commercial, industrial, and public land use facilities. <br />Direct sources of emissions may include on-site combustion of energy, such as natural gas used for <br />heating and cooking, emissions from industrial processes (not applicable for most land use development <br />projects), and fuel combustion from mobile sources. Indirect emissions are emissions produced off-site <br />from energy production, water conveyance due to a project's energy use and water consumption, and <br />non -biogenic emissions from waste disposal. Biogenic CO2 emissions are not included in the quantification <br />of a project's GHG emissions, because biogenic CO2 is derived from living biomass (e.g., organic matter <br />present in wood, paper, vegetable oils, animal fat, food, animal, and yard waste) as opposed to fossil fuels. <br />Although GHG emissions from waste generation are included in the GHG inventory for the Project, the <br />efficiency threshold of 4.6 MTCO2e per service population identified above do not include the waste <br />sector and therefore are not considered in the evaluation. <br />BAAQMD does not have thresholds of significance for construction -related GHG emissions, but requires <br />quantification and disclosure of construction -related GHG emissions. <br />PLACEWORKS 4.6-17 <br />