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<br />70 <br />The predictions for sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay vary. A report released by the San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission predicts sea levels in the San <br />Francisco Bay to rise 16 inches by 2050 and 55 inches by 2100. The State of California’s Fourth <br />Climate Change Assessment, released in 2017, estimates sea level rise for the year 2100 in the range of 14 inches to 94 inches with an additional very low probability, worst-case estimate that <br />exceeds 108 inches. A draft paper from the California Climate Change Center posits that increases in sea level will be a significant consequence of climate change over the next century. <br />Local impacts of climate change are not definitive, but parcels in the City could experience changes to local and regional weather patterns; rising bay water levels; increased risk of flooding; changes in salinity and tidal patterns of San Francisco Bay; coastal erosion; <br />water restrictions; and vegetation changes. <br />Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines. On September 9, 2010 a Pacific Gas and <br />Electric Company (“PG&E”) high–pressure natural gas transmission pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, with catastrophic results, including the destruction of 38 homes. There are <br />two similar transmission pipelines and numerous other types of pipelines owned, operated and <br />maintained by PG&E located throughout the City. PG&E has also indicated that it considers the proximity of its natural gas transmission pipelines to high–density populations, potential <br />reliability impacts and environmentally sensitive areas, and uses the data it collects to help plan and prioritize future work. The City can provide no assurances as to the condition of PG&E pipelines in the City, or predict the extent of the damage to the surrounding property that would <br />occur if a PG&E pipeline located within the City were to explode. Hazardous Substances <br />Discovery of hazardous substances on parcels within the City could impact the City’s ability to pay Lease Payments under the Lease when due and, therefore the Authority’s ability to make payments of debt service on the 2018 Bonds. <br /> In general, the owners and operators of a property may be required by law to remedy <br />conditions of the property relating to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. <br />The Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, sometimes referred to as “CERCLA” or the “Superfund Act” is the most well known and widely <br />applicable of these laws, but California laws with regard to hazardous substances are also <br />stringent and similar. Under many of these laws, the owner (or operator) is obligated to remedy a hazardous substance condition of property whether or not the owner or operator has any thing <br />to do with creating or handling the hazardous substance. The effect, therefore, should any substantial amount of property within the City be <br />affected by a hazardous substance, would be to reduce the marketability and value of the property by the costs of, and any liability incurred by, remedying the condition, since the purchaser, upon becoming an owner, will become obligated to remedy the condition just as is <br />the seller. Reduction in the value of property in the City as a whole could reduce property tax revenues received by the City and deposited in the General Fund, which could significantly and adversely affect the ability of the City to pay Lease Payments under the Lease when due and, <br />therefore the Authority’s ability to make payments of debt service on the 2018 Bonds.