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Environmental Checklist Greenhouse Gas Emissions Draft Initial Study – Mitigated Negative Declaration 69 8 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Potentially Significant Impact Less than Significant with Mitigation Incorporated Less-than- Significant Impact No Impact Would the project: a. Generate greenhouse gas emissions, either directly or indirectly, that may have a significant impact on the environment? □ □ ■ □ b. Conflict with an applicable plan, policy, or regulation adopted for the purpose of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases? □ □ ■ □ FirstCarbon Solutions prepared an Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts Report (AQ- GHG Report) in August 2022, which was peer-reviewed by Rincon Consultants in September 2022. FirstCarbon Solutions prepared a revised AQ-GHG Report in April 2023. Rincon Consultants also prepared updated air quality modeling in September 2023. The revised Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts Report, peer review memorandum, and updated air quality modeling are included as Appendix B. Overview of Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases Climate change is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans along with other substantial changes in climate (such as wind patterns, precipitation, and storms) over an extended period of time. Climate change is the result of numerous, cumulative sources of GHG emissions contributing to the “greenhouse effect,” a natural occurrence which takes place in Earth’s atmosphere and helps regulate the temperature of the planet. The majority of radiation from the sun hits Earth’s surface and warms it. The surface, in turn, radiates heat back towards the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Gases and clouds in the atmosphere trap and prevent some of this heat from escaping into space and re-radiate it in all directions. GHG emissions occur both naturally and as a result of human activities, such as fossil fuel burning, decomposition of landfill wastes, raising livestock, deforestation, and some agricultural practices. GHGs produced by human activities include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Different types of GHGs have varying global warming potentials (GWP). The GWP of a GHG is the potential of a gas or aerosol to trap heat in the atmosphere over a specified timescale (generally, 100 years). Because GHGs absorb different amounts of heat, a common reference gas (CO2) is used to relate the amount of heat absorbed to the amount of the gas emitted, referred to as “carbon dioxide equivalent” (CO2e), which is the amount of GHG emitted multiplied by its GWP. Carbon dioxide has a 100-year GWP of one. By contrast, methane has a GWP of 30, meaning its global warming effect is 30 times greater