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City of San Leandro 880 Doolittle Drive Industrial Project 4.1-8 Threshold 1: Would the project generate GHG emissions, either directly or indirectly, that may have a significant impact on the environment? IMPACT GHG-1 THE PROPOSED PROJECT WOULD INCLUDE NEW NATURAL GAS CONNECTIONS, WHICH WOULD HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE LONG-TERM GENERATION OF GHG EMISSIONS AFFECTING THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS IMPACT WOULD BE SIGNIFICANT AND UNAVOIDABLE. Project Construction Project construction would generate GHG emissions from the combustion of fuels used to power construction equipment, such as gasoline and diesel fuel. Construction workers would also use personal vehicles to commute to the project site, resulting in additional GHG emissions. The generation of GHG emissions from project construction activities would be temporary for the duration of construction, which would be approximately 18 months with some periods of inactivity. Project construction would not conflict with the BAAQMD criterion 1 approach, above, because construction would not involve buildings or permanent substantial increases in VMT or wasteful or excessive energy consumption. Accordingly, construction of the project would not generate GHG emissions that result in significant impacts on the environment. Project Operation As noted in Section 2.5.5, Utilities, the proposed project would include new natural gas connections to the proposed building. According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, projects that include natural gas appliances or natural gas plumbing should be found to make a significant climate impact because it will hinder California’s efforts to address climate change (Bay Area Air Quality Management District 2022). Although the project would not result in wasteful or inefficient energy use (see Initial Study, Appendix A), because the proposed project would include new natural gas connections (i.e., plumbing), impacts would be significant. The proposed project would satisfy other parameters of BAAQMD Criterion 1. For example, according to the Transportation Impact Analysis prepared for the project (see Appendix C), VMT generated by the project would be at least 15 percent below the average VMT per employee in the region. Specifically, the project would generate 15.34 VMT per employee in 2020 and 16.08 VMT per employee in 2040. The VMT per employee in the region in 2020, accounting for a 15 percent reduction, would be 16.3, and in 2040 would be 16.2. The project VMT of 15.34 and 16.08 is below the regional average for 2020 and 2040, respectively. The CalGreen Code requires at least 10 percent of the total parking spaces for a new project to be electric-vehicle ready parking spaces. With the proposed 204 parking spaces, at least 21 electric-vehicle ready parking spaces must be provided to meet CalGeen requirements. A total of 21 electric-vehicle ready parking spaces are proposed, which therefore meets the CalGreen Code requirement. Accordingly, because the project VMT per capita would be at least 15 percent below regional VMT per capita and sufficient electric- vehicle ready parking spaces would be provided, the proposed project would satisfy the transportation component of BAAQMD criterion 1. Because the project would result in a potentially significant GHG emissions impact associated with new natural gas plumbing, implementation of mitigation is required.