CITY
OF
OAKLAND
CITY HALL
•
1 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA •
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
94612
#LoveLife
REBECCA KAPLAN
DAN KALB
Vice Mayor
Council Member
District At Large
District 1
Date: April 14, 2022To: Members of City Council and Members of the PublicFrom: Vice Mayor Kaplan and Councilmember KalbRe: ResolutionDirectingTheCityAdministratorTo ReviewAndAnalyzeCleanerAlternativesTo DieselGeneratorsTo BeAuthorizedForBackupPowerForAllDevelopmentOnCityOfOaklandPropertyAndProjectsInWhichTheCityHasTheAuthorityTo DesignateTheTypeOfGeneratorTo BeUsedTo EstablishACleanerGeneratorPolicyThatReducesHarmfulEmissions,AndToReportBackTo CouncilBySeptember2022OnThePolicyAndWithAmendmentsTo TheOakland Municipal Code, Planning And Building And Other Codes If Needed Dear Colleagues on the City Council and Members of the Public, Theamountofcommercialoperationsin Californiarelyingonlargedieselbackupgeneratorsystemshasincreasedinthelastnumberofyears.AccordingtoastudyconductedbyMCubed,between2018and2020,thenumberof nonresidentialbackupgeneratorsin theBayAreaincreasedby34%. 1 Moremustbedonetopromotetheuseofcleanertechnologyforback-upgeneratorsto stemthenegativehealthandenvironmentalimpactsofdiesel-fueledgenerators.Therefore,thisresolutiondirectstheCityAdministratortoreviewcleaneralternativestodieselgenerators,whichmaybeauthorizedforbackuppower, toreduceharmfulemissions,anddirectstheAdministratortoreportbacktoCouncilbySeptember2022shouldtheCityrequirepolicychanges to implement clean generator authorization.
Pollutionfromdieselexhaustincludessoot,andoxidesofnitrogen,whichcontributeto theproductionofsmogandacidrain,carbonmonoxide,andotherhazardousairpollutants. 2 Thesehazardousairpollutantscontributeto numeroushealthimpactsincludingincreasedhospitaladmissions,particularlyforheartdisease,butalsoforrespiratoryillnesses.Additionally, smallparticlesofdieselparticulatemattercanreachdeepintothelungs,contributingtoa rangeofhealth problems, particularly for children and older adults. 2 US Environmental Protection Agency, Diesel Fuel Standards:About Diesel Fuels. 1 Moss, Steve; Bilich, Andy, Diesel Back-Up GeneratorPopulation Grows Rapidly in the Bay Area and SouthernCalifornia(M. Cubed, May 2020).
Public Works CommitteeApril 26, 2022File # 22-01671
In total,thereareapproximately10,000permitteddieselenginesthroughouttheBayAreaaccordingto BayAreaAirQualityManagementDistrict(BAAQMD)data.SpecificallyinOakland,thenumberofnonresidentialbackupgeneratorsincreasedfrom229to348from2018to2020.Researchersalsofound90%ofallnewnonresidentialbackupgeneratorsinCaliforniawerediesel-fueled,drivingnearly$136millionin annualhealthcostsduringthesamestudyperiod by MCubed from 2018 to 2020.
BAAQMD’s “BestAvailableControlTechnology”regulationrequirespermitapplicantstousethemoststringentlevelofemissionscontrolthateither(i)hasbeensuccessfullyachievedbyotherfacilitiesforsimilartypesofequipmentor(ii)istechnologicallyfeasibleandcosteffective.Inaddition,theCityofOaklandrequireszoningreview, andelectricalandplumbingpermitsinordertoinstallagenerator, andforlargegenerators,requiresabuildingpermit.Thatbeingsaid,theCity, wheneverpossible,shoulduseitspositionandauthorityinlandusedecisionstofurtherutilize cleaner alternatives to diesel generators.
InordertomakegeneratorusageapprovedbytheCitysafer, andapprovecleaneralternativesthatreduceemissionscomparedto dieselgenerators,thisresolutiondeclarestheintentoftheCitytoestablisha“CleanerGeneratorPolicy”,anddirectstheCityAdministratortoreviewandanalyzecleaneralternativesto dieselgenerators.Additionally, theresolutionrequirestheAdministratorto reportbackto CouncilbySeptember2022shouldtheCityrequirepolicychanges to implement clean generator authorization.
We respectfully urge your support for this legislation.
Public Works CommitteeApril 26, 2022File # 22-0167