OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. C.M.S.
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO APPLY
FOR, ACCEPT, AND APPROPRIATE UP TO A TOTAL OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS $100,000 IN CALIFORNIA AUTOMATED PERMIT PROCESSING PROGRAM (CalAPP) GRANT FUNDS FROM THE STATE
OF CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION AND ADOPTING
APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
FINDINGS.
WHEREAS, on September 22, 2015, the State of California passed Senate Bill 129; and
WHEREAS, as a result of passage of Senate Bill 129, twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) were allocated from the State of California general fund to the California Energy Commission to establish a grant program to support counties and cities to establish an online solar permitting system by way of grants, known as the California Automated Permit Processing Program (CalAPP); and
WHEREAS, as a result of passage of Senate Bill 379, every city and county is required to implement an online, automated permitting platform that verifies code compliance and issues permits in real time or allows the city, county, or city and county to issue permits in real time for a residential solar energy system, as defined, that is no larger than 38.4 kilowatts alternating current nameplate rating and a residential energy storage system, as defined, paired with a residential solar energy system that is no larger than 38.4 kilowatts alternating current nameplate rating; and
WHEREAS, the grants issued by the California Energy Commission require that grant applicants adopt an automated permitting software such as SolarAPP+; and
WHEREAS, SolarAPP+ was developed by the United States Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to allow for an automated and efficient method for the permitting and installation of solar and energy storage systems; and
WHEREAS, SolarAPP+ permitting specifications are based on model building and electrical and fire codes and are cross-referenced to the leading permitting guidebooks from California, New York and the SolSmart National Simplified Permit Guidelines for Residential Approved as to Form and Legality
Deputy City Attorney
Photovoltaic Arrays; and
WHEREAS. SolarAPP+ is fully adopted in communities in California and Arizona and is working to expand in communities all over the United States; and
WHEREAS, SolarAPP+ is free for jurisdictions to implement and use; and
WHEREAS, many owners of single-family dwellings would benefit from the City of Oakland implementing SolarAPP+ for solar and energy storage system installations by having their permits issued instantaneously; and
WHEREAS, the City submitted an application to the California Energy Commission for the maximum amount of up to One Hundred Thousand ($100,000) in CalAPP grant funding for the implementation and pilot of the SolarAPP+ automated permitting software; and
And, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the City Council hereby authorizes the City Administrator to execute and file an application to California Energy Commission for an amount up to One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) in funding from the CalAPP grant, negotiate and execute any required grant agreements, and to accept, appropriate, and spend such funding to Fund (2999), Planning and Building (Org 84452), Project number TBD; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That should additional funds be received for the implementation and pilot of the SolarAPP+ automated online solar and energy storage permitting software that the City Administrator is hereby authorized to apply, negotiate, accept,appropriate, and spend the same to the same Fund for the purposes described above within the grant terms; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That said agreements shall be reviewed and approved by the Office of the City Attorney for form and legality and placed on file in the Office of the City Clerk; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Council finds and determines that this action is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15738(b)(4)-(5) because it involves and constitutes an organizational, administrative, or government fiscal activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment, and Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed action could have a significant impact on the environment.
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Administrator is authorized on behalf of the City of Oakland to conduct and complete all negotiations, certifications, assurances, and execute and submit all documents including, but not limited to applications, benefit-cost analyses, agreements, payment requests and similar documentation, which may be necessary for the completion of the aforementioned activities related to the implementation and pilot of the SolarAPP+ automated online solar and energy storage permitting system, and which may be required to accept, modify, extend, and/or amend agreements consistent with and in furtherance of this Resolution and its basic purposes.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, __________________________________
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT BAS
NOES -
ABSENT -
ABSTENTION -
ATTEST:______________________________
Asha Reed
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council
of the City of Oakland, California