Attachment A
Oakland Environmental
Justice Element – Goal 1
Policies and Actions
Adopted September 26, 2023
Policy Action
GOAL EJ-1 Reduce Pollution, Mitigate the Impacts of Pollution on Existing Sensitive Land Uses, and Eliminate Associated Public Health Disparities.
EJ-1.1 Toxic Air Contaminants. Reduce the public’s exposure to toxic air contaminants through appropriate land use and transportation strategies, identified through the LUTE update in Phase 2 of the GPU process, particularly in Environmental Justice Communities and other areas most burdened by air pollution, as identified in Figure EJ-12
EJ-A.1 Amend the City’s Zoning code to include
the following changes:
• Allow greater residential density in less -
polluted areas, including existing single-family
residential neighborhoods.
• Condition the permit ting of heavy industrial
uses within six hundred (600) feet or whatever
minimum is required by State Law of a zone
that permits residential activities.
• Establish special permit criteria for truck -
intensive industrial activities located within six
hundred ( 600) feet or whatever minimum is
required by State Law of any zone that permits
residential activities.
• Establish special performance standards and
standard conditions of approval for Truck-
Intensive Industrial Activities located within
six hundred (600) feet or whatever minimum
is required by State Law of any zone that
permits residential activities.
• Amend the permit procedures for
nonconforming Truck-I ntensive Industrial
Activities
• Condition the permitting of commercial
kitchen operations designed for online
ordering and food delivery.
• Modify the S-19 Health and Safety Protection
Combining Zone to prohibit use of diesel
generators as the primary source of power
within six hundred ( 600) feet or whatever
minimum is required by State Law from any
Residential, Open Space, or Institutional Zone
boundary.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
Timeframe: Short-term
EJ-1.2 Truck Emissions and Pollution Exposure. Minimize air pollution and exposure of sensitive uses to truck pollution, particularly in EJ Communities and other areas most burdened by air pollution, while recognizing the Port of Oakland’s role as the highest-volume shipping port in Northern California.
EJ-A.2 Adopt more stringent air quality
construction and operations requirements for
development near or within industrially zoned
land as part of standard conditions of approval.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.3 Industrial Uses Near Sensitive Land Uses. Ensure that heavy industrial uses are adequately buffered from residential areas, schools, and other sensitive land uses. In new developments, require adequate mitigation of air contaminant exposure and vegetative barriers near large stationary and mobile sources of air EJ-A.3 Work with BAAQMD and other partners
in the region to explore creation of a gran t
program for installation and maintenance of air
filtration devices/systems in existing buildings.
Develop a list of priority buildings near heavy
pollution. Prioritize nature-based mitigation solutions such as vegetative barriers wherever feasible, and align with other greening opportunities such as canopy need, green stormwater infrastructure, and high heat areas to plan for multiple benefits. industrial uses, including schools, nursing
homes, and other sensitive uses within EJ
Communities, AB617 des ignated communities,
and areas most affected by air quality issues,
shown in Figure EJ-12.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and
Building, Office of Sustainability
and Resilience Division, City
Administrator’s Office
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.4 Performance Standards. Develop zoning standards applicable to new industrial and commercial developments in order to minimize or avoid the potential for adverse effects related to air quality, noise, or safety on adjacent existing residential uses and Environmental Justice Communities, including the possibility of creating an overlay that focuses on air quality issues
EJ-A.4 In partnership with representative
groups from EJ Communities, develop a Carbon
Sequestration Incubator in Oakland to incubate
and develop green jobs in urban agriculture,
urban forestry, green stormwater
infrastructure maintenance and management,
aquatic and riparian restoration, and/or other
forms of carbon removal. Assess market
opportunities, policy drivers, potential
locations, and existing businesses and
nonprofits that may benefit from collaborating
in such a space. Establish a program for both
voluntary and compliance GHG mitigation fees
to be invested locally and fund the Incubator.
Responsibility: Oakland Public Works,
Oakland Parks Recreation, and
Youth Services Department, Office
of Sustainability and Resilience
Division, City Administrator’s
Office, Economic & Workforce
Development Department
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.5 Regulate Polluting Uses. Develop more stringent permitting standards and limit the number of variances approved for new, high-intensity, industrial or commercial land uses near sensitive uses in Environmental Justice Communities. See also Policy SAF-5.1 and EJ-1.15.
EJ-A.5 As part of a feasibility study, implement
an amortization pilot in AB617 areas , which
allows the City to identify and prioritize
nonconforming land uses (which could include
existing polluting industries , truck intensive
uses, autobody users, recycling uses, etc .) to
phase out over time prioritizing areas within
1,000 feet of primarily residential impacted
areas.
The study /pilot should include an
implementation plan that includes criteria to
determine which industries to amortize .
Criteria should include total cost of land and
improvements; cost of moving and
reestablishing the use elsewhere in the city ;
whether the use is significantly non-
conforming; compatibility with existing land
use patterns and densities; and possible threat
to public health, safety, or welfare.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
(in coordination with BAAQMD)
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.6 Enhanced Enforcement. Prioritize code enforcement to address illegal land uses and activities that cause pollution and are hazardous to health in EJ Communities.
EJ-A.6 Prioritize and implement vegetative
buffer projects, including those between
industrial land and sensitive land uses, and
along heavy -duty truck/goods movement
corridors and freeways as identified in specific
plans and community plans, including EONI and
WOCAP and the City’s Priority Conservation
Area/Sustainable Communities Plan (PCA).
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
Timeframe: Short
EJ-A.7 As part of the LUTE update in Phase 2,
evaluate residential/industrial conflicts,
especially in areas such as West and East
Oakland, and evaluate measures, including
limiting additional residential development in
high pollution areas and ensuring adequate
buffering between industrial and residential
land uses through land use designations.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
Timeframe: Short
EJ-1.7 Truck-Related Impacts. For new warehouses and truck-related businesses, reduce impacts from truck loading and delivery including noise/vibration, odors, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
EJ-A.8 As part of the LUTE update in Phase 2,
explore modifications to truck routes and truck
management in partnership with the Port of
Oakland and WOIEP and Com munities for a
Better Environment . The West Oakland Truck
Management Plan (WOTMP), approved by the
City and Port of Oakland in 2019, should be
used as the framework to explore modifications
to truck routes.
Responsibility: OakDOT, Oakland Planning
and Building
Timeframe: Short
EJ-1.8 Air Filtration. Consistent with the State's Building Energy Efficiency Standards for air filtration in effect as of January 1, 2023, require newly constructed buildings of four or more habitable floors to include air filtration systems equal to or greater than Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 16 (ASHRAE Standard 52.2), or a particle size efficiency rating equal to or greater than 50 percent in the 0.3-1.0 μm micrometer range and equal to or greater than 85 percent in the 1.0-3.0 μm micrometer range (AHRI Standard 680).
EJ-A.9 Designate an adequate system of roads
connecting port terminals, warehouses,
freeways and regional arterials, and other
important truck destinations that minimizes
impacts to sensitive uses. Thi s system should
rely upon arterial streets away from residential
neighborhoods.
Responsibility: OakDOT, Oakland Planning
and Building
Timeframe: Short
EJ-1.9 Electric Vehicle Charging. Require industrial and warehouse facilities and truck-attracting businesses to provide electrical connections for electric trucks and transport refrigeration units in support of CARB regulations.
EJ-A.10 Adopt requirements that new
commercial and employment uses that
generate truck traffic are located along existing
truck routes to the extent feasible and work
with project proponents to develop preferred
truck routing that avoids sensitive land uses,
such as schools, hospitals, elder and childcare
facilities, and residences wherever feasible.
Responsibility: OakDOT, Oakland Planning
and Building
Timeframe: Short
EJ-A.11 Work with Oak DOT and Oakland
Sustainability program to develop a zero
emission Medium Heavy Duty Fleets Vehicle
Charging Overlay Zone.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and Building
Timeframe: Short (2025, as indicated in the
State’s Zero Emissions Vehicle
Action Plan)
EJ-A.12 Work with Caltrans and other
regional/state/federal agencies to promote the
greening of Oakland’s primary goods -
movement freeways including equipping the
freeways with ZEV truck infrastructure,
developing strategic green canopies or lids, as
well as instal ling vegetative buffers alongside
freeway corridors.
Responsibility: Oakland Planning and
Building, OakDOT
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.10 Reduce Emissions from Port Operation. Support Port of Oakland’s efforts to reduce emissions as part of operation and compliance with CARB regulations. This could include:
• Support of zero -emission drayage truck operations through appropriate local ordinance amendments, including allowable EJ-A.13 Coordinate with public agencies in the
Bay Area region to ca talyze the development
and deployment of zero emission medium- and
heavy-duty fleets and support development of
shared charging hubs and resources. Support
advocacy efforts for significant additional
funding for retrofitting or replacing diesel
weight limits for single -axle, zero -emission trucks on local streets, and developing an investment plan for needed upgrades.
• Provision of data or staff time to study of the effects on truck flow and congestion due to increasing visits from larger container ships, the feasibility of an off -terminal container yard that utilizes zero - emission tr ucks to move containers to and from the marine terminals, and the potential efficiency gains from increasing the number of trucks hauling loaded containers on each leg of a roundtrip to the Port.
trucks with zero-emission EV trucks, prioritizing
a just transition approach by including
economic support for independent truckers to
compensate for lost wages while waiting for
retrofitted or new EV trucks.
Responsibility: Office of Sustainability and
Resilience Division, OakDOT, City
Administrator’s Office , Oakland
Planning and Building
Timeframe: Ongoing
EJ-1.11 Building Electrification. Continue to enforce compliance with Oakland’s Building Electrification Ordinance, which requires new and newly renovated buildings to be natural gas-free and support the transition of existing buildings to natural gas alternatives in order to improve safety and air quality and reduce health risks. This could include:
• Ensuring that all new developments reduce on -site natural gas combustion through electrification of heating and cooking technologies.
EJ-A.14 Work with the Port of Oakland to
establish permanent locations for parking and
staging of Port -related trucks and cargo
equipment, i.e ., tractors, chassis, and
containers. Such facilities will provide long -
term leases to parking operators and truck
owner-operators at competitive rates. Such
facilities will be at the City or Port logistics
center or otherwise not adjacent to Oakland
residents who are disproportionately impacted
by poor air quality.
Responsibility: City Administrator’s Office,
Planning and Building, OakDOT
Timeframe: Medium
EJ-1.12 Construction Site Impacts. Through standard conditions of project approval, code enforcement, and other regulatory mechanisms, require new development to minimize disturbances of natural water bodies and natural drainage systems caused during construction and to implement measures to protect areas from road dust, erosion, and sediment loss.
EJ-1.13 Emissions from Construction Activities. Require projects to implement construction air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions controls and applicable mitigation strategies for all construction sites to the maximum extent feasible. Refer to Best Construction Practices and Best Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT) recommended by BAAQMD.
EJ-1.14 Reduced Exposure to Air Pollution for Project Occupants.
Incorporate measures to improve indoor air quality and reduce exposure to air pollution in new development projects.
EJ-1.15 Sensitive Uses. Coordinate with BAAQMD and community partners in evaluating human exposure to toxic air contaminants, particularly in Environmental Justice Communities, and impose conditions as appropriate on projects to protect public health and safety beyond those in the City’s 2020 standard conditions of approval.
EJ-1.16 Community Air Protection. On an ongoing basis, support BAAQMD, community members, businesses, and other
stakeholders in developing and implementing Community Air Monitoring Plans, Community Emissions Reduction Plans, and other air pollution control initiatives pursuant to AB 617.
Supportive City actions may include:
• Participation on steering committees and technical advisory committees.
• Co-investments that leverage additional funding for actions in EJ Communities.
• Utilization of community -collected air quality data in policy development and evaluation.
• Co-development of a public information campaign targeting residents living 1,000 feet of freeways that focuses on education about air pollution mitigation measures.
• Contracts with community partners and other air pollution monitoring organizations to obtain more granular pollution data.
EJ-1.17 Data-Informed Efforts. Collaborate with BAAQMD, community organizations, and other stakeholders, to use air quality monitoring data to inform area-specific improvement actions outside of AB 617-related efforts. Such actions may include:
• Prioritizing areas for capital investments with co -benefits for air quality, such as the planting of trees , green stormwater infrastructure for flood management, and installation of EV charging infrastructure. Ideally, to maximize resiliency , co-benefits will address multiple climate and environmental hazards.
• Integrating air quality improvement actions into planning efforts, such as new specific plans, master plans, or area plans that will guide development in impacted areas.
• Limiting the establishment of new sources of air pollutants in areas with elevated levels of pollutant concentrations unless appropriate mitigation is implemented.
• Obtaining and using hyperlocal data along with community ground- truthing to more accurately inform development of air quality improvement strategies that are most effective and responsive to
the needs of EJ Communities. This data will be accessibl e for residents to utilize.
• Seeking opportunities to enhance existing air monitoring efforts, such as by working with BAAQMD and helping to expand the current monitoring network, especially where sensitive uses are within close proximity (within 500 feet) of pollution sources.
• Partnering with industrial and warehouse facility owners, community-based environmental and energy justice organizations to install rooftop solar PV systems to power EV charging stations.
EJ-1.18 Impact Assessment and Mitigation. Continue to use BAAQMD modeling tools and guidance documents as appropriate to identify and mitigate air quality impacts from proposed development projects.
EJ-1.19 Regional Coordination. Support air quality planning efforts led by other local, regional, and State agencies while simultaneously leveraging City authority and resources to focus on reducing air pollution burden in EJ Communities.