City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 11, 2024
Agenda Item: 10.C
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Office of Sustainability & the Environment
Subject: Introduce for First Reading an Ordinance that Supports Electric Vehicle Charging Access by Adopting Local Amendments to the 2022 California Green Building Standards Code
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15308 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Introduce for first reading the attached Ordinance that adopts local amendments under SMMC Chapter 8.102 to the 2022 California Green Buildings Standards Code to support increased access to electric vehicle charging;
3. Adopt the attached Resolution that provides findings of local climatic, geological, topographical, and environmental conditions as required to adopt Santa Monica local amendments to the 2022 California Green Building Standards Code; and
4. Direct the City Manager to file the adopted Resolution and Ordinance amending the California Green Building Standards Code with the California Building Standards Commission.
Summary
As a leader in sustainability, the City continues to implement strategies that support its goals for a clean, safe, healthy, and sustainable community. As adopted by the City Council in 2017, the EV Action Plan (Attachment A) calls for increased access to EV charging, particularly in multifamily buildings and workplaces. The shift to EV charging also supports carbon emissions reduction goals from the transportation sector in the adopted Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (Attachment B). Council previously adopted EV Charger Reach Codes, codes that go beyond the state mandatory requirements under the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), in 2020 2 of 5
and again in 2022. The California Building Standards Commission recently adopted changes to the 2022 CALGreen EV charging requirements, which take effect July 1, 2024, and include significant increases to the required charging infrastructure in new multifamily buildings. This change will support increased EV adoption by making it much easier for residents to charge at home.
The proposed 2024 Santa Monica EV Charger Reach Code brings the City’s Green Building Code into compliance with the 2024 CALGreen Intervening Code Cycle and includes additional requirements through CALGreen Tier 1. Staff recommends adopting the Voluntary Requirements of Tier 1 Option A for residential buildings and readopting Tier 1 with an increased local requirement for office parking facilities under the nonresidential building category.
Discussion
In addition to the triannual Code cycles, the California Green Building Standards Code, known as CALGreen, is often updated halfway through the 3-year term, known as the Intervening Code Cycle. Local governments are required to come into compliance with the updated State Code, which will take effect on July 1, 2024. The 2024 Intervening Cycle includes some EV charging requirements that supersede Santa Monica’s 2022 Reach Code, and other requirements that are less stringent. CALGreen includes mandatory requirements and optional voluntary requirements, known as Tier 1 and Tier
2. These Tiers go beyond the State requirements and can be adopted by local governments. Staff recommends adopting the following voluntary requirements to support the goals for increased EV charging access in the adopted EV Action Plan.
Residential: Tier 1 Option A
There are no changes to the single-family home requirements for EV charging and therefore, no recommended action from staff on our current Reach Code for single family homes.
For multifamily, the recommended Tier 1, Option A would change the requirement from the current Santa Monica Reach Code requirement of 60% EV ready parking spaces to 3 of 5
50%, and increase the required number of spaces with EV chargers installed from 5% to 15%. EV ready spaces are set with conduit, wiring, and a receptacle to allow future EV drivers easy access to charging. The EV Capable requirement, which requires only the electrical capacity to support future EV charging but does not include conduit and wiring, would be eliminated in accordance with the new state code as shown in Table 2.
EV Ready spaces in multifamily buildings would be located in at least one assigned parking space per unit where assigned parking is provided but need not exceed 50% of the total number of assigned parking spaces.
Table 2: Comparing Residential EV Charger Codes
2022 Santa
Monica EV Reach
Code
2024 State Intervening
Code: Mandatory
2024 Intervening State
Code: Tier 1, Option A
EV Capable 10% 0% 0%
EV Ready
(Low Power)
60% 40% 50%
EV Charger
Installed
5% 10% 15%
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Non-Residential: Tier 1 + 20% for Office Parking
For non-residential buildings staff recommends re-adopting Tier 1 and keeping a requirement from the 2022 Santa Monica EV Charger Reach Code for 20% of office parking spaces to meet Low Power Level 2 EV Ready. This would maintain the same non-residential EV Charger Reach Code that was adopted by Council in 2022, while including the updates in the new Intervening Code Cycle, such as the Power Allocation method. This method uses kVA to determine power allocation thresholds based on the number of parking spaces, enabling a project applicant to choose whichever mix of EV Ready, EV Capable, EVSE, and/or DC fast chargers makes sense for their project.
Public Outreach
On March 18, 2024 the Commission on Sustainability, Environmental Justice and the Environment unanimously approved the staff recommendation to adopt the EV Charger Reach Codes for Residential parking (Tier 1) and Non-Residential (Tier 1 with additional office charging requirements).
On April 3, 2024, the Office of Sustainability & the Environment held a stakeholder meeting to review and discuss the proposed EV Charger Reach Code. The attendees represented affordable housing developers, housing developers, architecture, and design firms, building managers, and green building advocates. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
Environmental Review
The Ordinance is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15308 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Section 15308 exempts actions taken by regulatory agencies for protection of the environment (Class 8). The Ordinance would address EV charging requirements, and therefore, is exempt pursuant to Section 15308.
In addition, this Ordinance is exempt from CEQA under Section 15061(b)(3), on the grounds that these standards are more stringent than the State building code standards, there are no reasonably foreseeable adverse impacts, and there is no possibility that the Ordinance in question may have a significant effect on the environment. 5 of 5
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Descriptions
11/14/17 (Attachment A) Adopted the EV Action Plan
05/28/2019 (Attachment B) Adopted the Climate Action & Adaptation Plan 02/25/2020 (Attachment C) Ordinance Adopting the 2020 EV Charger Reach Code
9/27/2022 (Attachment D) Ordinance Adopting the 2022 EV Charger Reach Code
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Ariana Vito, Sustainability Analyst
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. EV Action Plan (Web Link)
B. Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (Web Link)
C. 2020 Ordinance: EV Charger Reach Code (Web Link)
D. 2022 Ordinance: EV Charger Reach Code
E. 2022 Staff Report: Adoption of the 2022 EV Charger Reach Code and Zero Emission Building Code (Web Link)
F. 2024 EV Resolution
G. 2024 Intervening EV Charger Ordinance
H. Written Comments
I. PowerPoint Presentation