TO:Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
FROM:Clifford G. Finley, Public Works Director
DATE:April 9, 2024
SUBJECT: Climate and Environmental Action Plan (MI 2606) RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive information on the City’s draft 2024 Climate and Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) and its accompanying draft Initial Study - Negative Declaration (IS- ND) as presented at this Public Study Session and provide direction to staff.
2. Tentatively schedule a Public Hearing for May 7, 2024, to adopt the CEAP, and its accompanying draft IS-ND.
3. Find that this “Study Session” action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. $217,086 in carryover budget is available in the Adopted FY 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) General Fund Budget (MI 2606).
BACKGROUND:
The purpose of this study session is to provide City Council with an overview of the draft 2024 CEAP and its accompanying draft IS-ND, solicit City Council feedback and receive direction.
The development of a Climate Action Plan was selected by the community to be included as one of the City’s Top Ten Priorities at the conclusion of the citywide year-long “Visioning 2064” process in 2014. This goal of developing a Climate Action Plan was subsequently formally approved by City Council in March 2014.
On June 19, 2018, City Council adopted a Sustainability Plan for Municipal Operations, which established the foundation for environmentally-friendly, fiscally- responsible, and sustainably-minded City operations. Over the past five years since the adoption of the Sustainability Plan, substantial progress has been made towards its goals.
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6 On March 19, 2019, City Council established its FY 2019-20 Top Ten Priorities.
Among these was City Council Priority No. 8 - “Promote environmental sustainability efforts through a Sustainability Strategic Plan.” Subsequently, on September 24, 2019, City Council received an update on the Strategic Plan and provided feedback, which has been incorporated in the CEAP. The primary outcome of the Strategic Plan was the development, adoption, and implementation of the City’s CEAP.
On January 12, 2021, City Council received a Department Report detailing progress towards the CEAP and established preliminary greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets for CEAP development of at least 40 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and at least 80 percent below 2010 levels by 2050 to align with those adopted by the State of California.
On April 12, 2021, Planning Commission received a presentation on the development of the CEAP and its relationship to the Thousand Oaks 2045 General Plan Update (GP).
On April 27, 2021, City Council established its FY 2021-22 Top Ten Priorities, which included No. 6 - “Create and adopt a Climate and Environmental Action Plan in coordination with community stakeholders.” On October 26, 2021, City Council received a report and provided feedback on proposed strategies for the City’s CEAP.
On May 17, 2022, and May 23, 2023, City Council adopted “Environmental Sustainability” including “Complete Climate Action Plan” as one of its Top Ten priorities.
On July 1, 2023, City Council approved an On-Call Agreement (Contract No. 13369-2023) with Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Rincon) under which Rincon conducted a peer review of the CEAP and completed the IS-ND under the CEQA.
On December 5, 2023, City Council adopted the City’s 2045 GP.
On March 18, 2024, the draft CEAP (Attachments #1 and #2) and its accompanying draft IS-ND (Attachment #3) were released for public review and comment. The public comment period for these documents ends on April 23, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. (Attachment #4).
On March 25, 2024, the draft CEAP and its accompanying draft IS-ND were presented to the Planning Commission.
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6 DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The State of California’s General Plan Guidelines document the numerous intersections between general plans and climate change. According to the Office of Planning and Research General Plan Guidelines – Chapter 8: “The impacts of climate change pose an immediate and growing threat to California’s economy, environment, and to public health. Cities and counties will continue to experience effects of climate change in various ways, including increased likelihood of droughts, flooding, wildfires, heat waves, and severe weather. California communities need to respond to climate change both through policies that promote adaptation and resilience and by significantly reducing GHG emissions.” Local governments play a critical role in reducing GHG emissions. In California, local governments regulate many activities that contribute to GHG emissions and air pollutants, including industrial permitting, land use and transportation planning, zoning and urban growth decisions, implementation of building codes and other standards, and control of municipal operations. Since the State expressly recognized climate change as a consideration in CEQA in 2007, local governments have addressed climate change through policies in the general plan itself, and/or through the adoption of a climate action plan, which is referenced and linked to the general plan.
The City’s draft CEAP has been in development for a number of years. Although it was initially scheduled ahead of the GP, the use of growth projections from the GP and the intersections between the two plans drove a decision to complete the adoption of the CEAP after the comprehensive GP process was completed. By shifting the CEAP to 2024, staff has been able to more accurately project the emissions responsible for climate change through growth modeling and include strategies and actions responsive to policies laid out in the GP.
Although the GP and CEAP are separate documents, they are linked by embedded references, with policies contained in the GP and supporting strategies in the CEAP. The impacts of future development as delineated in the GP have been addressed through the comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the GP and adopted by City Council in December 2023. Some of these impacts will be mitigated by strategies contained in the CEAP. Rincon conducted a separate CEQA review for the CEAP and prepared a draft IS-ND, pursuant to Section 15070 of the State’s CEQA Guidelines. Based on the conclusion of the IS-ND, the City has determined that the CEAP would have no significant adverse impacts on the environment. This document has been made available for public comment at the City’s two libraries, the public counter in City Hall, and online at www.toclimateaction.org. Instructions for submitting comments are also posted on this website.
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6 The City’s CEAP details the strategies and actions that the City will pursue to better protect the environment and address the challenges of climate change. Actions are aimed at reducing the community’s collective carbon emissions, sustaining a healthy environment, and providing co-benefits like reducing air pollution, supporting local economic development, increasing the City’s overall local sustainability and resilience, and improving public health.
At the heart of the CEAP are GHG emissions, sometimes referred to as carbon emissions, that are responsible for climate change. The scientific consensus, as reflected in reports from bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), indicates that global GHG emissions must be reduced by 43 percent by 2030 and reach net-zero [1] by the early 2050s [2] to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change from occurring. To this end, California has passed several laws establishing GHG emission reduction targets and published a Scoping Plan[3] detailing the actions to be taken to achieve these reductions. In 2006, the California Global Warming Solutions Act (Assembly Bill (AB) 32) established the State’s first target to reduce GHG emissions, with a goal of lowering emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The State has achieved this initial target. In 2016, Senate Bill (SB) 32 was signed into law, establishing a new mid- term GHG reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Then in 2022, AB 1279 was passed, which set a new long-term target requiring emissions to be reduced to at least 85 percent below the 1990 levels by 2045.
The CEAP has been developed with the State’s targets in mind, as directed by City Council in January 2021. Adjustments were made for a shift from the State’s 1990 baseline year to 2010, the City’s baseline year, determined to be the furthest back in time for which accurate data are available. As a result, the GHG reduction targets established for the CEAP are a 42 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and an 85 percent reduction by 2045 relative to 2010 emissions.
As seen in Figure 1 below, historically, GHG emissions in the City have been dominated by three sectors – transportation, electricity, and natural gas, which together make up about 90 percent of community-wide emissions. Contributions from the electricity sector have fallen sharply since 2018, following City Council’s decision to join the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) with a default option of 100 percent renewable energy supply (“Green Power” program) for all residents and businesses. In 2020, electricity use contributed only six percent of total emissions versus an average of 26 percent in the years prior to joining the CPA.
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1 Net zero refers to a balance between the amount of greenhouse gases put into and removed from the atmosphere.
2 https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/04/04/ipcc-ar6-wgiii-pressrelease/ 3 https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/ab-32-climate-change-scoping-plan Climate and Environmental Action Plan MI 2606
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6 Emissions from natural gas have decreased marginally since 2010, and in 2020 emissions from this sector accounted for 21 percent of total emissions.
Transportation has historically been, and continues to be, the City’s largest source of GHG emissions, accounting for approximately 63 percent of total emissions in 2020.
Projected emissions, shown in Figure 1, are modeled using anticipated growth under the GP together with the State’s current regulations including the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), Title 24 Building Code, and the Advanced Clean Cars Standards. These projections, which show emissions expected in the absence of a CEAP, show a 36 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 versus the City’s 42 percent reduction target, and a 41 percent reduction by 2045 versus the City’s 85 percent target.
Figure 1. Historical (2010 – 2020) and projected (2021 – 2045) Citywide GHG emissions, and the CEAP emissions targets for 2030 and 2045.
The CEAP addresses this shortfall in desired emission reductions, with a particular emphasis on meeting the mid-term (2030) target. Strategies are divided into the following sectors:
•Building Energy – Electricity and natural gas emissions from energy use in buildings and operations.
•Transportation – Trips originating or terminating in the City but not pass- through trips, as modeled using the GP land use map and growth projections.
•Solid Waste – Emissions arising primarily from the generation of methane, a powerful GHG, through the decomposition of organic waste in landfills.
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6 •Water – Transportation and distribution from its origin in the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Sacramento via the State Water Project to the City, and subsequent distribution within the City, is energy-intensive. [4] Building Energy
In the Building Energy Sector, the focus is on using less energy (i.e., energy conservation and efficiency), electrification (i.e., a shift from the use of natural gas to electricity to perform the same function), and the increased use of carbon-free renewable energy. Since the City’s electricity is generated primarily from renewable sources, shifting from natural gas to electricity to power building equipment and appliances wherever possible will result in significant GHG savings.
This can be accomplished more easily for new developments than for existing buildings since new construction is governed by the City’s Building Code (based on the California Building Code), which the City has the opportunity to amend.
Since the City is built out for the most part, it will be essential to tackle energy emissions from existing buildings.
According to the State’s Cost Effectiveness Explorer[5] developed by the California Energy Commission, 50 percent of the City’s housing stock was built before 1978 and only six percent since 2005. This creates an opportunity for energy and GHG savings as these older homes are upgraded to contemporary energy efficiency, equipment, and appliance standards. Some efficiency or electrification upgrades can be incorporated into the building permit process for major improvements in existing homes. With the considerable incentive and rebate funding available, and expected savings from the upgrades, many of these improvements will pay for themselves in a short time. Under the CEAP, a new Energy Ambassador program will provide staff resources for outreach and education to help residents access available programs and funding.
Example measures:
•City to consider use of a flexible compliance path for new buildings and for major renovations to existing buildings where builders can select from a menu of efficiency and electrification measures to meet a prescribed GHG savings.
•City to develop an Energy Ambassador Program to aid residents and building owners in accessing and applying for energy efficiency and electrification incentive funding and rebates.
•City to encourage increased participation from non-residential properties in Green power program from CPA.
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4 Most of these water-related emissions do not occur within the City boundary and so are not included in the City’s GHG emissions inventory.
5 https://explorer.localenergycodes.com
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6 Transportation
In the Transportation Sector, a shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is one of the primary strategies for reducing emissions. Under the CEAP, this will be supported by increased access to EV charging, particularly for those living in multi-family developments where access to home charging is much more challenging than for single-family homeowners. Under the CEAP, new multi-family and mixed-use developments will have increased EV-Ready parking space requirements, and existing multi-family residents will have access to more public fast chargers that the City will install in strategic locations. The City has already secured funding for a number of these. The Smart Growth policies outlined in the GP will reduce vehicle miles driven through implementation of several measures designed to make alternative means of mobility, such as walking, biking, or buses, more accessible and more attractive. This transition will help to reduce transportation- related emissions and improve air quality.
Examples:
•Plan for walkability and bikeability in new developments. •Increase EV charging requirement above CALGreen mandatory provisions for new multi-family developments.
•Install EV charging infrastructure and EV chargers in public street, public areas and at community facilities such as parks, partnering with other agencies as necessary to support EV adoption by residents of existing multi-family housing.
Solid Waste
Solid Waste sector emissions arise primarily from the decomposition of organic matter in the landfill. The City is addressing this through waste collection service that provides for separate treatment of organic (landscape and food) waste at composting facilities. Further education and outreach are needed to encourage better source separation by residents and businesses to increase the community’s organic waste diversion from the landfill. Under the CEAP, food waste will be further reduced by the establishment of a food recovery storage facility that will provide additional capacity for existing food recovery organizations to capture, store, and distribute edible food to those in need.
Examples:
•Reduce methane emissions from landfilled organic waste through organics collection and composting.
•Reduce waste of edible food through establishment of a food recovery program and facility.
•Conduct a waste characterization study of the City’s waste streams and implement targeted education and technical assistance.
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6 Water
Addressing water sources and use in the City are important not only because of the energy intensity of delivering, treating, and distributing water, but also from a resilience perspective. The City relies almost exclusively on imported water.
Reducing irrigation demands by transitioning to climate- and region-appropriate landscaping saves energy, reduces GHG emissions, and reduces the consumption of chemical fertilizers. Native plants are also drought resistant and bring about co-benefits (such as food and habitat for pollinators like birds and bees) and help maintain a healthy ecosystem. Besides supporting a transition to native gardens and reducing outdoor water use, the CEAP lists a number of measures to increase drought resilience through the exploration of regional water supply solutions.
Examples:
•Transition community to climate-appropriate landscaping. •Model sustainable landscaping in its medians and other City-owned landscaped areas.
•Encourage greywater installation in new MF developments.
Successful implementation of the measures in the CEAP are projected to result in improved GHG emission reductions from the “business-as-usual” projections (Figure 1) to those shown below (Figure 2) of 42 percent by 2030 and 59 percent by 2045. These would meet the CEAP’s (and the State’s) 2030 target. There will be further work to do to meet the 2045 target, but the CEAP will be updated every five years as new technologies, supporting standards and regulations emerge, providing opportunity for additional reductions over the next twenty years.
Figure 2. Historical (2010 – 2020) and projected (2021 – 2045) Citywide GHG emissions with successful implementation of the measures in the CEAP, and the CEAP emissions targets for 2030 and 2045
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6 In addition to the strategies laid out to address GHG emissions, the CEAP identifies measures that protect the environment and assist the community in adapting and being resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Examples of these include:
•Prioritize tree planting investments in neighborhoods with limited green space, canopy coverage, or elevated air pollution.
•Encourage the planting of pollinator-friendly native gardens. •Phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Once the CEAP is adopted, it will be important to track progress and make adjustments in strategies as necessary along the way. Comprehensive GHG emissions performance tracking will be ensured through joining and reporting annually to the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the most extensive global environmental disclosure system. In addition, the City will develop a dashboard to track and report on Key Performance Indicators. The community will be able to access these platforms, which will provide progress updates and transparency.
Enforcement
Many of the measures in the CEAP require that the City adopt an ordinance to implement. In each case, appropriate research and stakeholder engagement will be conducted by staff to ensure adequate consideration of alternatives and impacts. Some of the ordinances will also require consultation with appropriate bodies such as the California Energy Commission, Building Standards Commission, regional energy networks and Statewide Reach Codes team. The normal process for adoption of ordinances by City Council will be followed.
In most cases, measures will call for outreach and engagement with the community to ensure that residents, businesses, and any other affected entities are clearly informed of changes and have adequate time to prepare for any impacts.
Notification will be carried out through letters, newspaper ads, flyers, social media and City newsletters. Where changes are significant and/or complex, the City will host public workshops where staff can answer questions and provide guidance.
The City’s approach to enforcement of regulations is one of encouraging compliance through education. This would normally begin with a message or conversation with any offending party, followed by a letter, before any fines or penalties are assessed.
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6 Some measures call for voluntary participation by residents without any anticipated City ordinance. These include all measures that are “encouraged” and include a voluntary transition to the use of clean renewable energy in homes and vehicles.
The City will aid in facilitating this transition through providing education and resources, such as the Energy Ambassador Program.
Planning Commission
On March 25, 2024, the CEAP was presented to the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission for feedback. Commissioners had comments and questions related to being more aggressive about reducing emissions from the natural gas sector, a possible electrification mandate and how we might address the Plan falling short of its 2045 target, the challenge for expanding the installation of new rooftop solar under the revised electricity tariffs. Final comments from one of the commissioners asked that City Council be more assertive in trying to meet the GHG reduction goals.
Outreach
As part of the development of the CEAP, the City has conducted extensive public outreach and engagement to allow residents, stakeholders, and other interested parties to participate in the planning process. Activities began in fall 2020 with a community-wide questionnaire on how the City should address the challenges of climate change. More than 800 respondents provided feedback. Also in fall 2020, a 21-member stakeholder group representing a cross-section of the community was established to provide ideas and feedback on strategies in each GHG emissions sector. The stakeholders were selected to represent both large and small businesses in the City, socio-economic diversity, and key constituencies affected by potential strategies (e.g., real estate community, landscapers, etc.).
The City hired Raimi and Associates, the City’s consultant for the GP, to facilitate workshops and ensure alignment between the GP and the CEAP. In the first half of 2021, four stakeholder online workshops were held, each focusing on a specific topic area within the CEAP. On July 10, 2021, the City hosted an in-person event at the main library. The event provided community members an opportunity to engage with staff on various topics covered in the stakeholder CEAP development meetings, including short presentations and video synopses hosted at various tables. In addition, in summer 2021, four pop-up community engagement events were hosted at popular shopping venues in the City and surveys were conducted at the Rotary Street Fair in October 2021.
After delays in 2022 due to the waste hauler transition and then the implementation of water conservation measures associated with the drought, CEAP outreach resumed at the City’s Arbor Earth Day event in April 2023, where hundreds of Climate and Environmental Action Plan MI 2606
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6 residents responded to survey questions on their preferences for specific CEAP actions. For the remainder of 2023, CEAP outreach was put on hold to allow the community to focus their attention on the City’s GP and EIR.
Based on the past three years of community input, the draft CEAP was prepared for peer review in late 2023 and finalized for public release, which occurred on March 18, 2024. A dedicated website, www.toclimateaction.org, has been developed for the CEAP, providing background on the Plan, context, an overview, and listing all the proposed strategies by topic area. The CEAP document and appendices can be downloaded from that website, which also provides an easy- to-use feedback feature where community members can submit their comments.
Additional outreach during 2024 included inviting the original 2020 CEAP stakeholders back for a Plan overview discussion conducted via Zoom on March 20, 2024, a Planning Commission report and presentation that took place on March 25, 2024, and a public workshop which was held at the main library on April 3, 2024.
In addition, there will be an opportunity for additional public engagement at the City’s Arbor Earth Day event on April 20, 2024. These events have been publicized through the City’s website, newsletters, social media, and full-page advertisements in the local newspaper. This City Council Study Session provides an additional opportunity for public comment on both the CEAP and the IS-ND.
The date for the final Public Hearing before City Council to consider adoption of the CEAP and the IS-ND is tentatively scheduled for May 7, 2024.
This project (CEAP) meets City Council’s Top Ten Priorities No. 5, Environmental Sustainability: “Complete Climate Action Plan.”
CIP PROJECT PRIORITY (as outlined in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 CIP Program Budget)
Priority Three – Nice to do and would contribute to quality of life, but not essential.
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6 COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
F. Provide and enhance essential infrastructure to ensure that the goals and policies of the Thousand Oaks General Plan are carried out and the City retains its role and reputation as a leader in protecting the environment and preserving limited natural resources.
PREPARED BY: Helen Cox, Sustainability Division Manager Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Draft Climate and Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) Attachment #2 – Draft Appendices to the CEAP
Attachment #3 – Draft Initial Study – Negative Declaration (IS-ND) for CEAP
Attachment #4 – Notice of Intent to Adopt the IS-ND for the City’s CEAP DPW:850-10\ev\Council\2024\04092024\MI 2606\CEAP staff report.docx