SB CAN ACTION ALERT
MAY 5, 2014
- APCD workshops on greenhouse-gas emission thresholds
- H.O.T. Committee Meetings
Here are the details:
1. APCD workshops on greenhouse-gas emission thresholds
We will be at the Santa Maria workshop to encourage the APCD to adopt a zero emissions threshold as we have advocated for in the past. We hope you can attend and advocate for the same thing.
Here are some talking points prepared by Michael Chiacos of CEC:
The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District is proposing to update its Environmental Review Guidelines to include guidance for evaluating the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from new or modified stationary sources (such as oil/gas or other large industrial facilities).
This workshop is an important opportunity to voice your concern about permitting of new industrial facilities without adequate mitigation of greenhouse gases. Please attend a workshop and voice your support for a zero emission threshold, which would require new projects to fully mitigate their greenhouse gas impacts. Other options considered by the District include doing nothing, a bright line threshold (such as requiring projects to mitigate down to a significance threshold of 10,000 or 25,000 metric tons of CO2) or apply a lesser reduction that is consistent with AB 32.
CEC has advocated for a zero threshold in the past, on the grounds that:
• All new GHG sources are significant, contribute to exacerbating climate change, and must be mitigated.
• By having all new projects do their fair share, we can move more quickly toward addressing climate change.
• Climate change is an urgent issue and we need to take action now to cut emissions, which will stay in the atmosphere for decades.
The District will be holding workshops in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara on the following dates.
May 6, 2014, 3:00 pm - Santa Maria
Santa Maria Public Library, Shepard Hall, 421 South McClelland St, Santa Maria, CA
May 8, 2014, 3:00 pm - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Central Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu St, Santa Barbara, CA
Here's information from the APCD, which we sent in a previous Action Alert:
NOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOPS
Updating District Guidelines to address Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the California Environmental Quality Act
The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District’s Environmental Review Guidelines provide procedures for the District and other agencies to use when reviewing projects under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. The District’s Guidelines are applied directly to projects for which the District is the lead agency under CEQA, including District permits, rules, and plans. The state’s CEQA guidelines have included a framework for addressing climate change impacts since 2010. The District proposes to update its Environmental Review Guidelines to include guidance for evaluating the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from new or modified stationary sources.
The District will lead the workshops listed above to provide the framework and gather input from stakeholders and the public. Draft revisions to the District’s Guidelines will be developed and presented at another public workshop for input. Proposed revisions and a summary of input from the public workshops will be reviewed by the District’s Community Advisory Council, and may be brought to the District’s Board for adoption.
The following individuals or groups may be interested in attending these workshops:
For additional information, please see the District’s website at www.ourair.org/notices.htm, or contact Molly Pearson at (805) 961-8838.
To sign up to receive notices, please email [email protected].
2. H.O.T. Committee Meetings
SB CAN North County Housing, Open space & Transportation Committee
Our H.O.T. Committee meeting this week is largely an open agenda. We expect to talk about Measure M and perhaps a Water Guardians Initiative update, the aforementioned greenhouse gas workshop, among other topics.
Our Housing, Open space and Transportation (H.O.T.) Committee meetings are open to all who share a progressive point of view.
SB CAN South County Housing, Open space & Transportation Committee
In place of this meeting that would normally be held this Friday, we had a special H.O.T. Committee meeting with Gar Alperovitz last week regarding economic democracy. We had excellent attendance and a lot of enthusiasm for taking action on the issues discussed. Thank you to those of you who attended.
We will be posting more information about this topic in the near future.
Please help SB CAN to continue advocating on your behalf on issues like these and others by joining or renewing your membership or by making a contribution at www.sbcan.org.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Ken Hough
Executive Director
SB CAN
[email protected]
(805) 563-0463
www.sbcan.org