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December 20, 2022 <br />SAFER Appeal No. 2022-01 of Garry Avenue Business Park Planning Commission Approval <br />City Council Agenda Item 41 (Amendment Application No. 2022-01; Conditional Use Permit No. 2022-14) <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />If the agency finds that there is no significant impact, they must prepare an MND or an <br />ND. An MND is proper only if the project revisions would avoid or mitigate the potentially <br />significant effects identified in the initial study "to a point where clearly no significant effect on <br />the environment would occur, and ... there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record <br />before the public agency that the project, as revised, may have a significant effect on the <br />environment." (PRC §§ 21064.5 and 21080(c)(2); Mejia v. City ofLos Angeles (2005) 130 <br />Cal.AppAth 322, 331.) In that context, "may" means a reasonable possibility of a significant <br />effect on the environment. (PRC § § 21082.2(a), 21100, 21151(a); Pocket Protectors v. City of <br />Sacramento (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 903, 927; League for Protection of Oakland's etc. Historic <br />Res. v. City of Oakland (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 896, 904-05.) <br />II. DISCUSSION <br />As explained below, the City has failed to adequately analyze the proposed Project with <br />respect to air quality, health risk, and greenhouse gas impacts. The City must therefore prepare <br />an EIR or an ND to adequately analyze these effects in accordance with Section 15183 Review. <br />A. The Project May Have a Potentially Significant Health Risk Impact as a <br />Result of the Project's Emissions of Diesel Particulate Emissions. <br />The Project's potentially significant health risk impact as a result of the Project's <br />emissions of diesel particulate matter ("DPM") was previously discussed as a significant and <br />unavoidable impact in the prior 2022 GPU PEIR (GPU PEIR, p. 1-22), and as such, they must be <br />analyzed in an ND or supplemental EIR. <br />In support of Section 15183 Review, the EA claims that the Project is not required to <br />submit an HRA because Mitigation Measure AQ-3 ("MM-AQ-3") included in the GPU PEIR is <br />not applicable to the Project. (See Exhibit A, pp. 1-2.) However, as SWAPE notes, "regardless of <br />the EA's claims, the State of California Department of Justice recommends that all warehouse <br />projects prepare a quantitative HRA pursuant to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard <br />Assessment ("OEHHA"), the organization responsible for providing guidance on conducting <br />HRAs in California, as well as local air district guidelines." (Id., p. 2.) <br />OEHHA released its most recent guidance document in 2015 describing which types of <br />projects warrant preparation of an HRA. (See, e.g., "Risk Assessment Guidelines Guidance <br />Manual for Preparation of Health Risk Assessments." OEHHA, February 2015, available at: <br />http://oehha.ca.gov/air/hot_spots/hotspots2015.html.) OEHHA recommends that projects lasting <br />at least 2 months be evaluated for cancer risks to nearby sensitive receptors, a time period which <br />this Project easily exceeds. (Exhibit A, p. 2.) Because "the Project's anticipated construction <br />duration exceeds the 2-month and 6-month requirements set forth by OEHHA, construction of <br />the Project meets the threshold warranting a quantified HRA under OEHHA guidance and <br />should be evaluated for the entire 12-month construction period." (Id.) The OEHHA document <br />also recommends that if a project is expected to last over 6 months, the exposure should be <br />evaluated throughout the project using a 30-year exposure duration to estimate individual cancer <br />risks. (Id.) Based on its extensive experience, SWAPE reasonably assumes that the Project will <br />