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(9) BENDER READY-MIX CONCRETE MANUFACTURING PROJECT ' Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration 2010: Reduce GHG emissions to 2000 levels; ' • 2020: Reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels; and • 2050: Reduce GHG emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels. Assembly Bill (AB) 32 requires that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) determine what the statewide GHG emissions level was in 1990, and approve a statewide GHG emissions limit that is equivalent to that level, to be achieved by 2020. CARB has approved a 2020 emissions limit of 427 million metric tons of C02 equivalent. Due to the nature of global climate change, it is not anticipated that any single development project ' would have a substantial effect on global climate change. In actuality, GHG emissions from the proposed project would combine with emissions emitted across California, the United States, and the world to cumulatively contribute to global climate change. In June 2008, the California Govemor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) published a Technical ' Advisory, which provides informal guidance for public agencies as they address the issue of climate change in CEQA documents.2 This is assessed by determining whether a proposed project is consistent with or obstructs the 39 Recommended Actions identified by CARB in its Climate Change Scoping Plan which includes nine Early Action Measures (qualitative approach). The Attorney ' General's Mitigation Measures identify areas were GHG emissions reductions can be achieved in order to achieve the goals of AB 32. As set forth in the OPR Technical Advisory and in the proposed amendments to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.4; this analysis examines whether the project's ' GHG emissions are significant based on a qualitative and performance based standard (Proposed CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.4(a)(1) and (2)). T ' he SCAQMD does not currently have a quantitative threshold of significance for GHG emissions. In the absence of such a threshold, this analysis utilizes a threshold of 1,100 metric tons of C02 equivalent3 per year (MTC02eq/yr), which has recently been adopted by the Bay Area Air Quality ' Management District (BAAQMD) in June 2010. This "gap-based" threshold approach is intended to attribute an approximate share of GHG emission reductions necessary to reach AB 32 goals to new land use development projects that are evaluated pursuant to CEQA. The 1,100 MTCO2eq/yr threshold would result in approximately 59 percent of all projects being above the significance threshold. A 1,100 ' MTC02eq/yr threshold would achieve the necessary amount of GHG emissions reductions to meet the reduction goals of AB 32 (1990 levels by 2020). ' PROJECT-RELATED SOURCES OF GREENHOUSE GASES Project-related GHG emissions would include emissions from direct and indirect sources. The i proposed project would result in direct and indirect emissions of C02, N20, and CH4, and would not result in other GHGs that would facilitate a meaningful analysis. Therefore, this analysis focuses on these three forms of GHG emissions. The project involves site improvements with regards to ' aesthetics, drainage/water quality, and safety at and surrounding the project site, which constitute the construction GHG emissions. Direct and indirect operational GHG emissions are a result of existing facility operations, as no new uses are proposed. 2 Governor's Office of Planning and Research, CEQA and Climate Change: Addressing Climate Change Through California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Review, 2008. 3 Carbon dioxide equivalent is a quantity that describes, for a given mixture and amount of GHG, the amount of C02 that would have the same global warming potential, when measured over a specified timescale (generally 100 years). ' JULY 2011 4.7-2 GREENHOUSE GASES ' 31A-58