ventura, April 10, 2018

350 Ventura County Climate Hub Input for Policy

Emissions Reduction Section of Climate Chapter

GOAL A – Increase building energy efficiency xxx,xxx  MT CO2/yr

POLICIES

1. Enforce Title 24 Standards for Commercial and Residential Buildings for new and remodeled buildings to conserve energy and water. xx,xxx MT CO2/yr
2. Expand the Green Building Ordinance Energy Code.  Require new residential and nonresidential Energy Code development to exceed CALGreen Tier 1 voluntary standards by complying with CALGreen Tier 2 standards.
3. Expand express permitting. Expand the incentives for business to expedite permitting for energy and water efficient projects
4. Promote Financing Programs for Energy Efficiency Expand programs to promote energy efficiency in existing residential buildings and commercial buildings, and remove barriers for energy efficiency improvements to include accelerating participation in on-bill repayment programs like emPower and Demand Response agreements for larger loads.
5. Outdoor lighting. Adopt outdoor lighting standards in the zoning ordinance to reduce electricity consumption above and beyond the requirements of AB 1109 including motion-sensitive street lighting and lowest needed specification of intensity and luminance to conserve energy.
6. Shade-tree planting. Expand on current urban tree-planting policies and programs to establish a shade-tree planting goal for each jurisdiction.
7. Cogeneration facilities. Encourage cogeneration facilities to supply a certain amount of energy in new commercial and industrial facilities greater than 100,000 square feet.

PROGRAMS

Energy Strategy and Implementation Plan

Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance

Water Conservation Ordinance

Outdoor Landscaping Ordinance

GOAL B – Increase renewable energy use  xx,xxx MT CO2/yr – sum of targets to be set below

POLICIES

1. Solar in New Residential Buildings. Implement solar energy installation requirements for new residential buildings to increase renewable energy generation.
2. Solar in Existing Residential Buildings. Incentivize solar energy installation for existing residential buildings to increase renewable energy generation.
3. Solar in New Nonresidential Developments Implement solar energy installation requirements for new nonresidential development to increase renewable energy generation.
4. Solar in Existing Nonresidential Developments Incentivize solar energy installation for existing nonresidential development to increase renewable energy generation.
5. Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Residential Buildings. Provide weatherization and other energy efficiency upgrades for low and moderate income households through Community Development Block Grant funding to reduce GHG emissions by 15 percent in 20 percent of housing units by 2025 and by 15% in 50 percent of housing units by 2035.
6. Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Nonresidential Developments. Retrofit municipal facilities to reduce GHG emissions by 15 percent by 2025 and by  25% by 2035.

GOAL C – Increase local renewable energy generation within an integrated resource plan anticipating total electrification of the transportation system xxx,xxx  MT CO2/yr

POLICIES

1. Community Choice Energy. Participate and advocate at the local, regional and state level for community choice aggregation program setting a goal for all ratepayers of 75% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% renewable energy by 2033.        
2. Promote Distributed Energy Resources. Support accelerated development of local renewable energy generation (e.g., solar and  wind) with battery storage through a higher-priced rate tier in a community choice aggregation program to develop new Distributed Energy Resources of 500 MW by 2025 and 95% of load by 2035.
3. Community Microgrids. Create an engineering analysis, advocate and participate in the building of community microgrids in all areas of the county where there is a favorable mix of load balancing; availability of rooftops; parking lots and brownfield sites for cost-effective solar and wind generation; and the need for a community facility with islanding capacity.
4. Offshore Wind and Wave Energy. Pursue appropriate opportunities for offshore wind and wave energy generation.

GOAL D:  Switch equipment from fossil fuel to electricity –  x,xxx MT CO2/yr

POLICIES

1. Convert building equipment to electricity. Replace residential water and gas space heating equipment with high efficiency electric equipment to achieve 50% conversion of total use by 2025 and 100% of use by 2035.

GOAL E: Reduce emissions from vehicles by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 through focused growth and other programs x,xxx MT CO2/yr; and, be prepared to increase this reduction if it is found to be required to support climate stabilization at a livable level.

POLICIES

1. Baseline inventory must follow 2014 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC). The GPC provides scope 1,2 and 3 with standard methodology for reporting emissions by gas, scope, sector and subsector, and to add up emissions using the two requisite, distinct but complementary, approaches.
2. Regional Transportation Plan must plan to reduce emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled. Update the Ventura County Regional Comprehensive Transportation Plan to baseline emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled by gas, scope, sector and subsector with reduction targets to total at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and up to 80 percent below 1990 level if this is found to be necessary to support stabilizing the climate at a livable level.
3. Regional Transportation Plan must plan for zero emissions vehicles. Update the plan to forecast need and strategies to support zero emissions vehicle infrastructure.
4. Regional Transportation Plan must minimize segmented wildlife corridors and impermeable surfaces. Update the plan to address systemic impacts that fragment wildlife corridors and lead to storm water runoff.
5. Housing Element Report and Regional Transportation Plan must match Climate Action Plan targets for Vehicle Miles Traveled.  A target for reduction of Vehicle Miles Traveled will be set that includes the per cent reduction resulting from infill development next to transit corridors, transit hubs and higher density community cores by numbers of units of legally defined extremely low, very low and low income housing to meet specified needs by specified funding sources or offset by specified savings
6. Housing density. Developments up to 45 units per acre may be permitted if, for example, 80 percent of the units are rented to moderate, low or very low-income households, and if sufficient services and facilities are provided, including access to open space and minimization of heat island effects.
7. Fleet efficiency. Define enforceable measures to ensure cars and light-duty trucks achieve necessary efficiency to reduce emissions.  xxx,xxx MT CO2/yr
8. Reduce emissions from freight. An Intermodel Freight Plan will specify the targets for reductions of emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled for the freight sector that may include a rail spur at the Port of Hueneme and other short-line freight railroads and  clean energy technologies for moving freight other than by truck.
9. Road use fees. Support a statewide technology system to collect and distribute fees for the use of roads, parking, and transit that is fair, convenient and protects user privacy and the interests of low-income users.
10. Plan for no new freeway expansion. Transportation planning will subordinate freeway expansion projects by putting top priority on projects and programs that reduce per capita vehicle use and vehicle miles traveled and that will result in more jobs and more economic growth.
11. Mixed use development along transit corridors: Identify specific areas for transit-oriented, community centered, mixed use development focused on identified existing and planned transit corridors. x,xxx MT CO2/yr
12. Increase transit accessibility:  Encourage new residential projects consisting of 25 units or more to be located within 0.5 mile of a transit node, shuttle service, or bus route with regularly scheduled daily service. x,xxx MT CO2/yr
13. Bus-only lanes. Create dedicated bus-only lanes on existing roads where traffic volume is below design capacity to improve transit service.
14. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program Implement support for voluntary TDM measures for employers with 49 employees or fewer, voluntary TDM measures for larger employers that are in excess of the TRO, and requirements for TDM measures in larger new residential projects.
15. Carpool incentives and ride-sharing program. Promote countywide ride-sharing program and encourage participation by local employers through their TDM programs.
16. Car-sharing systems. Make agreements with neighborhood-accessible Car Sharing systems.
17. Guaranteed ride home. Promote a  guaranteed ride-home program to provide a free carshare, shuttle, or taxi ride home to employees in case of an emergency.
18. Support bicycle/pedestrian measures. Create buffered bike lanes and protected cycle tracks wherever possible in order to buffer bicycle users and pedestrians from car traffic, and subsidize League-of-American-Bicyclist-Certified Instruction (LCI) which teaches on-road cycling skills with both on-road and written class components including on-road and written tests, required to pass the course.
19. Traffic calming. Implement traffic calming measures in downtown cores, accident hot-spot locations, near schools and libraries, etc.
20. High-speed internet. Ensure that all parts of the county have access to high-speed internet to support virtual work and meeting options.
21. Shared office and business incubator space. Facilitate permitting for shared office and business incubator space along transportation corridors and in higher density community developments.

PROGRAMS

Community Car Club How to Set up a Community Car Club and Car Clubs.

JUSTIFICATIONS

The mandate for a target of 40 percent reduction of emissions from vehicles by 2030 is believed to be inadequate to stabilize the climate. This target is the interim per executive order of Governor Brown intended to help California lower emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050, a goal set by Governor Jerry Brown’s predecessor, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and which may or may not be climate stabilizing.

Does this policy if applied globally make the outcome of a stable climate possible? It is a mistake to go along with state mandates based on unstated assumptions as if we believe that policy will achieve climate stabilization. CEQA requires that the decision makers know the environmental outcome associated with their decision. What is required is a holistic assessment of the outcomes of all of the policies that include emissions from fixed sources and greenhouse gases from livestock and landfills, as well as the achievements of carbon sequestration. The type of net analysis done by Project Drawdown informs the best mix of responsible policies.

2014 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) (GPC) is a framework for transportation emissions relying on standard references, such as the ICLEI Global Protocol for Communities (MGS 1.0). It expands the scope of the assessment to include so-called “Scope 3” marine vessel and aviation emissions and should include emissions from end use distribution of goods produced in the county. The emissions accounting using the CPC framework should reflect the following scopes:
Scope 1: Emissions from transportation occurring in the county including all GHG emissions from the transport of people and freight occurring within the city boundary.
Scope 2: Emissions from grid-supplied electricity used in the city for transportation including all GHG emissions from the generation of grid-supplied electricity used for electric-powered vehicles. The amount of electricity used should be assessed at the point of consumption within the city boundary.
Scope 3: Emissions from the portion of transboundary journeys occurring outside the city, and transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy from electric vehicle use. This includes the out-of- county portion of all transboundary GHG emissions from trips that either originate or terminate within the county boundaries. This may include the out-of-county portion of on-road transit that burns fuel,  any out-of-county stops for an electric railway,  distribution of goods produced in the county by air or sea. If the county is the point of origin, half of the emissions should be attributed to the county and half to the destination point. The attribution is reversed when the county is the destination point.

Reducing per capita driving. A minimum 30 percent reduction is most likely needed in per-capita driving of by 2030, with respect to 2005. Focusing growth in higher densities with public transit and support for bicycle/pedestrian mobility will make it possible for more people to live closer to where they work and/or shop and travel.

Bicycle Lane Design Guidance – National Association of City Transportation Officials

One-Way Protected Cycle Tracks

Buffered Bike Lanes

GOAL F: Help reduce emissions from vehicles by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 by implementing improved car parking systems  – x,xxx MT CO2/yr

POLICIES

1. Redesign car-parking systems. Phase out bundled-benefit and bundled-cost car parking systems with shared, value-priced off-street parking systems, such as a Dividend Account Parking (DAP) System, that makes costs transparent, makes parking use optional, and reduces single-occupancy vehicle travel.
2. Demonstrate and promote a Dividend Account Parking (DAP) System. Engage 80 percent of county employees by 2025 to open a parking account in a county DAP system while encouraging all large employers to establish similar systems and eventually phasing the system into all on-street and off-street car-parking ordinances.
3. Preferential vehicle parking. Implement and promote prioritized parking for EVs, carpools, and hybrids.
4. Reduce parking space requirements. Change minimums to maximums to reduce parking spaces at single-family residences, multi-family residences, and commercial and mixed-use properties while also planning for Car Sharing and other programs that can take the place of much of the existing multiple cars per household.

PROGRAM

Dividend-Account Parking (DAP) system: DAP system (a) recognizes cars that have been enrolled in an account associated with the building or transit center and allows them to park, (b) recognizes cars that have entered the parking area that are not associated with an account and takes enforcement action including license reading and law enforcement notification of trespassing; (c) keeps track of minutes per month parked for each car in the DAP system, (d) computes the monthly dividend (car-parking earnings) for each account, based on either money spent (on rent or buying items being sold at the building) or time spent on the premises associated with the car parking, depending on the use(s) of the building associated with the parking; mails monthly statements showing charges and dividends, either pays out or collects money from each participant, and keeps track of space use.

JUSTIFICATION

Parking requirements can be reduced where there is access to transit, walkable neighborhoods with adequate local employment and services, and/or available car sharing systems are capable of carrying the local transportation demand.

Eliminating both bundled-benefit and bundled-cost, car-parking systems: Parking policies that bundle the cost of parking with costs, including rent, or employment compensation or where free parking is used as an inducement to visit destinations, encourage single-occupancy vehicle travel. Dividend Account Parking (DAP) creates rewards for people who do not drive their car. Employers can pay an “add-in” or “must drive bonus” payment, computed so that employees that drive every day will break even (lose no money). The system will result in improved economic fairness for employees. By the county demonstrating the program, it can be studied and adopted by other large employers. This system would become mandatory as people become familiar with it.

GOAL G:   Encourage a shift toward low-carbon fuels in vehicles and equipment x,xxx MT CO2/yr

POLICIES

1. Electric vehicle (EV) charging station program. Develop and implement a plan for local charging stations.
2. Electrify trucking and transit.  Increase the number of zero emissions vehicles in the county fleet and support projects toward electrification of all trucking, transit, and public service systems, including waste collection trucks to 65 percent by 2025 and 90 percent by 2040.
3. Electrify construction equipment.  Incentivize replacement of fossil fuel construction equipment with alternatively fueled or electric equipment.
4. Reduce fossil fuel use in equipment through efficiency or fuel switching. Provide incentives and financing options for fuel switching to more efficient equipment and support equipment conversion to alternative fuels with low GHG intensity

GOAL G:   Reduce idling

POLICIES

1. Idling Ordinance for Passenger Vehicles. Limit idling of all vehicles to 2 minutes, except as necessary for the loading or unloading of cargo within a period not to exceed 30 minutes.
2. Idling Ordinance for Construction Equipment. Limit idling of all construction equipment to 3 minutes for all heavy-duty construction equipment.

GOAL H:  Increase solid waste diversion

POLICIES

1. Construction and demolition reuse and recycling ordinance.  Establish a baseline and increase diversion of construction and demolition waste by 3 percent per year.
2. Materials recovery. Provide discounted rates for builders to meet CALGreen building requirements and national LEED standards that require separate dumpsters for clean loads of source separated concrete, wood, metal, soil, etc. without contamination with asbestos, fiberglass insulation, large quantities of Romex cable or wire, ice plant, and poison oak.
3. Tracking waste diversion. Provide oversight of incoming material according to acceptance criteria for soil, green waste, concrete and asphalt, and contaminated soil and liquid waste.
4. Thrift shop for recycled goods. Research feasibility of providing a thrift shop at a recycling center to incentivize visits to drop off and ensure safe disposal of hazardous materials and generate revenue for the recycling center, such as the Last Chance Mercantile at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District.
5. CRV redemption and recycling. Provide a center for CRV redemption and for free drop-off of materials for recycling.
6. E-Waste. Provide free drop-off for resale at thrift shop outlet or for e-waste and ensure that e-waste recyclers comply with the best environmental practices for e-waste recycling, material processing, and full compliance with Basel Action Network e-waste recycling standards.
7. Appliances containing refrigerant.  Appliances with and without refrigerant will be received at no charge to ensure proper disposal after capture of refrigerant gases for reuse or proper disposal.
8. Prevent leaks and failure to capture refrigerants. Conduct on-going and varied methods of outreach to encourage prevention of leaks of refrigerant gases and replacement of old equipment with new non-polluting equipment.
9. Inventory and set targets and strategies. Establish reporting by refrigeration service people and owners of large refrigeration equipment to achieve the goal to prevent leaks and capture refrigerant at end of life disposal of refrigeration equipment.
10. Batteries. Provide free drop-off of batteries so that strategic metals can be recycled.
11.  Mattresses. Provide drop-off at fees set by the state for mattresses for sterilizing and direct reuse or recycling of 80 percent of materials.
12. Green waste composting. Compost green waste to produce 100% certified organic product and other landscape products such as wood chips for sale for gardens and local farms. Compost will be annually approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute.
13. Organic waste recycling. Ensure that businesses that generate 4 cubic yards or more of organic waste or commercial solid waste per week comply with AB 1826 by arranging for organic waste recycling services.
14. School compost programs. Provide resources for teachers and staff to demonstrate composting at schools.

PROGRAMS

Last Chance Mercantile – a thrift shop run by the Monterey Regional Waste Management District

JUSTIFICATION

Landfill methane comes from the large amount of organic matter people put in the trash, including food scraps, yard waste, wood, and paper. These produce biogas, a blend of greenhouse gases. These wastes should be recycled, composted, or digested, but, until then, perforated tubes are put in landfills to collect gas that can be flared, but preferably compressed and purified for fuel which reduces reduces emissions and saves money. From Drawdown-Landfill Methane.

Refrigerators and air conditioners contain chemical refrigerants called HFCs and HCFCs that have 1,000 to 9,000 times greater atmospheric warming effect than carbon dioxide.The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol is a multinational treaty  to phase out HFCs in 2019 to 2028 by banning them in new refrigeration equipment. California did that in March 2018. The gradual ban on HFC in new equipment will reduce global warming by nearly one degree Fahrenheit. However 90 percent of refrigerant emissions are from existing equipment that leaks or is not disposed of safely. Local policy can promote careful removal, storage, reuse or transformation of HFCs. The cost to prevent leaks and destroy HFCs is very high, but Project Drawdown concluded that this is the single biggest solution for addressing global warming. From Drawdown-Refrigerant Management

GOAL I: Reduce water consumption

For recommended policies, see our input to the Water Chapter – Goal C: Develop local water supplies, including groundwater recharge and recycled water, in a countywide sustainability master plan with resource strategies to maximize local water resources that will limit use of imported water to ten percent of total water use.

JUSTIFICATION

Energy currently used to clean and transport water and to handle wastewater needs to be reduced.

GOAL J:   Increase recycled water and greywater use

For recommended policies, see our input to the Water Chapter – Goal D: Increase recycled water and greywater use.

JUSTIFICATION

Recycled water and greywater can be applied to ecosystem restoration projects that will promote carbon sequestration.  Additional benefits from these water sources can also help protect and expand forests, grasslands, wetlands, regenerative farms and urban greening to sequester carbon and counteract heat island effects to sequester carbon.

GOAL K:   Increase use of renewable energy in water and wastewater systems

POLICIES

1. Use 100% renewable energy for 50 percent of all water production and/or conveyance by 2025 and by 100% by 2030.
2. Encourage top priority on installation of solar energy arrays at all water and wastewater plants

GOAL L:   Reduce emissions from livestock [not sure if this is significant enough in this county to include]

POLICIES

1. Livestock manure management. Encourage voluntary manure management techniques that reduce emissions from the decomposition of manure at livestock operations
2. Reduce emissions from enteric fermentation. Encourage livestock operations to explore ways to reduce GHG emissions from enteric fermentation.

JUSTIFICATION

Strategies to reduce emissions from livestock should also make available compost needed to help sequester carbon, preserve soil fertility, conserve water, reduce energy use, and maximize agricultural profitability.

GOAL M: Reduce emissions from fertilizer use by [1800 MT CO2/yr from Sonoma Co goal]

POLICIES

1. Inventory and set targets. Survey the use of artificial nitrogen fertilizer on major crops and set a target to reduce fossil fuel-based fertilizer use by 20%.
2. Optimize fertilizer use.  Encourage voluntary agricultural practices that reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizer (especially synthetic fertilizer).
3. Compost manure. Organize a program to maximize composting of manure.
4. Drip Irrigation and Subsurface Irrigation. Encourage participation in federal and state programs that subsidize drip and subsurface irrigation systems to replace overhead irrigation that is associated with greater release of powerful GHG nitrous oxide from soils.
5. Promote regenerative agriculture. Encourage development of regenerative agriculture certification programs that reduce GHG emissions and/or enhance carbon stocks or increase sequestration

PROGRAMS

Healthy Soils Initiative

Sustainable Agriculture Certification Program

Sustainable Manure Composting Program

JUSTIFICATION:

Artificial nitrogen fertilizers are a source of GHG emissions from two sources: the CO2 from fossil energy sources (mainly natural gas) as feedstock for fertilizer production and fuel in ammonia synthesis. N2O is also emitted from nitric acid production by microbes in soil under conditions of excess fertilizer and surplus surface irrigation and is the largest source of nitrous oxide emissions in Ventura County..

Voluntary strategies are more likely to achieve reductions because the complexity of various strategies in various crops and farms makes tracking impossible.

Work with growers to provide incentives for organic fertilizers as an alternative. Create an outreach program to help growers optimize nitrogen application rates, decrease overall fertilizer inputs and cost, maintain current crop yields, and reduce emissions of nitrous oxide.

GOAL O: Tax methane leakage at the social cost of $4700 per ton for investments in local development of carbon sinks.

POLICIES

1. Tax methane leakage. All those legally responsible for releasing more than 40 pounds of uncaptured, unburnt methane (CH4) emissions per year will pay an annual fee of $4700 on each ton of such methane emission for which they are responsible which is the social and environmental cost of atmospheric release per Drew T. Shindell, Climatic Change (2015) 130:313–326, DOI 10.1007/s10584-015-1343-0, page 319.
2. Invest methane tax revenues in programs that restore small water cycles to help CO2 drawdown. Manage a Drawdown Program and Trust Fund to support local restoration of small water cycles, forest and wetlands protection and expansion, regenerative agriculture, and research and demonstration of carbon sink technologies, including silvopasture, tree intercropping, multi-strata agroforestry.
3. Continue implementing systems to recover methane at landfills. Investigate means to install methane recovery systems at all landfills and sewage treatment plants, where appropriate.

PROGRAMS

Ventura County Drawdown Trust Fund for distribution of revenues from a methane tax to fund those programs show to have the greatest potential to reduce emissions.

JUSTIFICATION

Methane is 34x more potent of a greenhouse gas over a 100-year period according the latest IPCC report, not 25x which is the multiplier used by CA Air Resources Board. (Over a 20 year interval is 85 times more potent as an atmospheric heat trapper than carbon dioxide.)

Taxing methane leakage across the oil and gas industry presents a unique opportunity due to its multiple economic and climate benefits.  The readily available technology also means that emitters can avoid the tax by capturing methane for useful fuel.

Flaring represents blatant economic waste, especially while extreme methods are used elsewhere to extract natural gas. This waste continued to increase between 2009 and 2015; federal and Indian onshore wells vented or flared enough gas to serve more than six million households for a year. Funding from a methane tax is needed to support expansion of carbon sinks.

One of the bases of adequacy relied on in a Climate Action Plan and Environmental Impact Report is identified sources of committed funding, as well as enforceable regulations and clarity of the terms ensuring implementation. Because the data about inventories is incomplete for setting targets to achieve emissions reductions, funding from fees or taxes to pollute can help ensure that goals that are now necessarily vague and not measurable can be nailed down and achieved.

GOAL P: Reduce emissions by lowering the threshold on stationary sources and requiring Best Available Technology for smaller projects.

POLICIES

1. Net zero new emissions. Require mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources to a net of zero new emissions.
2. Best Available Technology for smaller projects.Smaller projects that don’t trigger the adopted threshold should be required to use Best Available Technology.

JUSTIFICATION

The threshold of significance for GHG emissions for stationary must be zero, because it will go farthest to reduce emissions. This threshold will not force projects into environmental review solely on the basis of projected GHG emissions because there are ample opportunities to fully mitigate GHG emissions. It is feasible for a project proponent to mitigate their GHG emissions to a net of zero new emissions.

GOAL Q: Require environmental impact review for permits for oil and gas wells, injection wells and pipelines pending completion of the Renewal Plan and regulatory overhaul by CA Department of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR).

POLICIES

1. Mechanical integrity tests Applying new technological advancements and better understanding of the subsurface, DOGGR will provide data in greater detail for all extraction and underground injection control (UIC) projects and connected pipelines that are identified as necessary during DOGGER’s Renewal Plan to ensure appropriate protection of groundwater sources, prevention of air air pollution and spills, and seismic retrofit.
2. Additional conditions or reporting requirements. If new conditions or reporting requirements are required, the county will wait for newly issued Project Approval Letters from DOGGR before approving permits for surface oil, gas and wastewater injection operations.

GOAL R: Obtain exemption, or shut-in injection wells in non-exempt aquifers and stop injecting reclaimable wastewater

POLICIES

1. Water with <10,000 mg/L TDS to be reclaimed, not injected. Due to projected water scarcity and rapid scaling of renewable energy technology for desalinization, water with <10,000 mg/L TDS and will be reclaimed for open space infiltration or agricultural use.
2. Water with >10,000 mg/L TDS to be injected only onto aquifer exempted enhanced oil recovery (EOR) oil-containing wells. Operators must provide the state with sufficient documentation to support an aquifer exemption proposal in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act at which time county will approve applications.

GOALS: Protect the public and the environment from potential negative impacts from oil and gas activities including from floods, fires and earthquakes.

POLICIES

1. DOGGR review of all rulemaking must be completed. No approval of new applications will be made pending completion of Phase 1 and 2 Rulemakings for  Action Item 1.3: “Review / Revise Existing Regulatory Standards” for the 2017 update to the DOGGR Renewal Plan.
2. Under penalty of perjury. Drilling permit applications, reviews and appeals under penalty of perjury.
3. Oilfield shut In procedures. Disaster preparedness plans will be in place and annual training documented to protect employee and public health and safety.
4. Well abandonment plan. All Conditional Use Permits for oil and gas operations including those with no expiration date will have a well abandonment plan including land remediation with a timeline and specified indicators and bond amounts commensurate with costs.

GOAL T: New policy concerning antiquated drilling permits.

POLICIES

1. New policy covering all Conditional Use Permits (CUPs). Rescind the current Antiquated CUP Policy and replace with policy that treats all ordinances as applicable to oil and gas CUPs unless the permittee has affirmatively shown a vested right specific to the proposed development.
2. Develop a Process for Claiming Vested Rights The County should establish a specific and detailed process whereby oil companies can claim a vested right under a specific CUP, on a case-by-case basis.
3. Apply Current Ordinance Requirements to All Drilling and Redrilling Proposals The County should immediately begin applying all applicable ordinances to all drilling and redrilling proposals.
4. Develop a Schedule for CEQA analysis  Once the County begins applying applicable ordinances and treating well drilling applications as discretionary actions, other legal requirements including CEQA will also apply.  As the County has generally not conducted CEQA for oil and gas operations, it will likely need to prepare several site specific Environmental Impact Reports.  In order to process these analyses in a comprehensive and efficient manner, the County should develop a schedule for oil and gas CEQA analysis.
5. Consult with Appropriate State and Federal Agencies to Ensure Compliance with Modern Environmental Laws  The County’s longstanding failure to oversee oil operations within boundaries of antiquated CUPs has also circumvented compliance with other state and federal laws.  The County should consult with appropriate agencies to ensure that oil operations are in legal compliance with environmental laws.  These consultations include, but are not limited to: 1) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (federal Endangered Species Act); 2) California Department of Fish and Wildlife (state wildlife and stream protection laws); 3) California Coastal Commission (California Coastal Act); and 4) State Water Resources Control Board, and Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Clean Water Act and state water quality laws).

GOAL U: Minimize use of potable and reclaimable water for oil and gas production and manage stormwater in oilfields for carbon sequestration

POLICIES

1. Potable and potentially reclaimable water. No potable water or potentially reclaimable water, such as with <10,000 mg/L TDS, will be used for oil and gas operations.
2. Notify people that depend on private water wells.  Well owners and residents that rely on private water wells will be notified if oil and gas operations are or will take place within two miles of their well and of any oil and gas operation that puts water quality at risk, including notification regarding the necessity and labs that test for toxic BTEC compounds.
3. Manage oil fields to prevent stormwater runoff and recharge aquifers. To prevent soil erosion and decrease the amount of sediment entering nearby waterways and storm drain systems, grade in contour, install upland catchments and sedimentation ponds to hold soil in place and allow reduced runoff to permeate soil and contribute to groundwater recharge, whether or not groundwater is potable or brackish.
4. Manage oil fields to minimize dust and to sequester carbon. Grade in contour and install silt barriers, ban herbicide use, mulch or seeding to prevent dust and slow, spread and sink storm water to support vegetation, such as trees, bushes and grasses where possible to sequester carbon.