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<br /> <br />Soil Investigations for Data Collection in the Delta <br />Initial Study/Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration 150 <br />3.8 Greenhouse Gas Emissions <br />ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES <br />Potentially <br />Significant <br />Impact <br />Less Than <br />Significant <br />with <br />Mitigation <br />Incorporated <br />Less Than <br />Significant <br />Impact <br />No <br />Impact <br />a) Would the project generate <br />greenhouse gas emissions, <br />either directly or indirectly, that <br />may have a significant impact <br />on the environment? <br /> <br />b) Would the project conflict with <br />an applicable plan, policy or <br />regulation adopted for the <br />purpose of reducing the <br />emissions of greenhouse <br />gases? <br /> <br /> <br />3.8.1 Environmental Setting <br />In May 2012, DWR adopted the DWR Climate Action Plan-Phase I: Greenhouse Gas <br />Emissions Reduction Plan (GGERP), which details DWR’s efforts to reduce its <br />greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with Executive Order S-3-05 and the <br />Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32). DWR also adopted the Initial <br />Study/Negative Declaration prepared for the GGERP in accordance with the CEQA <br />Guidelines review and public process. The GGERP (DWR 2012) provides estimates of <br />historical (back to 1990), current, and future GHG emissions related to operations, <br />construction, maintenance, and business practices (e.g. building-related energy use). <br />The GGERP specifies aggressive 2020 and 2050 emission reduction goals and <br />identifies a list of GHG emissions reduction measures to achieve these goals. <br /> <br />DWR specifically prepared its GGERP as a “Plan for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas <br />Emissions” to meet the requirements of CEQA Guidelines section 15183.5. That section <br />provides that such a document, which must meet certain specified requirements, “may <br />be used in the cumulative impacts analysis of later projects.” Because global climate <br />change, by its very nature, is a global cumulative impact, an individual project’s <br />compliance with a qualifying GHG Reduction Plan may suffice to mitigate the project’s <br />incremental contribution to that cumulative impact to a level that is not “cumulatively <br />considerable.” (See CEQA Guidelines, § 15064, subd. (h)(3). More specifically, “later <br />project-specific environmental documents may tier from and/or incorporate by