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Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report Page IV.D-12 Forward Inc.Landfill 2014 Expansion Project public health or environmental justice communities in the Valley;and assist Valley �' businesses in complyingwith state law related to GHG emission reduction. L On November 5,2009, the SJVAPCD issued a final staff report entitled Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act. The report indicated that it is readily understood that global climatic change is the result of the sum total of GHG emissions,both man-made and natural that occurred in the past; that is occurring now;and will occur in the future. The effects of project-specific GHG emissions are cumulative, and without mitigation, their incremental contribution to global climatic change could be considered significant. District staff concluded that this cumulative impact is best addressed by requiring all projects subject to CEQA to reduce their GHG emissions through project design elements. On December 17, 2009,the SJVAPCD adopted the Guidance for Valley Land-use Agencies in Addressing GHG Emission Impacts for New Projects under CEQA and the policy entitled L Addressing GHG Emission Impacts for Stationary Source Projects under CEQA when Serving as the Lead Agency.The guidance and policy rely on the use of statewide, regional, or local plans for reduction or mitigation of GHG emissions, or performance-based standards, otherwise known as Best Performance Standards(BPS), to assess significance of project specific GHG emission on global climate change. The District staff approach is intended to streamline the process of determining if project specific GHG emissions would have a significant effect. Projects are considered to have a less-than-significant GHG impact if they comply with statewide, regional, or local plans for reduction or mitigation of GHG emissions. If they do not comply with such a plan, the methodology relies on the use of performance-based standards that would be applicable to projects that result in increased GHG emissions. Use of performance-based standards is a method of determining significance of project specific GHG emission impacts using established specifications or project design elements, BPS, and is not mitigation of project ►0 related impacts. Establishing BPS would help project proponents, lead agencies, and the public by proactively identifying effective,feasible GHG emission reduction measures. Emission reductions achieved through implementation of BPS would be pre-quantified 6. thus,negating the need for project specific quantification of GHG emissions. However, at this time the District has not approved BPS for landfills. For illustrative purposes only the guidance document does identify the following BPS for landfills13: `, Illustrative BPS: Landfills shall comply with CARB Regulation to Reduce Methane Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. BPS would be established through a process approved by the District's Governing Board. im. The proposed process would provide ample opportunity for stakeholders and other interested parties to participate and provide valuable input into the establishment of baseline GHG emissions and BPS. Existing Air Quality The SJVAPCD's regional air quality monitoring network provides information on existing ` ambient concentrations of criteria air pollutants. Monitored ambient air pollutant concentrations reflect the number and strength of emissions sources and the influence of topographical and meteorological factors. Table IV.D-2 presents a five-year summary of 13 CARB,Landfill Methane Rule,http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/landfills/landfills.htm,2009. The regulation includes CH4 reduction strategies such as installation of collection and control systems for landfills that would otherwise be exempt by current regulations,design of collection and control systems to capture maximum amounts of CH4 produced,continuous operation of CH4 control equipment,improved leak standards(25 ppmv,integrated)for CH4 collection and control system components as well as landfill surface emissions,99%CH4 destruction efficiency for flares and methane-fire energy recovery devices,and other enhanced source testing,inspection,monitoring and operating standards. L L