Proposed Policies, Plans and Ordinances

Community Climate Action Plan

Draft Climate Action Plan approved by Board of Supervisors for Environmental Review (June 2011)

Since August 2009, County staff and consultants have been working to draft a community Climate Action Plan (CAP) for the unincorporated areas of Alameda County. These communities include Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, Hayward Acres, San Lorenzo, Sunol, and Rural East County.

The Final Draft CCAP contains objectives, measures and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from activities within the community such as:

Transportation choices (e.g. improving bicycle infrastructure and bus links)
Planning choices (e.g. encouraging higher density development near transit hubs and mixed use development)
Water conservation (e.g. efficient appliances and use of rainwater)
Waste diversion (e.g. improving recycling and composting services)
Building and public realm energy use (e.g. energy efficiency retrofits)
Green infrastructure (e.g. expanding the urban forest)

Many of these measures may have additional positive benefits for the local community such as improved air quality, reduced energy bills and traffic congestion, as well as global environmental benefits.

In June 2011, after numerous public hearings and workshops, the Board of Supervisors approved a Final Draft Climate Action Plan, the goal of which is to reduce Countywide greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by the year 2020. The next step in the full approval process is to conduct an environmental review of the Draft Final plan pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to determine whether the Plan as written would result in any significant impacts to the environment, and if so, how those impacts may be mitigated.

County Planning Staff are now conducting this CEQA analysis beginning June 1, 2013, consisting of a Negative Declaration, which is a a written statement indicating that the proposed project will not have a significant effect upon the environment, is proposed to be adopted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and State and County CEQA Guidelines. The Initial Study prepared for this task found that the General Plan Amendment of the CCAP would have no significant environmental impacts in any category of environmental issue reviewed. The public review and comment period for the Initial Study and Draft Negative Declaration is from June 1, 2013 to July 1, 2013, a period of 30 days. All comments on the CEQA analysis in writing or by e-mail are welcome and will be considered. The CEQA Analysis is available below, along with the Final Approval Draft CCAP and the Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration.

After the environmental analysis is conducted, reviewed and approved by the Board of Supervisors, the Climate Action Plan would become effective and would then be incorporated into the County General Plan.

Current Documents:

Final Draft Climate Action Plan (PDF - 16.4mb) *
Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration (PDF - 90kb) *
Initial Study for Negative Declaration (PDF - 1mb) *

Climate Action Plan (CAP) - Public Meetings

A public hearing before the Alameda County Planning Commission will be held on Monday, the 15th day of July, 2013, beginning at 3:00 p.m., in Room 160, the Auditorium of the Alameda County Building, 224 West Winton Avenue, Hayward, California. All persons interested in the matter may appear and be heard at this meeting. A recommendation by the Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors may be made on that date.

Notices for this Public Hearing for the Environmental Analysis for the CCAP will be published here and in local newspapers, and will also be mailed to known interested parties and organizations. Further hearings before the Board of Supervisors are expected in the latter part of 2013.

Review Public Comments, Staff Reports, Minutes, and Presentation Material from our past meetings

Past Events and Notes:

Contact us:

Bruce Jensen
Alameda County Planning Department
224 West Winton Avenue
Room 111 Hayward, CA 94544

Bruce.jensen@acgov.org

Tel: (510)670-5400
Fax: (510)785-8793

* Portable Document Format (PDF) file requires the free Adobe Reader.