California Issues Draft CEQA Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) issued draft guidance in early January on the analysis and mitigation of the potential effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from development projects subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The draft guidelines put to rest any lingering questions about whether lead agencies must determine under CEQA if a project’s GHG emissions will have a “significant impact” on the environment and whether project developers must reduce any such impacts.

The issue stems from the California Global Warming Solution Act of 2006, also known as AB 32, which requires the state to reduce its GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — a 30 percent decrease from projected “business as usual” emissions.  

A year after the landmark legislation was passed, the legislature enacted another law, SB 97, which established for the first time that climate change is a proper subject for CEQA analysis. Under the law, OPR must present CEQA guidelines for mitigating emissions by July 1, 2009. The California Air Resources Board must adopt the guidelines by January 1, 2010.

This client alert outlines the details of the draft guidelines and offers a glimpse of the key implications the new rules may have on local agencies and developers.