Attorney General Announces Workshops to Assist Local Agencies in Addressing Global Warming Impacts in CEQA Analysis

The workshops will seek to address such questions as:

• “How do we prepare an inventory of baseline greenhouse gas emissions?”
• “How do we model future emissions?”
• “What kinds of mitigation must we consider?”

Notably, the Attorney General dismissed any question that CEQA was the proper tool for combating greenhouse gas emissions, affirmatively stating that “greenhouse gas emissions are the type of environmental effect that agencies must address under CEQA.” The Attorney General also provided the web address for a document compiled by his office listing potential greenhouse gas mitigation measures which local agencies may use in addressing the impacts of greenhouse gases at http://ag.ca.gov/globalwarming/ceqa.php.

The five conferences will begin March 20 in Oakland with the four remaining conferences on April 3 in

Sacramento, on April 24 in Visalia, on May 15 in Los Angeles, and on May 23 in Monterey. Registration is available at www.lgc.org.

The full text of the Attorney General’s letter may be found by clicking here.

Meyers Nave has a team of attorneys dedicated to all aspects of greenhouse gas regulation as it applies to our clients including AB 32, CEQA compliance, green building ordinances, and more. If you have questions regarding any of these issues, please do not hesitate to contact either Tim Cremin or Ed Grutzmacher at 510-808-2000.