Initiation of Sacramento County Action Plan

April 06, 2020

The Environmental Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club submitted a comment letter regarding Sacramento County’s initiation of a Climate Action Plan.

Here is an excerpt from our letter:

Thank you for your leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thank you also for committing to initiate the County’s Climate action Plan (CAP), and to discuss it during the Board’s April 7, 2020 hearing on the County’s General Plan 2019 Annual Report.
We are gratified that the CAP is included in the planning department’s work plan, but disappointed that the Report asserts work won’t begin until “a path forward is made clear” with the resolution of unspecified CAP-related lawsuits in other jurisdictions. Absent identification of such suits and explanation of why they preclude progress on the CAP, the County has not explained why it needs to continue its nine-year delay in fulfilling its greenhouse gas-reduction commitments (noted in Attachment).
As we’ve advised in previous correspondence, since the County committed to adopt a CAP in 2011, four other jurisdictions in the SACOG region have adopted CAPs which they consider “qualified”, and three more are currently in active draft, notwithstanding pending litigation in other jurisdictions.
We recognize this is a difficult time to begin new initiatives, but with both the pandemic and climate crises, time is not on our side. The pandemic crisis is short-term and immediate, but while the impacts of climate change are gradual, they are more enduring.
Therefore, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. We ask you to move ahead with a climate action plan and do what is required to avoid a threat whose scope has no historic parallel; to do not as little, but as much as possible.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Sacramento County Climate Action

March 18, 2020 – Action Alert (Good News!)

These are confusing and difficult times, but we have some good news. Sacramento County Supervisors on April 7, 2020 will discuss starting their long-delayed Climate Action Plan. We want to help them do the right thing. Click below to tell the Supervisors you want a strong Climate Action Plan in Sacramento County. Thank you very much.

Take Action

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More funding for transit and less money for new roads.

On March 18, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento sent the following message to the Sacramento Board Clerk regarding Sacramento County Measure A’s Draft Expenditure Plan (DEP) .

ECOS consists of 20 locally-based member organizations, as well as many individual members. Since 1971, we have promoted infill development and transit, as opposed to sprawl – to save habitat, reduce pollution, and more recently — to deal with climate change.
We are gratified that Mayor Steinberg and CARB have recognized that new highway projects must demonstrate that they would not exacerbate climate change, in order to be eligible for funding under Measure A+. We strongly support the funding that would be provided to the Air District. We are pleased that Measure A’s Draft Expenditure Plan (DEP) would provide a much greater percentage of funding for transit, compared to 2016’s ill-fated Measure B.
However, the DEP would not provide as great a percentage for transit as the current Measure A. Since current Measure A was approved by voters, the existential threat of climate change has become more obvious and serious. Also, the affordable housing crisis has become California’s biggest problem. Therefore, future county growth must be higher density, and transit-oriented. We can only accomplish this by providing more funding for transit and less money for new roads.

Click here to view the email message in PDF.

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ECOS Comments on Aggie Square NOP

UC Davis has an opportunity to lift up rather than disrupt the Sacramento Campus’ surrounding community. Investment alone is not enough; these major investments must be coupled with anti-displacement strategies to ensure that existing residents will equitably reap the benefits of these improvements. We hope [UC Davis] seize[s] this opportunity to demonstrate what a true relationship between the University and the community can bring.
– ECOS Comment letter dated March 10, 2020

On March 10, 2020, ECOS submitted a comment letter on the Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report on the UC Davis Sacramento Campus 2020 Long Range Development Plan Update (LRDP), which will serve as a project-level EIR for Aggie Square Phase 1.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Comment Deadline for Aggie Square NOP: March 10

A Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report on the UC Davis Sacramento Campus 2020 Long Range Development Plan Update (LRDP) was sent out on February 7th, including plans for Aggie Square. You can view the Notice of Preparation here: https://ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2020020161/2/Attachment/037ZSy?fbclid=IwAR11J3x0kcTDuqaWrZGL3wrdoaisrX_g4rCpL_8gF8rbNK1vtQlWjSD714M

From the introduction of the Notice:

“Each campus within the University of California system periodically prepares a long range development plan (LRDP) to guide campus development in anticipation of projected growth of student enrollment and new university-added programs. The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Sacramento Campus 2020 LRDP Update will propose general types of campus development and land uses to support projected on-campus population growth and to enable expanded and new program initiatives for the UC Davis Sacramento Campus. The 2010 LRDP remains in effect as the guiding land use document for the UC Davis Sacramento Campus, and its overall program of growth and development remains accurate. The proposed 2020 update to the 2010 LRDP will largely focus on making minor adjustments to the 2010 LRDP land use plan and policies. UC Davis will prepare a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR), as required by Public Resources Code (PRC) Sections 21080.09 and 21166, to evaluate the environmental effects of incremental growth under the 2020 LRDP Update through the year 2040. The 2020 LRDP Update SEIR will be a program EIR that can be used at a program-level in the environmental review of subsequent campus development projects, as well as a project-level EIR for the Aggie Square Phase 1 and Replacement Hospital Tower (RHT) projects.”

The deadline for comments is March 10th!

You can email your comments to environreview[at]ucdavis[dot]edu.

OR you can submit your comments via postal mail to:
Matt Dulcich, AICP
Director of Environmental Planning
Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship
University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616

What are the concerns?

It’s possible that Aggie Square can exacerbate gentrification in the surrounding Sacramento neighborhoods, or it can lead to economic growth through increased opportunities for local residents.

How do we invest in the neighborhoods most impacted by UC Davis without displacing existing residents and local businesses?

Click here to learn more about the Environmental Council of Sacramento’s concerns about the impacts of Aggie Square.

Requesting Sacramento County Greenhouse Gas Report

General Plan Annual Report: GHG Measures

On February 20, 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club Sacramento Group submitted a request to the County of Sacramento for a report on greenhouse gases as part of their general plan.

CA Government Code §65400 requires the County to report by April 1 of each year the status of the general plan and progress in its implementation. We expect the Board of Supervisors to review the pending report at a March 2020 hearing.
General Plan Policy LU-115, adopted November 2011, states a goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, and presents four implementation measures:
• Adopt by resolution a first-phase Climate Action Plan.
• Complete a GHG emissions inventory every three years.
• Prepare a second-phase Climate Action Plan within three years.
• Enact and fund a Sustainability Program to provide ongoing oversight, monitoring and maintenance of the Climate Action Plan.

Click here to read the letter in full.

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