TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: David Morrison, Special Projects Director
REPORT BY: Ryan Melendez, Planner II - Sustainability
SUBJECT: Adoption of a resolution and formation of ad-hoc subcommittee for a Greenhouse Gas Emissions monitoring project
RECOMMENDATION
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ACTION ITEM:
Special Projects Director requests the Climate Action Committee (CAC) take the following actions:
1. Adopt a Resolution expressing support for the “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring in Napa County” Project; and
2. Establish an ad-hoc subcommittee to support the development of the project and procure funding sources for the project.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Napa County Climate Action Committee and its member jurisdictions have the opportunity to develop a groundbreaking greenhouse gas emissions monitoring project. This project, when paired with the development of a Regional Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, would allow Napa County to generate data-driven emissions estimates and fine tune our climate actions to maximize the efficacy of reducing emission sources and increasing greenhouse gas sequestration.
By adopting this resolution and forming an ad-hoc subcommittee to support this project’s development, the Napa County CAC can be a leading example in taking action to prepare for and combat climate change.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
At the October Climate Action Committee meeting, members heard from Lucas Patzek with Napa Resource Conservation District (RCD) and Sebastien Biraud with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) on a prospective project to measure and monitor the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions over time within Napa County. This project would allow scientists at the LBNL, Napa RCD staff, the CAC members and staff, and other stakeholders to see baseline GHG data and the direct impacts of our actions against climate change, in real time. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is limited in its capacity to monitor atmospheric conditions on a regional scale, as they mainly observe at much larger scales. The results of this pilot project are important to achieving long-term climate goals in our region and acting as a pilot project for other regions across the globe.
Napa RCD and LBNL is seeking an estimated $6M to see this project come fully to fruition. This would include five-to-ten monitoring towers estimated at $500K per tower installed, and five years of staff time estimated at $200K per year. There is currently no government funding in place for this effort, but it would be built on a platform of millions of dollars invested in LBNL by the US Department of Energy over decades to better understand the impact of a changing climate on natural ecosystems. It will also build on recent investments in LBNL by the CEC to estimate and mitigate CH4 emissions associated with the oil and gas industry in California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley.
Staff recommends that the Climate Action Committee adopt the resolution to express support of the project and form an ad-hoc subcommittee to aid in the development of the project. The subcommittee would assist with outreach, fundraising, and fund procurement efforts to make the project feasible.