Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

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Federal Clean Air Act. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, 127 S.Ct. 1438 (2007), that CO2 and other GHG emissions are pollutants under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), which the USEPA must regulate if it determines they pose an endangerment to public health or welfare. The U.S. Supreme Court did not mandate that the USEPA enact regulations to reduce GHG emissions. Instead, the Court found that the USEPA could avoid acting if it found that GHG emissions do not contribute to climate change or if it offered a "reasonable explanation" for not determining that GHG emissions contribute to climate change. On April 17, 2009, the USEPA issued a proposed finding that GHG emissions contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. On April 24, 2009, the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171. The USEPA stated that high atmospheric levels of GHG emissions "are the unambiguous result of human emissions and are very likely the cause of the observed increase in average temperatures and other climatic changes." The USEPA further found that "atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare within the meaning of Section 202 of the Clean Air Act." The findings were signed by the USEPA Administrator on December 7, 2009. The final findings were published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2009. The final rule was effective on January 14, 2010.23 While these findings alone do not impose any requirements on industry or other entities, this action is a prerequisite to regulatory actions by the USEPA, including, but not limited to, GHG emissions standards for light -duty vehicles. On April 4, 2012, the USEPA published a proposed rule to establish, for the first time, a new source performance standard for GHG emissions. Under the proposed rule, new fossil fuel —fired electric generating units larger than 25 megawatts (MW) are required to limit emissions to 1,000 pounds of CO2 per MW-hour (CO2/MWh) on an average annual basis, subject to certain exceptions. Subsequently, on April 23, 2018, the USEPA issued a policy stating that CO2 emissions from biomass -fired and other biogenic sources would be considered carbon neutral when used for energy production at stationary sources. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. In response to the Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency ruling, the George W. Bush Administration issued Executive Order 13432 in 2007, directing the USEPA, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), and the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) to establish regulations that reduce GHG emissions from motor vehicles, non -road vehicles, and non -road engines by 2008. In 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a final rule regulating fuel efficiency for and GHG emissions from cars and light -duty trucks for model year 2011; in 2010, the USEPA and the NHTSA issued a final rule regulating cars and light -duty trucks for model years 2012-2016. In 2010, President Obama issued a memorandum directing the USEPA, USDOT, USDOE, and NHTSA to establish additional standards regarding fuel efficiency and GHG emissions reduction, clean fuels, and advanced vehicle infrastructure. In response to this directive, the USEPA and NHTSA proposed 23 USEPA, Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, Final Rule. Cabrillo Town Center Greenhouse. as ec PAGE 8 18 — 973 City of Santa Ana 10/3/2023 July 2023