Latest news with #ClimateActionandAdaptationPlan
Los Angeles Times
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Buena Park takes aim at air pollution from idling delivery trucks
Prompted by resident complaints, the Buena Park City Council considered drafting an anti-idling law to curb commercial trucks from leaving their engines on while parked for a set period of time. Councilmember Susan Sonne requested the study session at Tuesday's council meeting. 'Pollution is certainly a big concern here, because in my district, there's a number of commercial areas that back up against homes,' she said. 'There's also a noise consideration, and I've had residents who've reported large commercial trucks that have idled, not just for a few minutes, but for hours in the middle of the night.' According to a city staff report, vehicle idling is a major source of local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In California, an estimated 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide is spewed into the atmosphere from idling every year while chugging 270 million gallons of fuel, the report stated. A handful of cities across the state have passed anti-idling laws. Palo Alto defines 'idling' as leaving a vehicle running for three minutes while parked. The Bay Area city has emphasized education over enforcement of its law, but includes penalties for egregious offenders. Santa Cruz limits vehicles to just 90 seconds before they are considered idling. In Cupertino, anti-idling efforts are folded into the city's climate action plan. Cupertino partners with schools and its local chamber of commerce to spread awareness about the environmental impacts of idling to encourage compliance, from parents picking up their children at school to delivery trucks parked outside of businesses or parks where people congregate. With Buena Park developing its own Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, Sonne saw an anti-idling law as compatible with it, but didn't want to fully emulate Cupertino's model. 'I really don't want to go after parents who are sitting and waiting to pick their kids up from school,' she said. 'I don't have any interest in that, at all.' Matt Foulkes, Buena Park's community and economic development director, told the council members that if they wanted to craft their own law, they would have to define 'idling' while also determining exemptions for issues like emergency vehicles or drivers keeping the air conditioning on to prevent a health hazard on a blistering hot day. Foulkes also said that state law already prohibits commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds from idling after five minutes. 'Any delivery truck is going to exceed that [weight],' he said. Sonne backtracked on pursuing an anti-idling law after learning about existing state law, as she felt more awareness of it could directly address the complaints of her constituents. Councilmember Connor Traut also highlighted complaints about commercial trucks aired at a recent council meeting and asked what the city would inform residents to do. 'Obviously, it's not [call] 911, but [should they call] non-emergency line to report excessive idling by large trucks?' he asked. Foulkes responded that residents can call the police department's non-emergency line or code enforcement during working hours. 'If there are specific businesses or specific residents that you guys have in mind, we would do a very directed enforcement,' he said to Sonne and Traut. 'And then we can kind of spot check around the city where we have similar situations, where those residents might be having those same frustrations, but just might not have brought it to an elected official's attention.' Buena Park Mayor Joyce Ahn asked that information about the state law prohibiting idling and what numbers to call be placed on the city's website. 'That sounds more targeted and effective,' she said.
Los Angeles Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Irvine delays adopting climate plan on achieving carbon neutrality by 2040
On Tuesday, Irvine City Council dusted off its draft Climate Action and Adaptation Plan draft at cutting greenhouse gas emissions and discussed it for the first time in nine months. Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder requested the update from city staff and sought a vote to approve it. 'If we really want Irvine to be the greenest city, this is the foundational document to do that,' she said during the council meeting. 'We can't have it both ways. We can't say…we want Irvine to be the greenest city, we emphasize the environment, and then keep delaying the CAAP.' Back in 2021, Irvine became the first city in Orange County to set a carbon neutral goal. The following year, it earned the distinction of being the largest city in the county to opt for 100% renewable energy as a means to meet the climate goal by 2030. But in June, council directed staff to make the draft a work plan, instead of a regulatory document. City staff also received direction to explore a new carbon neutral goal of 2040, just five years before California's own statewide objective. That revised effort was complicated in December when a new council voted to withdraw from the Orange County Power Authority sometime this year. The agency has been rocked recently by audits and departures from two members, including the city of Huntington Beach. In the meantime, the city lowered its renewable energy plan with OCPA to a 47% Basic Choice tier, which paused finalization of the draft climate plan, per city staff. The delay on approving the plan motivated several climate activists to speak out during the council meeting. 'The more we wait, the more unready we are for the decades to come,' said Tomas Castro, an activist with Climate Action Campaign. 'It also bears remembering that the CAAP goals cannot be met without participating in OCPA.' Luis Estevez, Irvine's acting director of public works and sustainability, outlined that much of the city's greenhouse gas emissions come from land use, transportation and building energy in a presentation to council. The original 2030 carbon neutral goal would have required significant fleet overhauls, substantial electric vehicle charging station installations and a complete pivot away from landfills. A new goal of carbon neutrality by 2040 could be more attainable, Estevez said, even as Irvine's energy options appear limited for now. Estevez told council members that Southern California Edison's 'Green Rate' program, with a 100% renewable option, isn't accepting new applicants due to capacity constraints. OCPA's option at that tier would entail significant rate increases for this year and next. But Estevez outlined three achievable pathways to carbon neutrality before council. The first two options considered updates to the draft climate plan with either 100% or 47% renewable energy supplying Irvine residents and businesses with power. A third option could delay carbon neutrality until 2045, when state law will mandate 100% renewable energy for all electrical utilities. 'I am pleased to hear from the staff that even though we're on Basic Choice, we can still meet our goals by 2040,' Treseder said. She wanted a vote from her colleagues on adopting the climate plan draft before the meeting adjourned Tuesday night. Irvine Mayor Larry Agran acknowledged that he had not reviewed the draft climate plan thoroughly and favored revisiting the issue at a future council meeting with a final draft in hand. Agran had outlined lofty green goals during his state of the city address earlier this month, a speech that was briefly disrupted by climate activists who want the city to stick with OCPA. 'I'm not only sympathetic, I'm actually enthusiastic about real implementation of a climate action plan,' he said on Tuesday. 'But just saying yes tonight to something that hasn't even been distributed to us seems to me to be a very, very poor example of governance.' Councilman Mike Carroll raised his hand when Agran asked who on the council had thoroughly reviewed documents related to the draft climate plan. He spoke in opposition of the plan and also called Treseder's push for a vote a political 'charade.' 'I'm not enthusiastic about a political trap,' he said in wanting to punt discussion of the climate plan off the agenda indefinitely. Council voted 4-2 to scuttle discussion at the moment, with Agran and Treseder voting against the move.
