Comment Log Display

December 19, 2008



Kurt Karperos, Chief
Air Quality and Transportation Planning Branch
Planning and Technical Support Division
California Air Resources Board
P.O. Box 2815
Sacramento, CA   95812

Douglas Ito, Manager
SIP and Local Government Strategies Section
Planning and Technical Support Division
California Air Resources Board
P.O. Box 2815
Sacramento, CA  95812



Re: Comments on Recommended Approaches for Setting Interim
Significance Thresholds for Greenhouse Gases under the California
Environmental Quality Act

Dear Mr. Karperos and Mr. Ito:

The California Landscape Contractors Association, representing
more than 3,000 licensed contractors and associated industry
suppliers who design, construct, and maintain commercial, public,
and residential landscapes, welcomes the opportunity to comment on
the Air Resources Board draft staff proposal for setting interim
significant thresholds under the California Environmental Quality
Act.  Our comments are limited to those elements of the staff
recommendations relating to setting potential performance standards
for landscape irrigation.

CLCA supports the goal of providing lead agencies and developers
with a performance-based pathway for determining thresholds of
significance associated with greenhouse gas emissions from projects
subject to CEQA.  We recognize that efficient use of water for
landscape irrigation is an essential component of any
performance-based standards ultimately adopted by the board.
However, it is critically important to our membership that any
landscape irrigation standards adopted by the board be consistent
and conform to the updated Model Water Efficient Landscape
Ordinance (“Model Ordinance”) regulations that will shortly be
adopted by the California Department of Water Resources.

Based on our review of staff materials and workshop presentations,
it appears that the ARB staff is attempting to “piggyback” an
arbitrary 50 percent reduction in water use for landscape
irrigation on top of the already stringent water efficiency
standards being established by the updated Model Ordinance.  In
Slide 17 of the December 9th workshop presentation, staff misreads
the requirements of Section 604.2 of the California Green Building
Code, which does not require a 50 percent reduction in water use
above the requirements of the water budget as calculated under the
Model Ordinance.  In fact, Section 604.2 merely provides that water
use shall be reduced by 50 percent “after initial requirements for
plant installation and establishment.”  In this connection, the
most recent draft of the updated Model Ordinance regulations does
not differentiate between the water allowed for newly installed
versus established plants, but instead provides for an annual water
budget which gives property owners flexibility to apply more or
less water at different times of the year or during initial growth,
while keeping total annual water use within an aggregate cap.
Moreover, the Outdoor Water Use provisions of the California Green
Building Code (Section 604 et seq.) were never designed to apply to
dwellings, are currently voluntary, and appear to be borrowed from
also voluntary LEED standards that are more appropriate to
Midwestern and Eastern states where climatologic conditions differ
significantly from those found in California.

The Model Ordinance offers an ideal performance standard because
it in-corporates many specific geographic and climate adjusted
design, documentation, and compliance criteria and, most
importantly, enforcement provisions before and after project
completion to assure that projected water savings from an approved
landscape design are actually realized.  Additionally, in
situations where landscaping is installed after project approval,
such as a single-family housing development with unfinished
backyards, the Model Ordinance will apply prospectively to the
individual homeowners if the landscaped area is 5,000 square feet
or more and the landscape work requires a building or landscape
permit.

As experienced landscape professionals, we believe that a 50
percent reduction in landscape water use above and beyond the
reductions already contemplated by the updated Model Ordinance
would drastically change the characteristics of California
landscapes and have unintended consequences that would contribute
to even greater energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, such as
increased air conditioning use due to reduction of shade from trees
and large shrubs, the accentuation of heat island effects, and
reduced carbon sequestration by lawns and landscape plants. Healthy
landscapes also help clean the air and reduce dust and particulate
matter--important public health and quality of life issues for many
communities.

For these reasons CLCA recommends the Model Ordinance as the most
appropriate, effective, and evidence-based performance standard for
water efficient landscaping in commercial and residential projects
subject to CEQA.  Any reference to the Green Building Standards
Code, which was erroneously drafted and never intended to apply to
dwellings, should be avoided.

If additional outdoor potable water savings beyond those
achievable from the Model Ordinance are necessary, CLCA recommends
that the board consider cost-effective performance measures to
supply recycled or reclaimed water to projects--so long as the
aggregate amount of water available for landscaping use from both
potable and non-potable sources is not less than the annual water
budget established for a particular property by the Model
Ordinance.

CLCA appreciates the challenges presented to board staff in
crafting performance standards for residential and commercial
projects that reasonably limit greenhouse gas emissions from at
least five sources.  As this proposal evolves we hope that you will
reach out to CLCA for its advice and counsel on real world
solutions to landscape water conservation.

Sincerely yours,



LARRY ROHLFES, CAE
Assistant Executive Director

cc:	Rick Soehren, Chief, DWR Office of Water Use Efficiency and
Transfers,
	CLCA Executive Director Sharon McGuire
	CLCA Board of Directors
	CLCA Legislation Committee
	CLCA Resource Management Committee
	Parke Terry, Greenberg Traurig LLP