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7.B. - Page 146 �/holesale Redwood City GDF Expansion Air Quality/Climate Change Analysis Page 1 Executive Summary Following is a summary of the air quality and global climate change impacts associated with the proposed expansion to the Redwood City Costco Wholesale gasoline dispensing facility, based on analyses presented within the remainder of this report. • Demolition/Construction. Emissions of reactive organic gases, nitrogen oxides, and exhaust particulate matter emissions associated with construction of the proposed expansion are expected to be below the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's (AQMD) emissions thresholds for construction-related activities. For fugitive particulate matter, Costco Wholesale has agreed to implement all basic construction mitigation measures (Table 18) recommended by the Bay Area AQMD for all projects regardless of emissions. Therefore, criteria pollutant emissions associated with project construction would be less than significant. • Operational Criteria Pollutant Emissions. Anticipated daily and annual criteria pollutant emissions associated with operation of the proposed project would remain less than significant. When compared to the existing facility and based on expected traffic volumes projected in the July 30, 2012 Preliminary Transportation Assessment, vehicle emissions are expected to decline due to a significant reduction in vehicle queue hours (Appendix B, Table B-3, "Proposed Expansion"). At the request of City of Redwood City staff, operational criteria pollutant emissions were also analyzed to reflect an extreme maximum assumption that existing facility vehicle trips will double. This increases emissions associated with vehicle trips and vehicle queuing (Appendix B, Tables B-2 and B-3, "Extreme Maximum Assumptions"), but the results still remain less than significant (Tables 10 and 11). Note that the extreme maximum assumption that existing facility vehicle trips will double is extremely unlikely. This is because for this to occur, the proposed facility's weekday averaqe hourly vehicle trips would need to be 75% higher than the existing facility's weekday peak hour vehicle trips. • Carbon Monoxide "Hot Spots". Since the proposed 20-position GDF is expected to increase vehicle trips through the intersection of Middlefield Road and Willow Street to a level far below the Bay Area AQMD's conservative screening threshold, the project would have a less than significant impact on carbon monoxide "hot spots." • Queuinq Impacts on Ambient Air Qualitv. The analysis provided in the 2007 Certified EIR has been updated to reflect a new federal one-hour nitrogen dioxide standard and updated emissions associated with vehicle queuing. Even though vehicle queue time is expected to increase for the proposed 20-position facility as compared to the 16-position facility evaluated in the 2007 Certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR), vehicle emissions will be lower than evaluated in the 2007 EIR.' Therefore, short-term ambient air quality impacts associated with vehicle queuing would remain less than significant for the proposed project. Even though vehicle queuing emissions could increase if the extreme maximum assumption that existing facility vehicle trips double were used, ' This is because San Mateo County vehicle emission rates used in the current vehicle queuing analysis are 40 to 75 percent lower than the emission rates used in the 2007 Certified EIR, as shown in Appendix C, Table C-1. Emissions are lower because the 2007 Certified EIR assumed a 2007 project build-out,while the current analysis assumes a 2012 project build-out. The 2012 vehicle fleet includes cleaner later model year vehicles incorporating current emissions controls, and fewer older vehicles without such controls and higher emission rates than a 2007 vehicle fleet. 7/30/2012