PLN2023-0042 – Aemetis Biogas LLC

PLN2023-0042 – Aemetis Biogas LLC

Request to establish a biogas facility on a 157.56± acre parcel located in the General Agriculture (A-2-40) zoning district. The project site is comprised of one legal parcel currently being assessed under two separate Assessor Parcel Numbers (APNs), 057-014-001 and 057-013-015. The facility will take manure waste from existing dairies and capture the biogas that is produced in the break down process within a covered anaerobic digester. The digester will serve as a hub to process manure wastewater from the on-site dairy as well as three off-site dairies located in Stanislaus County within 1± mile of the project site. As part of this request, a 9.3± acre covered anaerobic digester, a 4,800± square-foot pretreatment skid including a fiberglass tank system, chiller, and compressor are proposed to be installed on APN: 057-013-015, which is 78.78± acres in size. After the digester captures biogas by-products, it will be sent through a pretreatment skid on-site and subsequently transferred via private pipeline off-site to the Aemetis Advanced Fuels Keyes facility, where it will be processed and upgraded to compressed natural gas (CNG). Wastewater from the off-site dairies will be pumped to the digester via a proposed underground pipeline located within the County right-of-way. The pipeline will extend to the west across South Mitchell Road and along Hilmar Road in order to access two dairies off Hilmar Road located on APNs: 057-007-005, 057-008-005 and 057-008-010). The pipeline will then cross over South Prairie Flower Road to the east to the remaining off-site dairy located on APNs 057-013-014 and 057-013-019. Wastewater coming out of the digester will be piped back to each respective dairy pursuant to the quantities listed under each dairies’ current wastewater management plan (WMP); no net increase of wastewater will be applied to any of the dairies. Manure solids will be filtered out and used for normal dairy operations including bedding and crop fertilizer at each dairy. The parcel is currently improved with 437,132± square feet of building space consisting of six freestall barns, one haybarn, one milk barn, one single-family dwelling, one detached garage, a 7.5± acre dairy wastewater pond and a 130-foot-tall communications facility within an 800± square-foot lease area. No expansion of existing herd sizes will occur as a result of this project on any of the dairies associated with the use of the proposed digester. The digester will operate 24 hours a day/seven days a week. The applicant anticipates one truck trip for a single employee who will be on-site seven days a week to inspect the property and equipment and perform standard preventative maintenance; no additional truck trips are anticipated beyond the one employee trip. The project site is currently served by a private well and septic system. The project site has existing access from County-maintained South Mitchell and South Prairie Flower Roads. As part of this request, the applicant proposes to gravel a 20-foot-wide driveway extending from the pretreatment skid to South Mitchell Road. Primary access to the site will be from South Mitchell Road. The pipelines associated with this request are a small portion of an installation of 59.1± miles of pipe within Stanislaus and Merced Counties that will be used to transfer resulting biogas from digesters to the Aemetis Advanced Fuels Keyes facility. The pipeline is subject to review and approval by the Stanislaus County Public Works Department and is currently being evaluated under the Aemetis Biogas LLC Dairy Biogas Cluster Project Supplemental Initial Study with Mitigated Negative Declaration, dated July of 2023.

Turlock

Stanislaus

Citywide, Countywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 10 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California San Joaquin River Conservancy (SJRC), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB)

California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB)

Other (Agricultural Service Establishment )

Use Permit

None identified as of yet.