The Gilroy Distribution Center Electric Tractor Charging Project

2024090541

California Energy Commission

NOE - Notice of Exemption

9/13/2024

9/13/2024

Daniel Siu

California Energy Commission

Energy Analyst

Lead/Public Agency

715 P Street, MS-27
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 908-7483

daniel.siu@energy.ca.gov

6351 Cameron Blvd

95020

Statutory Exemption

Cal. Pub. Res. Code sect. 21080.35

Pub. Res. Code sect. 21080.35 provides that projects which consists of the installation of a solar energy system, including all associated equipment, on the roof of an existing building or at an existing parking lot, are statutorily exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This project consists of installation of approximately 90,000 square feet of solar canopy over an existing, paved parking lot; fifteen 180kW dual-port charging stations each approximately six square feet in the same parking lot; one 360kW quad-port charging station approximately 10 square feet in the same parking lot; and one battery energy storage system approximately 174 square feet in the same parking lot. Therefore, this project falls within section 21080.35 and will not have a significant effect on the environment.

Categorical Exemption

Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sec. 15301

Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sec. 15301 provides that projects which consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, and which involve negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency’s determination, are categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This project will install electrical infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations, a solar canopy, and a battery energy storage system in an existing paved parking lot adjacent to an existing distribution facility. The new installation will require foundation upgrade for the solar canopy and electrical upgrades. Construction activities will include minimal grading, trenching from the electrical conduit, and new pipelines for electrical. The new installations will involve negligible or no expansion of existing use. Therefore, the project falls within section 15301 and will not have a significant effect on the environment. This project will not impact an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies; does not involve impacts on any particularly sensitive environment; does not involve any cumulative impacts of successive projects of the same type in the same place that might be considered significant; does not involve unusual circumstances that might have a significant effect on the environment; will not result in damage to scenic resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; the project site is not included on any list compiled pursuant to Government Code section 65962.5; and the project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Therefore, none of the exceptions to categorical exemptions listed in CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 apply to this project, and this project will not have a significant effect on the environment.