The County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) shall continue to maintain and update the Ventura County Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan every five years and update the Ventura County Emergency Operations Plan every three years. Updates will include including mitigation measures and preparedness, response, and recovery strategies for hazards identified in this Element. To the extent feasible, County agencies shall, and other public agencies are encouraged to, participate in joint emergency planning and response training, and cooperatively respond to emergencies when they occur.
Ongoing
HAZ-Y Construction Air Pollutant Best Management Practices
Discretionary development projects that will generate construction-related air emissions shall be required to include the following types of emission reduction measures and potentially others, as recommended by VCAPCD in its Air Quality Assessment Guidelines or otherwise, to the extent applicable to the project as determined by the County: maintaining equipment per manufacturer specifications; lengthening construction duration to minimize number of vehicle and equipment operating at the same time during the summer months; use of Tier 3 at a minimum, or Tier 4 if commercially available diesel engines in all off-road construction diesel equipment; and, if feasible2 using electric-powered or other alternative fueled equipment in place of diesel powered equipment..
2. “Feasible” means that this mitigation measure shall be applied to future discretionary projects under the 2040 General Plan when and to the extent it is “capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors” as determined by the County in the context of such future projects based on substantial evidence. This definition is consistent with the definition of “feasible” set forth in CEQA (Pub. Res. Code, § 21066.1) and the CEQA Guidelines section 15164). The County shall be solely responsible for making this feasibility determination in accordance with CEQA
HAZ-Z Fugitive Dust Best Management Practices
Discretionary development projects that will generate construction-related fugitive dust emissions shall be required by the County to include dust reduction measures recommended by VCAPCD in its Air Quality Assessment Guidelines, or otherwise, such as:
- The area disturbed by clearing, grading, earth moving, or excavation operations shall be minimized to prevent excess amounts of dust.
- The area disturbed by clearing, grading, earth moving, or excavation operations shall be minimized to prevent excess amounts of dust.
- Pre-grading/excavation activities shall include watering the area to be graded or excavated before commencement of grading or excavation operations. Application of watering (preferably reclaimed, if available) should penetrate sufficiently to minimize fugitive dust during grading activities.
- Fugitive dust produced during grading, excavation, and construction activities shall be controlled by the following activities:
- All trucks shall be required to cover their loads as required by California Vehicle Code Section 23114.
- All graded and excavated material, exposed soil areas, and active portions of the construction site, including unpaved on-site roadways, shall be treated to prevent fugitive dust. Treatment shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, periodic watering, application of environmentally-safe soil stabilization materials, and/or roll-compaction as appropriate. Watering shall be done as often as necessary and reclaimed water shall be used whenever possible.
- Graded and/or excavated inactive areas of the construction site shall be monitored by (indicate by whom) at least weekly for dust stabilization. Soil stabilization methods, such as water and roll-compaction, and environmentally-safe dust control materials, shall be periodically applied to portions of the construction site that are inactive for over four days. If no further grading or excavation operations are planned for the area, the area should be seeded and watered until grass growth is evident, or periodically treated with environmentally-safe dust suppressants, to prevent excessive fugitive dust.
- Signs shall be posted on-site limiting traffic to 15 miles per hour or less.
- During periods of high winds (i.e., wind speed sufficient to cause fugitive dust to impact adjacent properties), all clearing, grading, earth moving, and excavation operations shall be curtailed to the degree necessary to prevent fugitive dust created by on-site activities and operations from being a nuisance or hazard, either off-site or on-site. The site superintendent/supervisor shall use his/her discretion in conjunction with VCAPCD when winds are excessive.
- Adjacent streets and roads shall be swept at least once per day, preferably at the end of the day, if visible soil material is carried over to adjacent streets and roads.
- Personnel involved in grading operations, including contractors and subcontractors, should be advised to wear respiratory protection in accordance with California Division of Occupational Safety and Health regulations.
HAZ-BB Building Energy Saving Ordinance for Industrial Buildings
To address GHG emissions associated with electricity consumption by industrial buildings, which were not quantified in the GHG Inventory and Forecasting due to utility privacy rules, the County shall implement a program to adopt a Building Energy Saving Ordinance, no later than 2025, for industrial buildings over 25,000 square feet in size, modeled after the local benchmarking ordinances adopted in other local jurisdictions in California (CEC 2019). The County shall prepare reports showing the energy performance of industrial buildings relative to similar buildings in California and the United States and make these reports available to the public by request. The County, through its building department shall provide recommendations on energy efficiency retrofits and green building strategies to improve energy performance to property owners and tenants subject to the reporting requirements.
HAZ-CC Revise the Construction Noise Threshold Criteria and Control Plan
The County shall revise the Construction Noise Threshold Criteria and Control Plan within one year of 2040 General Plan adoption to consider all potential vibrationinducing activities and include various measures, setback distances, precautions, monitoring programs, and alternative methods to traditional construction activities with the potential to result in structural damage or excessive groundborne noise. Items that shall be addressed in the plan include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Ground vibration-producing activities, such as pile driving and blasting, shall be limited to the daytime hours between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays or 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
- If pile driving is used, pile holes shall be predrilled to the maximum feasible depth to reduce the number of blows required to seat a pile.
- All construction equipment on construction sites shall be operated as far away from vibration-sensitive sites as reasonably possible.
- Earthmoving, blasting and groundimpacting operations shall be phased so as not to occur simultaneously in areas close to sensitive receptors, to the extent feasible. The total vibration level produced could be significantly less when each vibration source is operated at separate times.
- Minimum setback requirements for different types of ground vibrationproducing activities (e.g., pile driving and blasting) for the purpose of preventing damage to nearby structures shall be established. Factors to be considered include the specific nature of the vibration producing activity (e.g., type and duration of pile driving), local soil conditions, and the fragility/resiliency of the nearby structures. Established setback requirements (i.e., 100 feet) can be breached if a project-specific, site specific analysis is conducted by a qualified geotechnical engineer or ground vibration specialist that indicates that no structural damage would occur at nearby buildings or structures.
- Minimum setback requirements for different types of ground vibration producing activities (e.g., pile driving and blasting) for the purpose of preventing negative human response shall be established based on the specific nature of the vibration producing activity (e.g., type and duration of pile driving), local soil conditions, and the type of sensitive receptor. Established setback requirements (i.e., 300 feet) can be breached only if a project-specific, site-specific, technically adequate ground vibration study indicates that the buildings would not be exposed to ground vibration levels in excess of 80 VdB, and ground vibration measurements performed during the construction activity confirm that the buildings are not being exposed to levels in excess of 80 VdB.
- All vibration-inducing activity within the distance parameters described above shall be monitored and documented for ground vibration noise and vibration noise levels at the nearest sensitive land use and associated recorded data submitted to Ventura County so as not to exceed the recommended FTA levels.
- Alternatives to traditional pile driving (e.g., sonic pile driving, jetting, castin- place or auger cast piles, nondisplacement piles, pile cushioning, torque or hydraulic piles) shall be considered and implemented where feasible4 to reduce vibration levels.
4 “Feasible” means that this mitigation measure shall be applied to future discretionary projects under the 2040 General Plan when and to the extent it is “capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors” as determined by the County in the context of such future projects based on substantial evidence. This definition is consistent with the definition of “feasible” set forth in CEQA (Pub. Res. Code, § 21066.1) and the CEQA Guidelines (§ 15164). The County shall be solely responsible for making this feasibility determination in accordance with CEQA.
AG-A Right-to-Farm Ordinance
The County shall periodically review and update the Right-to-Farm Ordinance when necessary to raise public awareness (including within the local real estate industry) of the Right-to-Farm provisions.