Legal Agreement On Placer County Project Requires Climate Pollution Cuts, Secures Funding To Protect Wildlife Habitat

The Center for Biological Diversity approved a legal agreement yesterday that secures significant measures to reduce greenhouse gases from a Placer County development, as well as funding for electric vehicles, habitat acquisition and environmental conservation efforts in the county and elsewhere in California.

“This landmark agreement will cut the development’s greenhouse gas pollution and provide a host of resources to help Placer County’s residents and natural landscapes,” said Aruna Prabhala, director of the Center’s Urban Wildlands program. “We’ll keep advocating for the people and wildlife of this county by promoting equitable policies to combat the climate crisis and safeguard biological diversity.”

The agreement between the Center and Placer Ranch, Inc., the proponent of the mixed-use Placer Ranch Specific Plan project, provides $500,000 for renewable energy programs to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles and install rooftop solar and EV charging stations in Placer County.

The agreement also includes a host of new measures to reduce the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on wildlife. It requires the project to have electric vehicle charging stations in all single-family homes and 15% of non-residential parking spaces, zero-emission transit vehicles, all electric appliances in residential units, green roofs on commercial spaces and free transit passes for future residents and employees.

The agreement also provides $500,000 to future conservation projects in Placer County, $1 million to fund the work of nonprofit groups working towards the preservation, restoration and research of imperiled wildlife and ecologically valuable habitat, and $4 million for the acquisition and permanent protection of biologically important habitat.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by the residential and commercial development within Placer Ranch, a portion of future property sales will also fund on-site renewable energy generation, zero-emission transportation and other conservation initiatives. The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, a public foundation which specializes in administering settlement proceeds to benefit environmental and consumer protection programs, will help manage the initiatives.

“Crucial on-the-ground conservation, plus green energy and boosting public transit – this is what solving global warming looks like,” said Rose Foundation Executive Director Tim Little. “It is a win for Placer County, and for the whole planet.”

In addition to the conservation benefits achieved for Placer County, the agreement will also provide funds toward preserving other biologically important habitat, some of which CBD will use to purchase Lone Pine Ranch. The acquisition and permanent conservation of this historic northern California property by the Wildlands Conservancy will preserve pristine habitat while providing public access to some of the most scenic stretches of the Eel River.

The agreement stems from the Center’s lawsuit, filed in early 2020, that challenged the Placer Ranch Specific Plan, which is part of the larger Sunset Area Plan. Located in western Placer County and covering 2,213 acres, Placer Ranch will include approximately 5,600 new homes, 5.4 million square feet of employment and commercial space at buildout and is the potential site of a new California State University campus. As part of today’s agreement, the Center agreed to dismiss its current legal challenge to the Placer Ranch Specific Plan and Sunset Area Plan.