DATE: November 18, 2024
TO: Council Sustainability Committee
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT
Title
Proposed Reach Code Amendments to EV Charging Requirements
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Council Sustainability Committee (CSC) reviews this report and provides a recommendation to Council to adopt an ordinance amending the Reach Code to modify the City's electric vehicle (EV) charging requirements.
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SUMMARY
Hayward's current Reach Code took effect on January 1, 2023. The Reach Code ordinance modifies and goes beyond the State building code to require:
* All new non-residential buildings that include natural gas infrastructure, must be "electric ready", meaning they have the wiring, electrical capacity and space needed to be converted to an all-electric building in the future.
* All new buildings, and modifications to existing buildings resulting in new parking spaces, must have electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure above and beyond that required by the California Green Building Standards Code.
There are updated requirements in the California Green Building Standards Code (CalGreen) that took effect on July 1, 2024, including several related to EV charging infrastructure. This new CalGreen code, even with the updates, still requires less charging infrastructure than Hayward's current Reach Code. However, Hayward's Reach Code is currently unenforceable because it does not include the new technical requirements from CalGreen.
In addition to incorporating the 2024 CalGreen amendments, staff recommends also incorporating the minor changes to EV charging requirements in the recently adopted 2025 CALGreen standards that will take effect on January 2026. Including these standards in the updated Reach Code would eliminate the need to update Hayward's EV charging requirements again in 2025. Staff is seeking direction from the CSC and a recommendation to the full Council to adopt an ...
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