Christopher Cabaldon

(1) Existing law requires certain transportation planning agencies to prepare and adopt regional transportation plans directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced regional transportation system. Existing law requires a regional transportation plan to include a policy element, a sustainable communities strategy prepared by a metropolitan planning organization, an action element, and a financial element, as provided. Existing law requires those transportation planning agencies to adopt and submit every 4 years, except as provided, an updated regional transportation plan to the California Transportation Commission and the Department of Transportation.

Existing law requires a sustainable communities strategy to achieve regional targets set by the State Air Resources Board for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the automobile and light truck sector in the region for 2020 and 2035, respectively, and requires the state board to update those targets every 8 years, consistent with each metropolitan planning organization's timeframe for updating its regional transportation plan, as specified. Existing law establishes certain procedural requirements for setting and updating those targets and authorizes the state board to revise the targets every 4 years based on changes in specified factors.

This bill would instead require, commencing with the first or 2nd regional transportation plan prepared on or after January 1, 2027, as determined by the applicable metropolitan planning organization, the regional transportation plan to include an 8-year sustainable communities strategy prepared by the metropolitan planning organization. Upon the submission of a regional transportation plan that does not include a new sustainable communities strategy, the bill would require the metropolitan planning organization to submit a sustainable communities strategy implementation report.

This bill would instead require, no later than an unspecified number of years before the due date of a region's next sustainable communities strategy, the state board to provide the region with greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for all on-road transportation sectors for 2035 and 2045, and would require the targets to reflect the combined effect of policies, regulations, and investments to improve fleet efficiency and reduce vehicle miles traveled and be based on what is achievable for the region, as specified. The bill would require the state board to appoint a Regional Targets Advisory Committee to recommend factors and methodologies for setting those targets and to recommend how other specified state goals should be balanced in setting those targets. The bill would eliminate the authority of the state board to revise the targets every 4 years and would establish additional public participation requirements for the state board to undertake before updating those targets.

Because the bill would expand duties of local agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law, to the extent the sustainable communities strategy is unable to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, requires a metropolitan planning organization to prepare an alternative planning strategy to the sustainable communities strategy showing how the targets would be achieved through alternative development patterns, infrastructure, or additional transportation measures or policies. Existing law requires the state board to review each metropolitan planning organization's sustainable communities strategy and alternative planning strategy to determine whether the strategy, if implemented, would achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

This bill would revise the procedural requirements applicable to the state board's review of those strategies. The bill would deem a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy approved for implementation and funding alignment purposes if the state board does not take certain actions within specified and unspecified deadlines.

This bill would revise the requirements applicable to the preparation of an alternative planning strategy, including by requiring the metropolitan planning organization to include an analysis of an alternative development pattern for the region and, if necessary, additional infrastructure, transportation measures, or policies that could achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The bill would eliminate a requirement that an alternative development pattern be a separate document from the regional transportation plan.

(3) Existing law authorizes the commission, in cooperation with regional transportation planning agencies, to prescribe guidelines for the preparation of regional transportation plans.

This bill would require the commission to adopt guidelines for the preparation of regional transportation plans and sustainable communities strategies. In adopting the portion of the guidelines applicable to the preparation of sustainable communities strategies, the bill would require the commission to collaborate with the state board and to prescribe acceptable technical methodologies that may be employed to estimate emissions of greenhouse gases and the required contents of the sustainable communities strategy implementation reports described above.

(4) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. 

This bill would exempt the preparation and adoption of regional transportation plans, sustainable communities strategies, and alternative planning strategies from CEQA. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(5) Existing law requires the department to prepare a state highway operation and protection program for the expenditure of transportation funds for major capital improvements that are necessary to preserve and protect the state highway system, excluding projects that add a new traffic lane to the system.

This bill would require the department to coordinate with regional transportation planning agencies and metropolitan planning organizations, as applicable, to ensure that regionally significant projects, as defined, selected for the state highway operation and protection program align with the timing, phasing, and scope of projects included in applicable regional transportation plans.

(6) Existing law requires the commission, under a program commonly known as the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, to allocate certain state and federal funds to infrastructure projects located on or along specified transportation corridors. Existing law establishes the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program and requires the commission to allocate state funds made available to the program to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors throughout the state. Under both programs, existing law requires projects within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization to be included in an adopted regional transportation plan that includes a sustainable communities strategy determined by the state board to achieve the region's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

For purposes of those programs, this bill would instead require, if the metropolitan planning organization has adopted an alternative planning strategy, the projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(7) Existing law requires funding to be available under the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program for projects that make specific performance improvements and are part of a comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors. Existing law authorizes the department and certain regional transportation planning agencies to nominate projects for funding through the program.

This bill would eliminate the requirement that a project be a part of a comprehensive corridor plan and would require funding to be available under the program for projects that, among other things, make specific performance improvements and support the implementation of a regional transportation plan. The bill would revise the requirements applicable to a project nomination under the program. The bill would require the commission to allocate program funds to projects after the relevant metropolitan planning organization or transportation planning agency has made a determination that a proposed project is consistent with the phasing, timing, and project scope included in the adopted regional transportation plan, as specified.

(8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.