BILL ANALYSIS
SB 375
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 375 (Steinberg)
As Amended March 24, 2008
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-15
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 5-1 TRANSPORTATION 8-5
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|Ayes:|Caballero, De La Torre, |Ayes:|Nava, Carter, DeSaulnier, |
| |Lieber, Saldana, Soto | |Galgiani, |
| | | |Karnette, Portantino, |
| | | |Ruskin, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Smyth |Nays:|Duvall, Garrick, Horton, |
| | | |Huff, Soto |
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APPROPRIATIONS 11-4
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|Ayes:|Leno, Caballero, Davis, | | |
| |DeSaulnier, Furutani, | | |
| |Huffman, Karnette, | | |
| |Krekorian, Lieu, Ma, Nava | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Walters, Emmerson, La | | |
| |Malfa, Nakanishi | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires regional transportation planning agencies to
include sustainable communities strategies, as defined, in their
regional transportation plans for the purpose of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, and create specified incentives for
the implementation of the scenarios. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations concerning the need to make
significant changes in land use and transportation policy in
order to meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals established
by AB 32 (Nunez & Pavley), Chapter 444, Statutes of 2006.
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2)Requires the California Transportation Commission (CTC), by
July 1, 2009, to adopt guidelines for travel demand models
used in the development of regional transportation plans by
certain transportation planning entities, requires the
Department of Transportation to assist CTC, on request, in
this regard, and imposes other related requirements.
3)Requires the regional transportation plan for specified
regions to include a sustainable communities strategy, as
specified, designed to achieve certain goals for the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks
in a region.
4)Requires the California Air Resources Board (ARB), working in
consultation with the affected transportation agencies, to
provide each affected region with greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets from the automobile and light truck sector
for 2020 and 2035 by January 1, 2010, and to update the
regional targets, as specified, until 2050.
5)Requires certain transportation planning and programming
activities by affected regional agencies to be consistent with
the sustainable communities strategy contained in the regional
transportation plan, but states that certain transportation
projects programmed for funding on or before December 31,
2011, are not required to be consistent with the sustainable
communities strategy.
6)Requires affected regional agencies, to the extent the
sustainable communities strategy is unable to achieve the
greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, to prepare a
supplement to the sustainable communities strategy that would
achieve the targets through alternative development patterns
or additional transportation measures, and to submit a
statement to the CTC describing the relationship of each
project in the regional transportation improvement program to
the regional transportation plan and supplement adopted by the
regional agency.
7)Requires an environmental document prepared pursuant to the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to only examine
the significant or potentially significant project specific
impacts of a project located in a local jurisdiction that has
amended its general plan so that the land use, housing, and
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open-space elements of the general plan are consistent with
the sustainable communities strategy most recently adopted by
the transportation planning agency, pursuant to the
requirements specified in this bill, if the project meets
certain requirements.
8)Provides that no additional review is required pursuant to
CEQA for a project if the legislative body of a local
jurisdiction that has amended its general plan, as provided
above, finds, after conducting a public hearing, that the
project meets certain criteria and is declared to be a
sustainable communities project.
9)Authorizes the legislative body of a local jurisdiction to
adopt traffic mitigation measures for future residential
projects that meet specified criteria, and exempts such a
residential project seeking a land use approval from
compliance with additional measures for traffic impacts, if
the local jurisdiction has adopted those traffic mitigation
measures.
10)Provides that the Legislature finds there is no mandate
contained in the bill that will result in costs incurred by a
local agency or school district for a new program or higher
level of service which require reimbursement pursuant to these
constitutional and statutory provisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires certain transportation planning activities by the
California Department of Transportation and by designated
regional transportation planning agencies, including
development of a regional transportation plan.
2)Authorizes CTC, in cooperation with the regional agencies, to
prescribe study areas for analysis and evaluation.
3)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.
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4)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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)CTC would incur one-time costs of up to $200,000 in 2007-08
for the adoption of modeling guidelines. Potential minor
ongoing costs associated with updated guidelines and reviews
of regional models.
2)ARB would require one-half of an additional personnel year
(PY) in 2007-08 and 2008-09 (annual costs of $72,500), and a
full additional PY thereafter (annual cost of $145,000) for
the workload associated with this bill.
3)The requirement that regional transportation planning agencies
develop enhanced travel demand models and preferred growth
scenarios may result in a reimbursable state mandate,
potentially resulting in state costs exceeding several
millions of dollars.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill provides a
mechanism for reducing greenhouse gases from the single largest
sector of emissions, cars and light trucks. The environmental
organizations sponsoring this legislation maintain that changes
in land use and transportation policy must be made to achieve
the goals of AB 32. Although greenhouse gas emissions can be
reduced by producing more fuel efficient cars and using low
carbon fuel, reductions in vehicle miles traveled will also be
necessary. Thus, the travel demand models used by metropolitan
planning organizations to develop regional transportation plans
must assess the effects of land use decisions, transit service,
and economic incentives. According to the author, this bill
will help implement AB 32 by amending programs that are beyond
the current authority of ARB.
It creates new provisions for the preparation of regional
transportation plans and it creates a new subchapter in CEQA to
encourage the implementation of plans for greenhouse gas
reductions at the local level.
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Analysis Prepared by : J. Stacey Sullivan / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0006564