BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2008 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 28, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Wesley Chesbro, Chair AB 2008 (Quirk) - As Amended: March 28, 2014 SUBJECT : California Environmental Quality Act: infill projects: goods movement SUMMARY : Requires the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines for infill project performance standards to include projects that promote the minimization of air quality, traffic, and public safety impacts of goods movement through dedicated loading and unloading facilities for commercial space. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires, pursuant to CEQA, a lead agency with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines). 2)Establishes abbreviated CEQA review procedures for specified infill projects, where only specific or more significant effects on the environment which were not addressed in a prior planning-level EIR need be addressed. An EIR for such a project need not consider alternative locations, densities, and building intensities or growth-inducing impacts. Infill projects may include residential, retail, commercial, transit station, school, or public office building projects located within an urban area (SB 226 (Simitian), Chapter 469, Statutes of 2011). SB 226 requires Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to develop CEQA guidelines to implement its infill provisions, including statewide standards (i.e., infill project performance standards) to promote all of the following: a) reducing vehicle miles traveled; b) prioritizing infill development; c) reducing greenhouse gas emissions; d) reducing per capita water use; e) promoting transit supportive communities; f) improving energy efficiency, including transportation energy; and, g) protecting public health. AB 2008 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of applicable projects undertaken or approved by public agencies. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare an EIR. Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed project, identify and analyze each significant environmental impact expected to result from the proposed project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. Prior to approving any project that has received environmental review, an agency must make certain findings. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring program to ensure compliance with those measures. In 2011, SB 226 established a streamlined CEQA process for infill projects. SB 226 directs OPR to develop performance standards for infill projects seeking to use the streamlined process. According to OPR, the performance standards should not be viewed as a method to avoid adverse environmental impacts. Rather, the performance standards are designed to benefit projects that advance the environmental policies listed in SB 226. This bill amends the infill project performance standards so they also promote projects that minimize air quality, traffic, and public safety impacts of goods movement through loading and unloading facilities. According to the author: When commercial units do not have a dedicated loading or unloading facility (such as a loading dock or "reserved for deliveries" parking spot), delivery vehicles must park where they can. In practice, this often means double parking on smaller streets or in AB 2008 Page 3 median lanes on wider ones. On small streets, in particular, they must often wait and idle, or drive around the block several times while waiting for a space to open. Double parked vehicles impede the flow of traffic and pose a safety hazard, since they can make it difficult to see cross traffic when pedestrians cross, or when vehicles attempt to go around. The author's intent with this bill is to mitigate the environmental and public safety concerns that may be associated with delivery trucks that are faced with the issues described above. Based on discussions between committee staff and the author's office, it is not the intent of the bill to further narrow the infill development streamlining provisions of CEQA. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to include the bill's provisions in the CEQA statutes regarding infill project streamlining. As an alternative, the author and the committee may wish to consider amendments that move the bill's language to the transit village code section of the Government Code . The goal of the transit village statutes is to develop mix-use communities around transit stations (e.g., rail or light-rail stations, bus stations, ferry terminals) that could, among other things, relieve traffic congestion, improve air quality, and reduce energy consumption. Because of the mix-use qualities of transit villages, commercial units may not have the infrastructure for delivery trucks. By including the bill's language in the transit village statues, the Legislature could help promote more delivery truck infrastructure in transit villages. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Breathe California Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 AB 2008 Page 4