BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2008
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          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.









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           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  








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               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 










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