BILL NUMBER: AB 782 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jeffries
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to amend Section 65080 of, and to add Section 65080.02 to,
the Government Code, and to amend Section 21159.28 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to transportation planning.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 782, as introduced, Jeffries. Regional transportation plans:
sustainable communities strategies.
Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,
requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt a statewide
greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse
gas emissions levels of 1990, to be achieved by 2020, as specified.
Existing law requires certain transportation planning activities
by designated regional transportation planning agencies, including
development of a regional transportation plan. Certain of these
agencies are designated under federal law as metropolitan planning
organizations. Existing law requires metropolitan planning
organizations to adopt a sustainable communities strategy as part of
their regional transportation plan, which is to be designed to
achieve certain targets established by the State Air Resources Board
for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and
light trucks in the region. Existing law, to the extent the
sustainable communities strategy is unable to achieve the greenhouse
gas emissions reduction targets, requires the affected metropolitan
planning organization to prepare an alternative planning strategy
showing how the targets may be achieved through alternative
development patterns, infrastructure, or additional transportation
measures or policies. Existing law requires the State Air Resources
Board to review each sustainable communities strategy or alternative
planning strategy to determine its effectiveness in meeting the
targets, and requires certain actions by the metropolitan planning
organizations to revise the strategy if it is found not to meet the
targets.
This bill would provide that upon the state board's acceptance
that the sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning
strategy, if implemented, will achieve the greenhouse gas emissions
reduction targets established by the state board, that acceptance
shall be final, and no person or entity may initiate or maintain any
judicial proceeding to review the propriety of the state board's
acceptance.
This bill would also provide that any local government entity
participating in the sustainable communities strategy or an
alternative planning strategy that subsequently determines that a
project proposed for approval within its jurisdiction is consistent
with the applicable strategy, that project shall be deemed compliant
with the requirements of AB 32 of 2006 and SB 375 of 2008, and no
person or entity may initiate or maintain any judicial proceeding to
review the propriety of the local government entity's determination
that the project is consistent with the strategy.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to appoint a
Regional Targets Advisory Committee, consisting of representatives of
various entities, to recommend factors to be considered and
methodologies to be used for setting greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets for the regions required to prepare a sustainable
communities strategy or alternative planning strategy as part of
their regional transportation plan.
This bill would add representatives of commercial builders, the
business community, and entities involved in the funding of
transportation projects to the entities to be appointed to the
committee. The bill would also require a metropolitan planning
organization preparing a sustainable communities strategy or an
alternative planning strategy to create a business advisory committee
to provide input on the potential impacts of the proposed strategy
on business activities and the economy.
Existing law generally requires transportation planning and
programming activities by the metropolitan planning organization to
be consistent with the sustainable communities strategy, with
exceptions applicable to certain transportation projects programmed
by December 31, 2011, including projects listed in a local sales tax
measure prior to December 31, 2008.
This bill would further exempt all projects funded by the Highway
Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of
2006 (Proposition 1B) and the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 regardless of the date of programming or
construction. The bill would also exempt projects listed in a local
sales tax measure prior to December 31, 2010.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provides that a
residential or mixed-use residential project that is consistent with
the use designation, density, building intensity, and applicable
policies for the project area in a sustainable community strategy or
an alternative planning strategy and that, if implemented, achieves
the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and incorporates the
mitigation measures required by an applicable prior environmental
document is exempted from the requirement to reference, describe, or
discuss growth inducing impacts or project specific or cumulative
impacts from vehicle trips generated by the project on global warming
or the regional transportation network in any findings or other
determination for an exemption, a negative declaration, a mitigated
negative declaration, a sustainable communities environmental
assessment, an environmental impact report, or addenda prepared or
adopted pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would extend the applicability of the above-referenced
CEQA exemption to any development project, including, but not limited
to, a residential or mixed-use residential project, health facility,
educational facility, retail facility, commercial job center, or
transportation project. By requiring a lead agency to determine
whether this exemption applies to additional projects, the bill would
increase the level of service provided by a local agency, thereby
imposing a state-mandated local program.
Existing law provides that the above-referenced CEQA exemption
does not relieve a project from a requirement to comply with any
conditions, exactions, or fees for the mitigation of the project's
impacts on the structure, safety, or operations of the regional
transportation network or local streets and roads.
This bill would provide that this exemption also does not relieve
a project from a requirement to comply with any conditions,
exactions, or fees for the mitigation of the project's impacts on the
structure, safety, or operations of the state highway system.
This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to resolve conflicts between the scheduling of new
housing element updates and adoption of the regional transportation
plans.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65080 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
65080. (a) Each transportation planning agency designated under
Section 29532 or 29532.1 shall prepare and adopt a regional
transportation plan directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced
regional transportation system, including, but not limited to, mass
transportation, highway, railroad, maritime, bicycle, pedestrian,
goods movement, and aviation facilities and services. The plan shall
be action-oriented and pragmatic, considering both the short-term and
long-term future, and shall present clear, concise policy guidance
to local and state officials. The regional transportation plan shall
consider factors specified in Section 134 of Title 23 of the United
States Code. Each transportation planning agency shall consider and
incorporate, as appropriate, the transportation plans of cities,
counties, districts, private organizations, and state and federal
agencies.
(b) The regional transportation plan shall be an internally
consistent document and shall include all of the following:
(1) A policy element that describes the transportation issues in
the region, identifies and quantifies regional needs, and describes
the desired short-range and long-range transportation goals, and
pragmatic objective and policy statements. The objective and policy
statements shall be consistent with the funding estimates of the
financial element. The policy element of transportation planning
agencies with populations that exceed 200,000 persons may quantify a
set of indicators including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) Measures of mobility and traffic congestion, including, but
not limited to, daily vehicle hours of delay per capita and vehicle
miles traveled per capita.
(B) Measures of road and bridge maintenance and rehabilitation
needs, including, but not limited to, roadway pavement and bridge
conditions.
(C) Measures of means of travel, including, but not limited to,
percentage share of all trips (work and nonwork) made by all of the
following:
(i) Single occupant vehicle.
(ii) Multiple occupant vehicle or carpool.
(iii) Public transit including commuter rail and intercity rail.
(iv) Walking.
(v) Bicycling.
(D) Measures of safety and security, including, but not limited
to, total injuries and fatalities assigned to each of the modes set
forth in subparagraph (C).
(E) Measures of equity and accessibility, including, but not
limited to, percentage of the population served by frequent and
reliable public transit, with a breakdown by income bracket, and
percentage of all jobs accessible by frequent and reliable public
transit service, with a breakdown by income bracket.
(F) The requirements of this section may be met utilizing existing
sources of information. No additional traffic counts, household
surveys, or other sources of data shall be required.
(2) A sustainable communities strategy prepared by each
metropolitan planning organization as follows:
(A) No later than September 30, 2010, the State Air Resources
Board shall provide each affected region with greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets for the automobile and light truck sector for 2020
and 2035, respectively.
(i) No later than January 31, 2009, the state board shall appoint
a Regional Targets Advisory Committee to recommend factors to be
considered and methodologies to be used for setting greenhouse gas
emission reduction targets for the affected regions. The committee
shall be composed of representatives of the metropolitan planning
organizations, affected air districts, the League of California
Cities, the California State Association of Counties, local
transportation agencies, and members of the public, including
homebuilders, commercial builders, the business community,
environmental organizations, planning organizations, environmental
justice organizations, affordable housing organizations,
entities involved in the funding of transportation projects,
and others. The advisory committee shall transmit a report with its
recommendations to the state board no later than September 30, 2009.
In recommending factors to be considered and methodologies to be
used, the advisory committee may consider any relevant issues,
including, but not limited to, data needs, modeling techniques,
growth forecasts, the impacts of regional jobs-housing balance on
interregional travel and greenhouse gas emissions, economic and
demographic trends, the magnitude of greenhouse gas reduction
benefits from a variety of land use and transportation strategies,
and appropriate methods to describe regional targets and to monitor
performance in attaining those targets. The state board shall
consider the report prior to setting the targets.
(ii) Prior to setting the targets for a region, the state board
shall exchange technical information with the metropolitan planning
organization and the affected air district. The metropolitan planning
organization may recommend a target for the region. The metropolitan
planning organization shall hold at least one public workshop within
the region after receipt of the report from the advisory committee.
The state board shall release draft targets for each region no later
than June 30, 2010.
(iii) In establishing these targets, the state board shall take
into account greenhouse gas emission reductions that will be achieved
by improved vehicle emission standards, changes in fuel composition,
and other measures it has approved that will reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in the affected regions, and prospective measures the state
board plans to adopt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from other
greenhouse gas emission sources as that term is defined in
subdivision (i) of Section 38505 of the Health and Safety Code and
consistent with the regulations promulgated pursuant to the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 12.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
(iv) The state board shall update the regional greenhouse gas
emission reduction targets every eight years consistent with each
metropolitan planning organization's timeframe for updating its
regional transportation plan under federal law until 2050. The state
board may revise the targets every four years based on changes in the
factors considered under clause (iii) above. The state board shall
exchange technical information with the Department of Transportation,
metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, and affected
air districts and engage in a consultative process with public and
private stakeholders prior to updating these targets.
(v) The greenhouse gas emission reduction targets may be expressed
in gross tons, tons per capita, tons per household, or in any other
metric deemed appropriate by the state board.
(B) Each metropolitan planning organization shall prepare a
sustainable communities strategy, subject to the requirements of Part
450 of Title 23 of, and Part 93 of Title 40 of, the Code of Federal
Regulations, including the requirement to utilize the most recent
planning assumptions considering local general plans and other
factors. The sustainable communities strategy shall (i) identify the
general location of uses, residential densities, and building
intensities within the region; (ii) identify areas within the region
sufficient to house all the population of the region, including all
economic segments of the population, over the course of the planning
period of the regional transportation plan taking into account net
migration into the region, population growth, household formation and
employment growth; (iii) identify areas within the region sufficient
to house an eight-year projection of the regional housing need for
the region pursuant to Section 65584; (iv) identify a transportation
network to service the transportation needs of the region; (v) gather
and consider the best practically available scientific information
regarding resource areas and farmland in the region as defined in
subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 65080.01; (vi) consider the state
housing goals specified in Sections 65580 and 65581; (vii) set forth
a forecasted development pattern for the region, which, when
integrated with the transportation network, and other transportation
measures and policies, will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from
automobiles and light trucks to achieve, if there is a feasible way
to do so, the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets approved by
the state board; and (viii) allow the regional transportation plan to
comply with Section 176 of the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
7506). Within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission, as defined by Section 66502, the Association of Bay Area
Governments shall be responsible for clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (v),
and (vi), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission shall be
responsible for clauses (iv) and (viii); and the Association of Bay
Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission shall
jointly be responsible for clause (vii).
(C) In the region served by the multicounty transportation
planning agency described in Section 130004 of the Public Utilities
Code, a subregional council of governments and the county
transportation commission may work together to propose the
sustainable communities strategy and an alternative planning
strategy, if one is prepared pursuant to subparagraph (H), for that
subregional area. The metropolitan planning organization may adopt a
framework for a subregional sustainable communities strategy or a
subregional alternative planning strategy to address the
intraregional land use, transportation, economic, air quality, and
climate policy relationships. The metropolitan planning organization
shall include the subregional sustainable communities strategy for
that subregion in the regional sustainable communities strategy to
the extent consistent with this section and federal law and approve
the subregional alternative planning strategy, if one is prepared
pursuant to subparagraph (H), for that subregional area to the extent
consistent with this section. The metropolitan planning organization
shall develop overall guidelines, create public participation plans
pursuant to subparagraph (E), ensure coordination, resolve conflicts,
make sure that the overall plan complies with applicable legal
requirements, and adopt the plan for the region.
(D) The metropolitan planning organization shall conduct at least
two informational meetings in each county within the region for
members of the board of supervisors and city councils on the
sustainable communities strategy and alternative planning strategy,
if any. The metropolitan planning organization may conduct only one
informational meeting if it is attended by representatives of the
county board of supervisors and city council members representing a
majority of the cities representing a majority of the population in
the incorporated areas of that county. Notice of the meeting shall be
sent to the clerk of the board of supervisors and to each city
clerk. The purpose of the meeting shall be to present a draft of the
sustainable communities strategy to the members of the board of
supervisors and the city council members in that county and to
solicit and consider their input and recommendations.
(E) Each metropolitan planning organization shall adopt a public
participation plan, for development of the sustainable communities
strategy and an alternative planning strategy, if any, that includes
all of the following:
(i) Outreach efforts to encourage the active participation of a
broad range of stakeholder groups in the planning process, consistent
with the agency's adopted Federal Public Participation Plan,
including, but not limited to, affordable housing advocates,
transportation advocates, neighborhood and community groups,
environmental advocates, home builder representatives, broad-based
business organizations, landowners, commercial property interests,
and homeowner associations.
(ii) Consultation with congestion management agencies,
transportation agencies, and transportation commissions.
(iii) Workshops throughout the region to provide the public with
the information and tools necessary to provide a clear understanding
of the issues and policy choices. At least one workshop shall be held
in each county in the region. For counties with a population greater
than 500,000, at least three workshops shall be held. Each workshop,
to the extent practicable, shall include urban simulation computer
modeling to create visual representations of the sustainable
communities strategy and the alternative planning strategy.
(iv) Preparation and circulation of a draft sustainable
communities strategy and an alternative planning strategy, if one is
prepared, not less than 55 days before adoption of a final regional
transportation plan.
(v) At least three public hearings on the draft sustainable
communities strategy in the regional transportation plan and
alternative planning strategy, if one is prepared. If the
metropolitan transportation organization consists of a single county,
at least two public hearings shall be held. To the maximum extent
feasible, the hearings shall be in different parts of the region to
maximize the opportunity for participation by members of the public
throughout the region.
(vi) A process for enabling members of the public to provide a
single request to receive notices, information, and updates.
(F) In preparing a sustainable communities strategy, the
metropolitan planning organization shall consider spheres of
influence that have been adopted by the local agency formation
commissions within its region.
(G) Prior to adopting a sustainable communities strategy, the
metropolitan planning organization shall quantify the reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions projected to be achieved by the sustainable
communities strategy and set forth the difference, if any, between
the amount of that reduction and the target for the region
established by the state board.
(H) If the sustainable communities strategy, prepared in
compliance with subparagraph (B) or (C), is unable to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets established by the state board, the metropolitan
planning organization shall prepare an alternative planning strategy
to the sustainable communities strategy showing how those greenhouse
gas emission targets would be achieved through alternative
development patterns, infrastructure, or additional transportation
measures or policies. The alternative planning strategy shall be a
separate document from the regional transportation plan, but it may
be adopted concurrently with the regional transportation plan. In
preparing the alternative planning strategy, the metropolitan
planning organization:
(i) Shall identify the principal impediments to achieving the
targets within the sustainable communities strategy.
(ii) May include an alternative development pattern for the region
pursuant to subparagraphs (B) to (F), inclusive.
(iii) Shall describe how the greenhouse gas emission reduction
targets would be achieved by the alternative planning strategy, and
why the development pattern, measures, and policies in the
alternative planning strategy are the most practicable choices for
achievement of the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
(iv) An alternative development pattern set forth in the
alternative planning strategy shall comply with Part 450 of Title 23
of, and Part 93 of Title 40 of, the Code of Federal Regulations,
except to the extent that compliance will prevent achievement of the
greenhouse gas emission reduction targets approved by the state
board.
(v) For purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code), an alternative planning strategy shall not constitute a land
use plan, policy, or regulation, and the inconsistency of a project
with an alternative planning strategy shall not be a consideration in
determining whether a project may have an environmental effect.
(I) (i) Prior to starting the public participation process adopted
pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 65080, the metropolitan planning organization shall submit a
description to the state board of the technical methodology it
intends to use to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from its
sustainable communities strategy and, if appropriate, its alternative
planning strategy. The state board shall respond to the metropolitan
planning organization in a timely manner with written comments about
the technical methodology, including specifically describing any
aspects of that methodology it concludes will not yield accurate
estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, and suggested remedies. The
metropolitan planning organization is encouraged to work with the
state board until the state board concludes that the technical
methodology operates accurately.
(ii) After adoption, a metropolitan planning organization shall
submit a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning
strategy, if one has been adopted, to the state board for review,
including the quantification of the greenhouse gas emission
reductions the strategy would achieve and a description of the
technical methodology used to obtain that result. Review by the state
board shall be limited to acceptance or rejection of the
metropolitan planning organization's determination that the strategy
submitted would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets established by the state board. The state board
shall complete its review within 60 days.
(iii) If the state board determines that the strategy submitted
would not, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets, the metropolitan planning organization shall
revise its strategy or adopt an alternative planning strategy, if not
previously adopted, and submit the strategy for review pursuant to
clause (ii). At a minimum, the metropolitan planning organization
must obtain state board acceptance that an alternative planning
strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets established for that region by the state board.
(J) Neither a sustainable communities strategy nor an alternative
planning strategy regulates the use of land, nor, except as provided
by subparagraph (I), shall either one be subject to any state
approval. Nothing in a sustainable communities strategy shall be
interpreted as superseding the exercise of the land use authority of
cities and counties within the region. Nothing in this section shall
be interpreted to limit the state board's authority under any other
provision of law. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
authorize the abrogation of any vested right whether created by
statute or by common law. Nothing in this section shall require a
city's or county's land use policies and regulations, including its
general plan, to be consistent with the regional transportation plan
or an alternative planning strategy. Nothing in this section requires
a metropolitan planning organization to approve a sustainable
communities strategy that would be inconsistent with Part 450 of
Title 23 of, or Part 93 of Title 40 of, the Code of Federal
Regulations and any administrative guidance under those regulations.
Nothing in this section relieves a public or private entity or any
person from compliance with any other local, state, or federal law.
(K) Nothing in this section requires projects programmed for
funding on or before December 31, 2011, to be subject to the
provisions of this paragraph if they (i) are contained in the 2007 or
2009 Federal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program ,
or (ii) are funded pursuant to Chapter
12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20) of Division 1 of Title 2, or
(iii) were specifically listed in a ballot measure prior
to December 31, 2008 2010 , approving a
sales tax increase for transportation projects. Nothing in this
section shall require a transportation sales tax authority to change
the funding allocations approved by the voters for categories of
transportation projects in a sales tax measure adopted prior to
December 31, 2010. For purposes of this subparagraph, a
transportation sales tax authority is a district, as defined in
Section 7252 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, that is authorized to
impose a sales tax for transportation purposes. Nothing is this
section or any other provision of law requires projects funded by
Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20) of Division 1 of
Title 2 or by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 to be subject to the provisions of this paragraph, regardless of
the date of programming or construction.
(L) A metropolitan planning organization, or a regional
transportation planning agency not within a metropolitan planning
organization, that is required to adopt a regional transportation
plan not less than every five years, may elect to adopt the plan not
less than every four years. This election shall be made by the board
of directors of the metropolitan planning organization or regional
transportation planning agency no later than June 1, 2009, or
thereafter 54 months prior to the statutory deadline for the adoption
of housing elements for the local jurisdictions within the region,
after a public hearing at which comments are accepted from members of
the public and representatives of cities and counties within the
region covered by the metropolitan planning organization or regional
transportation planning agency. Notice of the public hearing shall be
given to the general public and by mail to cities and counties
within the region no later than 30 days prior to the date of the
public hearing. Notice of election shall be promptly given to the
Department of Housing and Community Development. The metropolitan
planning organization or the regional transportation planning agency
shall complete its next regional transportation plan within three
years of the notice of election.
(M) Two or more of the metropolitan planning organizations for
Fresno County, Kern County, Kings County, Madera County, Merced
County, San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, and Tulare County may
work together to develop and adopt multiregional goals and policies
that may address interregional land use, transportation, economic,
air quality, and climate relationships. The participating
metropolitan planning organizations may also develop a multiregional
sustainable communities strategy, to the extent consistent with
federal law, or an alternative planning strategy for adoption by the
metropolitan planning organizations. Each participating metropolitan
planning organization shall consider any adopted multiregional goals
and policies in the development of a sustainable communities strategy
and, if applicable, an alternative planning strategy for its region.
(N) A metropolitan planning organization preparing a sustainable
communities strategy or an alternative planning strategy pursuant to
this paragraph shall create a business advisory committee to provide
input to the metropolitan planning organization on the potential
impacts on business activities and the economy of the strategy being
proposed.
(3) An action element that describes the programs and actions
necessary to implement the plan and assigns implementation
responsibilities. The action element may describe all transportation
projects proposed for development during the 20-year or greater life
of the plan. The action element shall consider congestion management
programming activities carried out within the region.
(4) (A) A financial element that summarizes the cost of plan
implementation constrained by a realistic projection of available
revenues. The financial element shall also contain recommendations
for allocation of funds. A county transportation commission created
pursuant to Section 130000 of the Public Utilities Code shall be
responsible for recommending projects to be funded with regional
improvement funds, if the project is consistent with the regional
transportation plan. The first five years of the financial element
shall be based on the five-year estimate of funds developed pursuant
to Section 14524. The financial element may recommend the development
of specified new sources of revenue, consistent with the policy
element and action element.
(B) The financial element of transportation planning agencies with
populations that exceed 200,000 persons may include a project cost
breakdown for all projects proposed for development during the
20-year life of the plan that includes total expenditures and related
percentages of total expenditures for all of the following:
(i) State highway expansion.
(ii) State highway rehabilitation, maintenance, and operations.
(iii) Local road and street expansion.
(iv) Local road and street rehabilitation, maintenance, and
operation.
(v) Mass transit, commuter rail, and intercity rail expansion.
(vi) Mass transit, commuter rail, and intercity rail
rehabilitation, maintenance, and operations.
(vii) Pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
(viii) Environmental enhancements and mitigation.
(ix) Research and planning.
(x) Other categories.
(C) The metropolitan planning organization or county
transportation agency, whichever entity is appropriate, shall
consider financial incentives for cities and counties that have
resource areas or farmland, as defined in Section 65080.01, for the
purposes of, for example, transportation investments for the
preservation and safety of the city street or county road system and
farm to market and interconnectivity transportation needs. The
metropolitan planning organization or county transportation agency,
whichever entity is appropriate, shall also consider financial
assistance for counties to address countywide service
responsibilities in counties that contribute towards the greenhouse
gas emission reduction targets by implementing policies for growth to
occur within their cities.
(c) Each transportation planning agency may also include other
factors of local significance as an element of the regional
transportation plan, including, but not limited to, issues of
mobility for specific sectors of the community, including, but not
limited to, senior citizens.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, each
transportation planning agency shall adopt and submit, every four
years, an updated regional transportation plan to the California
Transportation Commission and
the Department of Transportation. A transportation planning agency
located in a federally designated air quality attainment area or that
does not contain an urbanized area may at its option adopt and
submit a regional transportation plan every five years. When
applicable, the plan shall be consistent with federal planning and
programming requirements and shall conform to the regional
transportation plan guidelines adopted by the California
Transportation Commission. Prior to adoption of the regional
transportation plan, a public hearing shall be held after the giving
of notice of the hearing by publication in the affected county or
counties pursuant to Section 6061.
(e) This section does not relieve a person proposing a project
from a requirement to comply with any conditions, exactions, or fees
for mitigation of the project's impacts on the structure, safety, or
operations of the state highway system as established in Section 300
of the Streets and Highways Code.
SEC. 2. Section 65080.02 is added to the Government Code, to read:
65080.02. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon
the acceptance pursuant to Section 65080 by the State Air Resources
Board that the sustainable communities strategy or an alternative
planning strategy, if implemented, will achieve the greenhouse gas
emissions reduction targets established by the state board, that
acceptance by the state board shall be final and no person or entity,
private or public, may initiate or maintain any judicial proceeding
to review the propriety of the state board's acceptance.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for any local
government entity that participated in a sustainable communities
strategy or alternative planning strategy that resulted in acceptance
by the state board pursuant to Section 65080, and that subsequently
determines that a project proposed for approval within the
jurisdiction of the local government entity is consistent with the
sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy,
that project shall be deemed compliant with the requirements of
Assembly Bill 32 (Chapter 488 of the Statutes of 2006) and Senate
Bill 375 (Chapter 728 of the Statutes of 2008), and no person or
entity, private or public, may initiate or maintain any judicial
proceeding to review the propriety of the local government entity's
determination that the project is consistent with the sustainable
communities strategy or alternative planning strategy or that the
project is in compliance with Chapter 488 of the Statutes of 2006 and
Chapter 728 of the Statutes of 2008.
SEC. 3. Section 21159.28 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
21159.28. (a) If a residential or mixed-use residential
project is consistent with the applicable use
designation, density, building intensity, and applicable policies
specified for the project area in either a sustainable communities
strategy or an alternative planning strategy, for which the State Air
Resources Board pursuant to subparagraph (I) of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 65080 of the Government Code has accepted
the metropolitan planning organization's determination that the
sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning strategy
would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction
targets and if the project incorporates the mitigation measures
required by an applicable prior environmental document, then any
findings or other determinations for an exemption, a negative
declaration, a mitigated negative declaration, a sustainable
communities environmental assessment, an environmental impact report,
or addenda prepared or adopted for the project pursuant to this
division shall not be required to reference, describe, or discuss (1)
growth inducing impacts; or (2) any project specific or cumulative
impacts from cars and light-duty truck trips generated by the project
on global warming or the regional transportation network.
(b) Any An environmental impact
report prepared for a project described in subdivision (a) shall not
be required to reference, describe, or discuss a reduced
residential density alternative to address the effects of
car and light-duty truck trips generated by the project.
(c) "Project," for purposes of this section, means any
development project, including, but not limited to, a residential or
mixed-use residential project, a health facility, an educational
facility, a retail facility, a commercial job center, or a
transportation project.
(c)
(d) "Regional transportation network," for purposes of
this section, means all existing and proposed transportation system
improvements, including the state transportation system, that were
included in the transportation and air quality conformity modeling,
including congestion modeling, for the final regional transportation
plan adopted by the metropolitan planning organization, but shall not
include local streets and roads. Nothing in the foregoing relieves
any project from a requirement to comply with any conditions,
exactions, or fees for the mitigation of the project's impacts on the
structure, safety, or operations of the state highway system,
the regional transportation network , or local
streets and roads.
(d) A residential or mixed-use residential project is a project
where at least 75 percent of the total building square footage of the
project consists of residential use or a project that is a transit
priority project as defined in Section 21155.
SEC. 4. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
to resolve conflicts between the scheduling of new housing element
updates and adoption of the regional transportation plans.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.