BILL ANALYSIS �
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
AB 2008
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