CEQA Industry Update: SB 743

CEQA INDUSTRY UPDATE: SB 743

On August 6, 2014, the Office of Planning and Research (hereinafter “OPR”) published the Preliminary Discussion Draft of Updates to the CEQA Guidelines Implementing Senate Bill 743 (hereinafter “Discussion Draft”), which states, among others, that the criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts shall include metrics such as vehicle miles traveled, and level of service shall no longer be considered a significant impact on the environment. The Discussion Draft can be found here. Our previous analysis can be found here.

The Discussion Draft states OPR proposes to add a section to the CEQA guidelines providing new methods of measuring transportation impacts. Specifically, the Discussion Draft proposes that trip generation and vehicle miles traveled will be the primary considerations in a transportation analysis and that automobile delay along will no longer be considered a significant effect on the environment. The Discussion Draft, therefore, goes on to propose that mitigation measures may still be necessary to reduce noise and air impacts, but not necessarily vehicle delay.

OPR will be accepting public comments on the Discussion Draft until October 10, 2014. Comments may be submitted to CEQA.Guidelines@ceres.ca.gov. Additionally, OPR will post notices for any upcoming workshops on its website, http://www.opr.ca.gov.

As always, we will continue to monitor this bill and provide regular updates, as well as any additional legislative developments regarding CEQA. If you want more information, please feel free to contact us at dtemblador@hthglaw.com or epapathakis@hthglaw.com.

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The information in this article has been prepared by Harrison, Temblador, Hungerford & Guernsey LLP for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.