HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 1.A 07/09/2018T;YWA
DATE: July 9, 2018
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council a d
Planning Commissioners, through City Manage
FROM: Heather Hines, Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Workshop Regarding Senate Bill 743 and Transition to Vehicle Miles Traveled
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council and the Planning Commission conduct a joint workshop
to receive the Fehr & Peers presentation, discuss the implications of Senate Bill 743 and the
transition to Vehicle Miles Traveled, and provide comments as appropriate
BACKGROUND
In 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 743 into law. SB 743 requires
changes in transportation impact analysis as part of CEQA compliance. More specifically, SB
743 requires elimination of level of service (LOS) analysis and requires use of Vehicle Miles
Traveled (VMT) as the metric for determining the significant transportation impacts of a project.
This shift in methodology moves away from looking at traffic congestion as a basis for
evaluating impacts and instead moves to a more holistic analysis of VMT to look at a project's
effect on overall travel. SB 743 requires impacts to transportation network performance to be
viewed through a filter that promotes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the
development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses.
In 2017, the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) prepared draft CEQA
Guidelines to implement SB 743 and those guidelines are currently under review by the
California Natural Resources Agency. OPR also prepared a Technical Advisory that includes
recommendations for how to assess VMT, thresholds for significance, and potential mitigation
measures to guide the VMT transition.
Once the "rulemaking" process is completed, local agencies will have until January 1, 2020 to
implement the VMT transition.
The City of Petaluma submitted a grant application in fall of 2017 to fund the consultant work
necessary to develop thresholds and methodology for the transition to VMT (approximately
$180,000). The City has since been notified that its grant application was not approved. The
subsequent grant cycle opens in August of 2018 with awards announced in early 2019.
However, given the January 1, 2020 deadline for implementation there are significant challenges
to completing the consultant work if the City waits for grant funding to get started. It will most
likely be recommended that the City Council approve funding for the necessary consultant work.
DISCUSSION
The City has contracted with Fehr & Peers to provide a presentation on VMT methodology and
thresholds for compliance with SB 743. Their presentation will introduce the City Council and
Planning Commission to background information on SB 743 and VMT as a transportation
metric, including the latest guidance from OPR, and set the stage for the work that will be
necessary over the next 18 months.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Fehr & Peers PowerPoint Presentation