OPR’s proposal is not a light-read and I predict CEQA practitioners will universally agree it will not be without controversy. At 45 pages, the proposal reads more like a whitepaper than an administrative rulemaking. For the specifics, the OPR proposal includes one new CEQA Guideline and a variety of other amendments to CEQA’s appendices. The new guideline is where the rubber meets the road. In general, the proposal includes the following:

• The amount and distance of automobile travel associated with a project will become the key metrics for CEQA transportation analyses;
• Additional considerations in CEQA transportation analyses will include the effects of a project on transit and non-motorized travel, and the safety of all travelers;
• Indirect transportation-related environmental effects (such as noise and air quality) must still be considered;
• Automobile delay will no longer be considered a potentially significant environmental effect requiring mitigation.

As is always the case with any regulation, the devil is in the details, and like most of the recent CEQA proposals, this proposal includes a lot of language. To start, “…A development project that is not exempt and that results in vehicle miles traveled greater than regional average for the land use type (e.g., residential, employment, commercial) may indicate a significant impact.” This section immediately raises a variety of questions including whether “employment” is properly classified as a land use type, and how analysis or evaluation of an employment land use would differ from analysis or evaluation of a commercial land use. This lack of clarity is a red flag for future CEQA problems and litigation.

A variety of options are given for measuring the benchmark “regional average” including per capita, per employee, per trip, per person-trip, or other appropriate measures. The draft guideline is unclear as to what might occur if you choose one standard over another.

If your project results in a net decrease in vehicle miles traveled compared to existing conditions the proposed guideline tells us it may be considered to have a less than significant transportation impact. If your project is a “land use plan” that is either consistent with a sustainable communities strategy or that achieves at least an equivalent reduction in vehicle miles traveled as projected to result from the implementation of a sustainable communities strategy, then your transportation impacts may also generally be considered less than significant. Development projects that locate within one-half mile of an existing major transit stop or a stop along an existing “high-quality” transit corridor “generally may be considered to have a less than significant transportation impact.”