Exempts transit and bike projects from environmental review

(1)The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

CEQA includes exemptions from its environmental review requirements for numerous categories of projects, including, among others, projects for the institution or increase of passenger or commuter services on rail or highway rights-of-way already in use and projects for the institution or increase of passenger or commuter service on high-occupancy vehicle lanes already in use, as specified.

This bill would further exempt from the requirements of CEQA certain projects, including projects for the institution or increase of new bus rapid transit, bus, or light rail services on public rail or highway rights-of-way, as specified, whether or not the right-of-way is in use for public mass transit, as specified, and projects for the designation and conversion of general purpose lanes, high-occupancy toll lanes, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, or highway shoulders, as specified. The bill would additionally exempt transit prioritization projects, projects that improve customer information and wayfinding for transit riders, bicyclists, or pedestrians, projects by a public transit agency to construct or maintain infrastructure to charge or refuel zero-emission transit buses, projects carried out by a city or county to reduce minimum parking requirements, and projects for pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The bill would, except as provided, require those exempt projects to meet additional specified criteria, including that a public agency is carrying out the project and is the lead agency for the project. The bill would, except as provided, require the lead agency to certify that those projects will be carried out by a skilled and trained workforce, except as provided. For those exempted projects exceeding $100,000,000 in 2020 United States dollars, the bill, except as provided, would require the lead agency to complete and consider the results of a project business case and a racial equity analysis, as prescribed, would require the lead agency, before exempting a project from CEQA, to hold at least 3 noticed public meetings in the project area to hear and respond to public comments, would require the lead agency, in at least one of those public meetings, to review the project business case and the racial equity analysis, and would require the lead agency to conduct at least 2 noticed public meetings annually during project construction for the public to provide comments. If the lead agency determines to carry out a project exempt under the above provisions, the bill would require the lead agency to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research and the county clerk of the county in which the project is located. The bill would repeal the above-described exemptions on January 1, 2023.

(2)CEQA, until January 1, 2021, exempts from its requirements bicycle transportation plans for an urbanized area for restriping of streets and highways, bicycle parking and storage, signal timing to improve street and highway intersection operations, and related signage for bicycles, pedestrians, and vehicles under certain conditions, including the requirement that the lead agency, before determining that a project is exempt, prepare an assessment of any traffic and safety impacts of the project and include measures in the bicycle transportation plan to mitigate potential vehicular traffic impacts and bicycle and pedestrian safety impacts.

This bill would extend the above exemption until January 1, 2030. The bill also would, among other things, remove the above requirement related to traffic and safety impacts and measures.