(1) Existing law grants the legislative body of a city certain powers with respect to city streets and highways, including the power to construct and maintain those streets and highways. Existing law grants the board of supervisors of a county general supervision, management, and control of county highways and authorizes the board of supervisors to lay out, construct, improve, and maintain county highways. This bill would prohibit a city or county from holding a community input meeting to reconsider, delay, or prevent implementation of a proposed pedestrian or bicycle safety project after that project has passed 90% design, as specified. After or upon the award of a contract for, or when county or city staff, as applicable, are directed to begin, the construction of a pedestrian or bicycle safety project, the bill would prohibit the city or county from terminating the project unless the city or county makes at least one specified finding at a public meeting. If a city or county establishes a process for residents of the city or county to submit a petition to request the installation of a traffic-calming measure, the bill would prohibit the city or county from requiring the petition to contain the signatures of more than a majority of the total number of persons whose residences are located, in whole or in part, within 1,000 feet of the proposed traffic-calming measure, as specified. To the extent that the bill increases the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the Pedestrian Mall Law of 1960, authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to establish a pedestrian mall, as defined, and prohibit vehicular traffic on the mall, upon adoption of an ordinance establishing the mall. 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, until January 1, 2040, exempts from its requirements certain transportation-related projects, including, among others, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, as specified. CEQA requires, except as provided, those exempted projects to be carried out by a local agency and meet certain requirements, including certain labor requirements. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA the establishment or expansion of a pedestrian mall and would require those projects to comply with the above-described requirements applicable to those exempted CEQA projects. (3) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Planning and Zoning Law generally regulates local government zoning and approval of certain types of housing development projects. The law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a prescribed ministerial approval process if the development complies with certain procedural requirements and satisfies specified objective planning standards. The law also requires a housing development project within a specified distance of a transit-oriented development stop to be an allowed use as a transit-oriented housing development on any site zoned for residential, mixed, or commercial development, if the development complies with specified requirements, as applicable. This bill would, by July 1, 2027, require major transit cities to designate at least one regional transit hub district, as specified, and prescribe requirements for those districts, including requiring that a district make a downtown housing development an allowable use, as specified. The bill would define "downtown housing development" as a housing development project within a regional hub district that meets certain conditions, including that it meets specified labor standards. The bill would prescribe requirements for the developments, including that the developments are eligible for streamlined ministerial approval, as specified. The bill would require the California Housing Finance Agency to conduct a housing construction loan and financing study that includes specified components and deliver that study to the Legislature and specified committees by March 1, 2028, as specified. By requiring certain cities to designate regional transit hub districts and requiring streamlined ministerial approval of certain housing developments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Planning and Zoning law requires each planning agency to prepare and the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city that includes certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. The law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to notify the city, county , or city and county and authorizes the department to notify the Attorney General that the city, county, or city and county is in violation of state law if the department finds that the housing element or an amendment to the housing element does not substantially comply with these provisions or that any local government has taken an action in violation of specified laws. This bill would add a violation of the provisions described above to that list of specified laws. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law requires certain transportation planning agencies to prepare and adopt regional transportation plans directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced regional transportation system. Existing law requires a regional transportation plan to include a policy element, a sustainable communities strategy prepared by a metropolitan planning organization, an action element, and a financial element, as provided. Existing law requires those transportation planning agencies to adopt and submit every 4 years, except as provided, an updated regional transportation plan to the California Transportation Commission and the Department of Transportation. Existing law requires a sustainable communities strategy to achieve regional targets set by the State Air Resources Board for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the automobile and light truck sector in the region for 2020 and 2035, respectively, and requires the state board to update those targets every 8 years, consistent with each metropolitan planning organization's timeframe for updating its regional transportation plan, as specified. Existing law establishes certain procedural requirements for setting and updating those targets and authorizes the state board to revise the targets every 4 years based on changes in specified factors. Existing law, to the extent the sustainable communities strategy is unable to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, requires a metropolitan planning organization to prepare an alternative planning strategy to the sustainable communities strategy showing how the targets would be achieved through alternative development patterns, infrastructure, or additional transportation measures or policies. Existing law requires the state board to review each metropolitan planning organization's sustainable communities strategy and alternative planning strategy to determine whether the strategy, if implemented, would achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. This bill would revise and recast the requirements for a sustainable communities strategy, including, among other things, (A) requiring a sustainable communities strategy every 8 years with a progress report after 4 years instead of requiring a sustainable communities strategy every 4 years, (B) requiring the state board to provide each region with greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2035 and 2045, and (C) requiring the state board to hold technical workshops before providing those targets. The bill would also revise the state board's process for reviewing sustainable communities strategies and alternative planning strategies, as specified. Because the bill would expand duties of local agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires, commencing January 1, 2020, the San Diego Association of Governments to begin developing an implementation report that tracks the implementation of its most recently adopted sustainable communities strategy, as provided. Existing law requires the Sacramento Area Council of Governments to report on the regional implementation of its most recently adopted sustainable communities strategy, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to prepare the California Transportation Plan for submission to the Governor and the Legislature as a long-range planning document that incorporates various elements and is consistent with specified expressions of legislative intent. Existing law requires the plan to identify the statewide integrated multimodal transportation system needed to achieve statewide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and to attain state and national air quality standards. This bill would also require the plan to, among other things, incorporate performance measures into planning that informs delivery of transportation capital projects to help achieve the goals of the plan. The bill would, commencing with the 3rd update to the plan, revise the information that the department is required to include in the plan to include, among others, relevant performance measures within each district of the department. (4) Existing law requires certain funds appropriated by the Legislature from the Public Transportation Account to be made available for specified purposes, including, among other purposes, for the department's planning activities, mass transportation responsibilities, and assistance in regional transportation planning, as specified. This bill, for any activities within the region of a metropolitan planning organization, would require the department to limit funding to activities that are consistent with an applicable sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy, as specified. (5) Existing law creates the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system. Existing law provides for the deposit of various moneys for the program into the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account. Existing law requires funds in the account to be allocated for various purposes, including, among others, $25,000,000, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for local planning grants to encourage local and regional planning that furthers state goals, as provided. Existing law requires the department to develop a grant guide for the allocation of these grants. This bill, for areas within a metropolitan planning organization, would require the grant guide to encourage planning that furthers the goals of a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy. (6) Existing law requires the commission, under a program commonly known as the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, to allocate certain state and federal funds to infrastructure projects located on or along specified transportation corridors. Existing law establishes the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program and requires the commission to allocate state funds made available to the program to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors throughout the state. Under both programs, existing law requires projects within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization to be included in an adopted regional transportation plan that includes a sustainable communities strategy determined by the state board to achieve the region's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. For purposes of those programs, this bill would instead require, if the metropolitan planning organization has adopted an alternative planning strategy, the projects to meet prescribed requirements, including that the predominant purpose of the project is to implement a specific greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy or addresses an impediment to achieving an applicable greenhouse gas emission reduction target identified in the alternative planning strategy. (7) Existing law requires funding to be available under the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program for projects that make specific performance improvements and are part of a comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors. Existing law authorizes the department and certain regional transportation planning agencies to nominate projects for funding through the program. This bill would require funding to be available under the program for projects that, among other things, make specific performance improvements and support the implementation of a regional transportation plan. The bill would revise the requirements applicable to a project nomination under the program. The bill would require the commission to allocate program funds to projects that, among other things, are included in an adopted regional transportation plan, as specified. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires a housing development project to be an allowed use as a transit-oriented housing development if certain requirements are met. Existing law provides that these provisions do not apply to a local agency until July 1, 2026, unless the local agency takes specified actions. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes. Existing law prohibits a local government from adopting any requirement that applies to a project solely or partially on the basis that the project is seeking approval as a transit-oriented housing development, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit a local government with an existing or planned transit-oriented development stop from taking specified actions with respect to transit agencies and transit projects.
The Mills-Deddeh Transit Development Act establishes the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board, also known as the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) , governed by a 15-member board with specified powers and duties related to the operation of public transit services in the southern portion of the County of San Diego. The act authorizes MTS to impose a transactions and use tax of up to 0.5% for public transit purposes within its jurisdiction, or a portion of its jurisdiction, pursuant to the Transactions and Use Tax Law and subject to voter approval and various other requirements. This bill would also authorize those taxes to be imposed by a qualified voter initiative. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on a county elections official, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Transactions and Use Tax Law limits the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in any county to 2%. This bill would prohibit the tax rate of 0.5% described above that may be imposed by MTS or a qualified voter initiative from being considered for purposes of the combined rate limit under the Transactions and Use Tax Law. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Existing law requires the California Transportation Commission to develop guidelines and project selection criteria for the program, including guidelines with regard to project eligibility that include, among other project types, safe routes to transit projects that will encourage transit by improving biking and walking routes to mass transportation facilities and schoolbus stops. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, instead require the guidelines with regard to project eligibility to include projects for safe routes to transit projects that encourage access to transit facilities and schoolbus stops by biking and walking, as specified, and projects that will expand access to transit in underserved or rural areas. Existing law authorizes the guidelines to include incentives to maximize the potential for attracting funds other than program funds for eligible projects. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, (1) instead require the guidelines to include incentives intended to maximize the potential for attracting funds other than program funds for eligible projects in order to scale funding for larger or network-level active transportation improvements, (2) require the guidelines to include a progressive range of penalties for an applicant that failed to use previously received program funds in a timely manner, as specified, and (3) require the guidelines to include a requirement for an applicant to consult with the executive officer of a transit agency operating in a project corridor if the project will be adjacent to an existing bus, shuttle, or paratransit route, as specified.
Existing law authorizes various local governmental entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for general purposes, in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, including a requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in the county not exceed 2%. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2045, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to impose a transactions and use tax for the support of countywide transportation programs at a rate of no more than 1% that would, in combination with other transactions and use taxes, exceed the above-described combined rate limit of 2%, if the ordinance proposing the tax is approved by the voters, subject to applicable voter approval requirements, as specified. The bill would provide that a transactions and use tax rate imposed pursuant to the bill will not be considered for purposes of that combined rate limit described above. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Contra Costa.
Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which has the power of general supervision over specified state entities. Existing law requires the agency to develop and report on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish comprehensive, long-range, coordinated planning and policy formation in the matters of public interest related to the agency. This bill would establish specified goals for the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) , consistent with state law.
Existing law provides for the establishment of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, with specified powers and duties related to the operation of public transit services serving the County of Santa Cruz. Existing law, among other things, authorizes the board of directors of the district to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law by an ordinance approved by the electors voting on the measure at a special election called by the board of directors for that purpose. This bill would also authorize those special taxes to be imposed by a qualified voter initiative. The bill would require the special election for a tax measure proposed by the board of directors or a qualified voter initiative to be consolidated with a statewide general election by the board of supervisors of the County of Santa Cruz and would require the tax measure to be submitted to the voters in accordance with specified elections provisions. The bill would also require the county elections official for the County of Santa Cruz to serve as the elections official of the district for purposes of administering the ballot measure process and any election for purposes of specified provisions of law. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on a county elections official, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as a local area planning agency for the 9-county San Francisco Bay area with comprehensive regional transportation planning and other related responsibilities. Existing law establishes the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, governed by the same board that governs the commission, with jurisdiction extending throughout the boundaries of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, and the City and County of San Francisco. Existing law authorizes a retail transactions and use tax applicable to the entire district to be imposed by the board of the district or by a qualified voter initiative for a duration of 14 years, and in specified amounts, subject to voter approval at the November 3, 2026, statewide general election. Existing law establishes specified procedures for that election, including a requirement that the elections officials of the counties where the measure will appear on the ballot mutually agree to use the same letter designation for the measure. This bill would revise those election procedures by, among other things, instead requiring the measure to be identified on the ballot by the designation "Regional Transit Measure" in each county included in the district and by requiring each county elections official in the district to select, from among the submissions of proposed arguments in favor of, and against, the measure, the arguments to be included in the county voter information guide of that county, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
