CPC-2018-6577-MSC AT CITY PLANNING COMMISSION 02/28/2019
Council Districts: All
CEQA: N/A Last Day to Act: 07-01-19
Plan Area: Citywide
PUBLIC HEARING – Completed November 28, 2018; November 29, 2018; December 4, 2018;
December 6, 2018
PROJECT SITE: Citywide
PROPOSED PROJECT:
An update to the Transportation Section of the Los Angeles CEQA Thresholds Guide to comply with State legislation (Senate Bill 743). State guidelines require all cities to update their transportation impact analysis metrics to vehicle miles traveled (VMT) before July 1, 2020. This approach prioritizes the safety and access of all street users. The State is also proposing a comprehensive update to the CEQA Guidelines. Accordingly, the Department of City Planning is updating its CEQA significance thresholds as part of the State’s 2019 update to CEQA.
DISCUSSION
Los Angeles City Planning Commission Adopts Recommendation to Change Los Angeles’ CEQA Traffic Significance Thresholds from LOS to VMT On March 11, 2019, the City Planning Commission adopted a recommendation that the city council update the city’s transportation significance thresholds under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Senate Bill 743. To evaluate a project’s potential transportation impacts, SB 743 and the implementing CEQA guidelines require local agencies to implement significance thresholds that no longer focus on measuring automobile delay and level of service (LOS) but instead focus on a project’s impacts on vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The VMT approach is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help prioritize safety and access of all street users, and promote a diversity of land uses. The city council has not yet indicated when it will formally adopt the VMT thresholds, but there will be a phase-in process for projects undergoing environmental review. Projects that have already initiated obtaining a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and have filed an application with the Department of City Planning (DCP) may analyze traffic impacts under the existing LOS thresholds. Projects that have not yet initiated an MOU with LADOT or filed an application with the DCP will need to prepare a VMT analysis. Because the applicable CEQA guidelines require that all local agencies apply the VMT threshold by July 1, 2020, the city will require any projects expected to complete the CEQA process after that date to include a VMT analysis.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
1. Recommend that the City Council determine, based on the whole of the administrative record, that the proposed resolution is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(1), CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15308, and none of the exceptions in Section 15300.2 apply;
2. Approve and recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution pursuant to
Senate Bill 743 and CEQA Guidelines, Sections 15064.3 and 15064.7(b), updating the City’s
adopted transportation thresholds;
3. Adopt the staff report as the Commission’s report on the subject;
4. Adopt the findings; and
5. Recommend that the City Council instruct the Department of City Planning and the
Department of Transportation to report back annually for two years on status and any
additional changes needed to meet the intent of Senate Bill 743.
Applicant: City of Los Angeles
Staff: Rubina Ghazarian, City Planner
rubina.ghazarian@lacity.org
(213) 978-1194
