This question may be more important to some agencies than what SB 743 does. This statement is particularly true for cities or counties that feel that continued use of vehicle LOS is an important part of their transportation analysis process. In these communities, vehicle LOS analysis in CEQA documents has achieved the desired outcomes of the jurisdiction and they want to know if they will have to change their process due to SB 743. While a definitive answer won’t be possible until the final CEQA Guidelines are adopted, we do know that SB 743 did not change laws related to general plans, police powers granted to cities and counties by the State constitution, the subdivision map act, or traffic impact fee programs. As such, no changes have occurred for jurisdictions wanting to use vehicle LOS to size roadways in their general plan or determine nexus relationships for their impact fee programs. They can also continue to condition projects to build transportation improvements through the entitlement process in a variety of ways, such as using general plan consistency findings.

If anything, the potential loss of vehicle LOS (and similar measures) in CEQA could reinforce the importance of general plans and supporting implementation methods (such as impact fee programs) as the primary means for defining a jurisdiction’s policy approach to transportation. As the importance of general plans increases, it is worth noting that many general plan circulation elements were developed without consideration of capital and O&M financial constraints. These constraints often become apparent in subsequent project-level environmental reviews, frequently leading to significant and unavoidable impact findings because the jurisdiction does not have financial mechanisms that generate sufficient funding to build all of the circulation element improvements. Jurisdictions may also find themselves in this situation if the traffic impact fee necessary to fully fund the circulation element exceeds a reasonable level that could be supported within the development marketplace.

Ideally, the general plan would establish vehicle LOS expectations (and commensurate development levels) based on the amount of infrastructure the jurisdiction could afford to build, operate, and maintain. Development projects consistent with this type of general plan would require little (or no) vehicle LOS impact analysis, but instead could focus on issues such as multi-modal site access and parking provision to comply with applicable design standards. This could substantially reduce the effort required in typical CEQA transportation impact studies. In order to achieve this outcome, jurisdictions may need additional resources to update their general plans and transportation financing programs, which is an issue for further discussion.