The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
The Legislature reaffirms that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) established longstanding legal requirements for the imposition of mitigation measures on projects.
Specifically, CEQA requires that mitigation measures:
Be feasible, meaning capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable timeframe, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors.
Be roughly proportional to the impacts of the project.
Be supported by substantial evidence demonstrating a reasonable relationship, or “nexus,” between the mitigation and the impact it is intended to address.
The Legislature further reaffirms that mitigation frameworks, including those aimed at addressing cumulative impacts such as vehicle miles traveled, must comply with these longstanding requirements that provide legal certainty, and equitable treatment of projects.
Guidelines shall be developed in a manner that reflects and upholds these established principles.
The Legislature further finds that existing guidance has been established in CEQA guidelines and subsequent technical advisories for addressing transportation impacts under CEQA. Impact analysis under CEQA is a dynamic process, continually informed by advancements in research, data, and practice. Currently, the Department of Transportation is developing updated methodologies for analyzing transportation impacts in rural settings, which are expected to be published on or before July 1, 2026. It is the intent of the Legislature that these ongoing efforts be integrated into relevant guidance for addressing transportation impacts that promote more effective practices statewide.
It is the intent of Legislature that lead agencies ensure that vehicle miles traveled mitigation is achieved through a balanced approach by ensuring a project invests in multiple types of mitigation measures when working to reduce the vehicle miles traveled impacts of a project.
It is the intent of the Legislature that this program serve as one optional strategy that a project applicant may use to mitigate a significant transportation impact under CEQA. The program established pursuant Section 21080.44 is intended to facilitate an existing category of mitigation, specifically, the development of vehicle miles traveled-efficient affordable housing or related infrastructure, by providing a streamlined and accessible mechanism through which applicants can contribute to eligible mitigation projects. This approach is consistent with established practices already used at the local and regional level across the state and provides project applicants an additional tool to support their mitigation efforts.
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