20250AB__205997AMD INTRODUCED 2026-02-18 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2026-03-19 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2026-04-22 2025 AB AMD Introduced by Assembly Member Wilson (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Carrillo, and Hoover) LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Wilson COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Aguiar-Curry COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Carrillo COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Hoover

An act to add

Section 21081.4 to the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality. environmental quality California Environmental Quality Act: transportation impacts: vehicle miles traveled: mitigation. 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 requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to prepare, develop, and transmit to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for certification and adoption proposed revisions to the CEQA implementation guidelines to establish criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts of projects within transit priority areas, and requires the criteria to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses.

CEQA requires the office to recommend potential metrics, including, among other metrics, vehicle miles traveled, to measure these transportation impacts. This bill would, except as provided, specify that a transportation project is presumed to have a less than significant transportation impact as determined by the vehicle-miles-traveled metric if at least 80% of the project lies within one or more nonmetropolitan counties. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency in its analysis of significant transportation impacts, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. MAJORITY NO YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION

Section 21081.4 is added to the Public Resources Code , to read: 21081.4. (

a) For purposes of this section, the following

definitions apply: (1) “Demonstrated evacuation need” means a project that is specifically identified as necessary to provide evacuation capacity for the affected area in an adopted local hazard mitigation plan, general plan safety element, local emergency operations plan, or other local or regional emergency evacuation plan approved by a city, county, or regional planning agency through a public process. (2) “Demonstrated safety need” means a project for which the lead agency demonstrates, through documented collision, injury, or fatality data specific to the project location, or through a risk-based or systemic safety analysis consistent with state and federal guidance, that the proposed project includes safety countermeasures that are necessary to reduce the number and severity of injuries or the number of fatalities, including reducing specific risks to vulnerable road users. (3)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>“Estimated total project cost” means the total capital construction cost of the transportation project, as estimated for purposes of the environmental review document prepared pursuant to this division.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(4)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>“Rural county” means a county with a population of less than 200,000 persons, as determined by the most recent federal decennial census or the most recent population estimates published by the Department of Finance.</xhtml:p>"?> (3) “Nonmetropolitan county” means a nonmetropolitan county designated by the Methodology for Determining Rural Status of Project Site for Applications issued by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee on January 1, 2025. (5)</xhtml:p>"?> (4) “Transportation project” means a project undertaken by a public agency that consists of the planning, design, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, expansion, or operation of a highway, road, bridge, transit facility, rail facility, bicycle or pedestrian facility, or other public transportation infrastructure. (b)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>(1)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Notwithstanding any other law, for a transportation project located within a rural county, the total cost of mitigation measures required to address a significant transportation impact as determined by the vehicle miles traveled metric developed pursuant to

Section shall not exceed percent of the estimated total project cost.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Any mitigation measure required to mitigated a significant transportation impact as determined by the vehicle miles traveled metric developed pursuant to

Section that exceeds the limitation established in paragraph (1) shall be deemed economically infeasible for purposes of this division.</xhtml:p>"?> (

b) A transportation project is presumed to have a less than significant transportation impact as determined by the vehicle-miles-traveled metric developed pursuant to

Section if at least percent of the project lies within one or more nonmetropolitan counties. (

c) Subdivision (

b) does not apply to a transportation project that adds one or more general purpose lanes to the state highway system unless there is a demonstrated safety or evacuation need for the project. (d)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>This

section does not prohibit a lead agency from approving a project with significant and unavoidable impacts pursuant to

Section 21081, if the agency adopts a statement of overriding considerations pursuant to

Section and subdivision (

b) of

Section of Title of the California Code of Regulations.</xhtml:p>"?>

SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to

Section of

Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of

Section of the Government Code.