SB 375 Final Targets Adopted

On September 23, 2010, the California Air Resources Board(ARB) after hours of public testimony adopted SB 375 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets for automobiles and light trucks.

Senate Bill 375 (Steinberg, Statutes of 2008) enhances California's ability to achieve its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (AB 32) by promoting sustainable land use and transportation plans that reduce GHGs.

SB 375 requires ARB to develop regional GHG reduction targets for passenger vehicles. Today ARB established targets for 2020 and 2035 for each region covered by one of the State's 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs).

ARB adopted the following per-capita emissions reduction targets by the years 2020 and 2035:
• San Diego Region: 7 percent and 13 percent
• Sacramento Region: 7 percent and 16 percent
• Bay Area Region: 7 percent and 15 percent
• Southern California Region: placeholders of 8 percent and 13 percent, to be discussed again in February 2011
• San Joaquin Valley Region (includes eight planning organizations): 2 percent and 5 percent, with the intention of discussing higher targets in 2012
• Targets for the remaining six MPOs—Monterey Bay, Butte, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Shasta and Tahoe Basin regions—generally match or improve upon their current plans for 2020 and 2035
ARB also adopted a resolution that outlined changes or clarifications to staff recommendations, including:
• Recognition that ARB will partner with Strategic Growth Council to develop metrics for Sustainable Communities Strategy “co-benefits,” such as public health and natural resources protection benefits
• Clarification that targets are regional, and not project specific

Each participating California MPO will now prepare a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) that demonstrates how the region will meet its ARB-approved GHG reduction target through integrated land use, housing and transportation planning. Once adopted by the MPO, the SCS will be incorporated into that region's federally enforceable Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). ARB is also required to review each final SCS to determine whether it would, if implemented, achieve the GHG reduction target for its region. If the combination of measures in the SCS will not meet the region’s target, the MPO must prepare a separate Alternative Planning Strategy (APS) to meet the target. The APS is not a part of the RTP.

SB 375 also establishes incentives to encourage implementation of the SCS and APS. Developers can get relief from certain environmental review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) if their new residential and mixed-use projects are consistent with a region’s SCS (or APS) that meets the target.

Please click through for more information, today’s ARB staff presentation, and the ARB news release related to this item. For news coverage see California writing new rules on greenhouse gas, sprawl.