The Caltrans S.B. 743 Program recently published two items that may be of interest:
A bulletin describing “additionality” requirements for potential VMT mitigations – that is ways to ensure that a mitigation effort is additional to existing conditions. The memo addresses projects that may be construed as mitigation, and sets out criteria for showing how planned or programmed projects can be additional. The bulletin is not designed to discourage tiering or other methods of combining projects for assessing VMT and mitigation. The SB 743 Program is currently working with multiple stakeholders on that issue.
A “hot topic” item addressing the use of percentages in assessing VMT impacts. The short article points out that the VMT from individual projects will almost always be below 1 percent of existing VMT in a county or region. This is to be expected, as induced VMT is a function of new capacity. If we add less than 1 percent to the total of lane-miles in a region, we will induce less than 1 percent of new VMT. Environmental documents should not cite this small percentage increase as a reason to minimize concern about VMT. Mitigation efforts should target the absolute value of the induced VMT impact.
Both of these items are available on the SB 743 Program’s public web page.
Funding Opportunities
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant call-for-applications is underway. Applications are due on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 by 5 P.M., and grant announcements are anticipated in spring 2022.
