Regional transportation plans: sustainable communities strategies.

Existing law requires certain transportation planning agencies to prepare and adopt a regional transportation plan directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced regional transportation system. Existing law requires the regional transportation plan to include, if the transportation planning agency is also a metropolitan planning organization, a sustainable communities strategy. Existing law requires the sustainable communities strategy to, among other things, identify areas within the region sufficient to house an 8-year projection of the regional housing need for the region, as specified. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board, on or before September 1, 2018, and every 4 years thereafter, to prepare a report that assesses progress made by each metropolitan planning organization in meeting the regional greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by the state board. Existing law requires each transportation planning agency to adopt and submit to the California Transportation Commission and the Department of Transportation an updated regional transportation plan every 4 or 5 years, as specified. This bill would require each sustainable communities strategy to also identify areas within the region sufficient to house an 8-year projection of the emergency shelter needs for the region, as specified. For the 5th and each subsequent update to the sustainable communities strategy, the bill would require the metropolitan planning organization to, among other things, (1) identify the region's progress in the development of housing and emergency shelters in the areas within the region that were identified, in the prior sustainable communities strategy, as sufficient to house the 8-year projection of the region's regional housing and emergency shelter needs, and (2) determine whether the development will successfully meet the 8-year projection. By imposing new requirements on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the state board's report, as described above, to include data-supported metrics that identify housing and emergency shelter developments related to the 8-year projection of the regional housing and emergency shelter needs that was assumed in the prior sustainable communities strategy, and the physical location of housing and emergency shelters identified in the most recently submitted sustainable communities strategy update. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.