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File Number: 23-606 Planning and Research (OPR) to amend the CEQA Guidelines to better align transportation impact criteria with State environmental, economic, and public health goals. SB 743 allows cities to continue to use LOS within the local development review process to inform site access and traffic operations decisions but does not allow LOS to be used to evaluate CEQA impacts or mitigations. The City of San Leandro implemented SB 743 locally by shifting to VMT based on transportation analysis for CEQA documentation after July 1, 2020. The 2035 General Plan Transportation Element envisioned the transition from LOS to VMT. The proposed General Plan Text Amendments would formalize the replacement of LOS with VMT as the criteria to be used for transportation analysis under CEQA. Analysis Proposed General Plan Amendments Staff recommends text amendments to the General Plan Transportation Element, as shown in Attachment B, to serve the following purposes: •Memorialize the switch from LOS based analysis to VMT based analysis. •Direct staff to develop, maintain and periodically update administrative guidelines to support VMT based transportation impact analysis including thresholds of significance, project screening criteria, and standardized mitigation. The administrative guidelines would consist of the information contained in Attachment C. •Support the use of LOS outside of CEQA to address a project’s effect on traffic operations at nearby intersections, access, circulation and congestion. The proposed amendments are described below: •Action T 1.3.B: Revised to allow staff to require a Local Transportation Impact Analysis (LTIA) based on LOS for development projects that may potentially affect access, circulation and congestion . •Policy T 5.2: Revised to identify VMT as the metric for evaluating transportation impacts in CEQA documents. •Action T 5.2.A: Added to direct staff to develop, maintain and periodically update local administrative guidelines supporting VMT based transportation impact analysis. •Action T 5.2.B: Revised to clarify that LOS will no longer be used for evaluating and mitigating transportation impacts. Applicable General Plan Policies The proposed amendments are consistent with the General Plan Policies listed in Attachment D. Environmental Review The proposed text amendments are exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act in accordance with, each on a separate and independent basis, CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because the text amendments do not have the potential to cause Page 2 City of San Leandro Printed on 2/23/2024