Public transit agencies will be able to temporarily bypass environmental reviews and fast-track projects such as bike lanes, bus routes and light rail service under a bill signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
SB288, by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, exempts “sustainable transportation projects” from the California Environmental Quality Act for the next two years. It will allow planners to skip a study of the potential effects of their projects on air quality, infrastructure and other environmental criteria, which can add months or even years to the development process and can sometimes be used to block them altogether.
Wiener said the bill, which Newsom signed Monday, would promote projects that could reduce driving and carbon emissions, while also cutting time and costs for public transit agencies that are struggling financially because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on Twitter, he called it a “big win in the fight against climate change & for economic recovery.”
Pedestrian pathways, bike-sharing facilities, bus-only lanes, charging stations for electric buses and light rail systems would all be easier for transit agencies to construct under the law. Projects would have to be located within an existing public right of way, could not increase automobile capacity or demolish affordable housing, and would have to meet heightened labor standards to qualify.
An existing exemption from the environmental review law for new bicycle lanes, plus bike parking and storage, will be extended through 2030.
Officials in San Francisco believe the law could make it easier to build the Fulton Street Safety and Transit Project, the Embarcadero Enhancement Project and the Excelsior Neighborhood Traffic Calming Project, and could be used to make permanent the temporary emergency transit lanes that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency created during the pandemic for quicker and more efficient bus routes.
Newsom signed SB288 as part of a package of legislation that he said would “directly lead to more affordable opportunities for renters and homeowners.”
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