The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and California EPA announced the release of the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool: CalEnviroScreen 3.0. The new screening methodology can help identify communities that are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution. CalEnviroScreen ranks each of the state’s 8,000 census tracts using data on 20 indicators related to pollution, environmental quality, and socioeconomic and public health conditions. The goal of the updated tool is to help implement a variety of state programs aimed at reducing pollution and providing healthier environment in the State’s most disadvantaged communities. Major changes include more recent data for indicators, two new indicators that reflect health and socioeconomic vulnerability to pollution, improvements in the way some indicators are calculated, additional information on pollution along the California-Mexico border, removal of “children and elderly” age indicator, and change in overall scoring methodology.
Trump Budget Threatens California Transit Projects
Several California transit projects are threatened with cuts in funding according to the Trump administration budget unveiled last week. Projects include Bay Area Caltrain electrification, Los Angeles Downtown Streetcar, Los Angeles Purple Line Phase 3 Subway, Orange County Streetcar, Sacramento Streetcar, San Bernardino Redlands Rail, San Francisco Transbay Rail Corridor, San Jose BART to San Jose, San Jose El Camino Real BRT, and San Rafael SMART Extension to Larkspur. Sacramento-area transportation officials hope to persuade Congress and the administration to maintain spending for transit and road projects when a final federal budget is approved later this year. The Trump budget proposes a 13 percent cut in transportation spending overall, including funding for roads. However, Sacramento Regional Transit chief Henry Li told the Sacramento Bee that he “suspects the Trump administration’s planned but not-yet-unveiled trillion-dollar infrastructure package may include some way to allow projects like the proposed airport light rail line to compete for funding, but probably only if the local agency is innovative in bringing some private funding into the mix.”
Los Angeles City Planning Announces Incentives for Transit-Oriented Housing
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning released guidelines for its Transit Oriented Communities and Affordable Housing Incentive Program. Mandated by Measure JJJ, an inclusionary housing measure passed in November, the program is designed to promote the development of housing within a half-mile radius of major transit stops. The guidelines grant exemption from certain code restrictions in exchange for providing on-site affordable housing provided that the meet certain criteria, including the provision of affordable housing. The program is tiered so that developments closest to transit stops receive the greatest increases in density, among other potential incentives. The program offers the option of an in-lieu fee for developments that do not include on-site affordable units. The guidelines are adopted at the discretion of the Planning Department — without City Council approval — and a project’s eligibility for incentives will be determined by the Planning Department and will not need further approval. The program will apply to nearly 100 light rail and busway stops in the city.
San Diego Landlords Face Gap in Section 8 Subsidies
A report from NBC 7 Investigates has found that the amount a Section 8 landlord can charge for rent in San Diego has increased, but the amount provided to tenants has not changed since 2009. According to San Diego Housing Commission records, over 15,000 residents in the city rely on government assistance to help pay rent. Last year, HUD increased the new federal rental rates called “Fair Market Rents,” these are calculated using Census Bureau data and can change every year. According to San Diego Housing Commission, it has approved 1,982 rent increases for Section 8 households since the new standards were released in October.
Report Details High-Value Environmental Lands in Western States
The Nature Conservancy released its Terrestrial Resilience and Regional Connectivity report. The report and its accompanying maps describe 355,000 square miles of key landscapes in the west that are most likely to sustain native species amid climate change. The maps are designed to help governments and nonprofit groups identity high-priority lands for conservation. They cover areas of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nevada, California and Utah. The data was collected from soil maps, vegetation maps, species distribution, moisture, elevation and location of roads, power lines, cities and towns.
Report Summarizes $3.4 Billion in Cap-and-Trade Spending
The California Air Resources Board and California Department of Finance release a report that tracks the progress of the cap-and-trade auction proceeds. The California Climate Investments are awarded and implemented more than $500 million in new funding last year and doubled the number of projects statewide. To date, $3.4 billion has been divided by the Legislature to 12 state agencies that have distributed $1.2 billion to projects. These projects include the port of Los Angeles as the world’s first shipping terminal to generate all its energy needs from renewable resources, ultra-clean locomotives for Metrolink, 82-unit affordable housing development in MacArthur Park neighborhood in LA, as well as grants to farmers for more water-efficient irrigation technology. Additionally, fifty percent of the $1.2 billion is providing benefits to disadvantaged communities such as installing solar panels, replacing polluting vehicles, and planting 1,000 trees in San Bernardino County.
Cap-and-Trade Auction Again Yields Disappointing Results
Continuing a trend over the past few months, California’s Cap-and-Trade February auction made significantly less than was expected. According to initial results, just 16.5 percent of the 74.8 million metric tons of emission allowances were sold at the floor prices of $13.57 per ton. Almost all the February proceeds went to California’s utilities or the Canadian province of Quebec, which offers emission allowances through California. This means the state will see only $8.2 million, rather than the nearly $600 million it was hoping for. This may stall Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2017-18 budget plan to spend $2.2 billion on climate-related programs, including $800 million on the high-speed rail.
Quick Hits & Updates
Ten days after the LA County election, Measure H climbed to 69.24 percent approval, putting it over the necessary two-thirds threshold. The measure will raise the sales tax a quarter-percent to fund homeless programs across the county. The County Registrar-Recorder was counting the last 55,000 absentee ballots, which led to the big finish. The sales tax rate will increase to 9.5 percent in July and is expected to raise $3.5 billion over a decade.
Following adoption of a program to accelerate the city’s long-term planning processes, the Los Angeles City Council approved, 10-0, an increase in developer fees to help pay for a pending ordinance requiring the city to update its community plans every six years. Updating every six years would cost an estimated $12.55 million annually. The vote would increase the General Plan Maintenance Surcharge from 2 to 7 percent, which city officials say would raise up to $5 million per year. The surcharge is placed on developers for any permit, plan check, license or application.
The 116-year old, 298- foot Angels Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles will reopen to the public by Labor Day, according to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. The "world’s shortest railway" descends from Bunker Hill to the Historic Core, but was shut down after a derailment in 2013.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin was appointed to the California Coastal Commission to fill former Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey’s seat. He is currently president of the Great Basin Land & Water, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting water quality in the Truckee River. He is also a member of the SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
California’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources found dozen of pages of violations for the Newport Banning Ranch oil field that developers want to turn into a hotel and housing development. The state directed the field operators, West Newport Oil Co. and Armstrong Petroleum Corp. to correct the problems by March 31. The violations include piles of rusted, abandoned equipment, wellhead and pipeline leaks, small chemical spills, and discarded equipment.
The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that more evidence must be presented to overturn an endangered species listing. In the case, forest landowners filed a petition to remove a subset of coho salmon arguing the listing was wrong because the fish were not native to the area and were introduced through hatcheries. To have a species delisted, new evidence to challenge the original listing decision must be shown.
Two construction firms helping to build high-speed rail structures in the Central Valley are seeking an additional $300 million meaning the easiest, most predictable section of the system jumps to $3.6 billion above current estimates. The letters from the firms argue the contracts do not cover the full scope of work and the state’s management of the project is causing delays.
The Department of Finance approved the High Speed Rail Authority’s request to spend $2.6 billion on work in the Central Valley. The decision allows the state treasurer’s office to sell a portion of the nearly $10 billion in bonds voters approved in 2008 for a bullet train. However, the first 29-mile segment of track isn’t expected to be completed until at least August 2019.
The Los Angeles City Council is considering an Affordable Housing Linkage Fee (AHLF) that would tax certain types of new residential and commercial construction to generate a fund for new affordable housing as well as refurbishing existing stock. The plan was approved by the City Planning Commission and is now heading to the City Council. The linkage fee is $5 per square foot of new office, hotel, retail, and warehouse projects and $12 per square foot for new residential construction. This fee is expected to generate between $75-$92 million each year.
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) has proposed a constitutional amendment that would lower the margin needed for local governments to pass a tax hike or bond measure from a two-thirds supermajority to 55%. Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has proposed a similar constitutional amendment to lower the threshold for passing, but only for transportation projects.
Caltrain officials are scrambling to put together a plan to make up for the $647 million in electrification money they may lose because of changes in Washington. Caltrain officials are talking to tech bosses from the Silicon Valley Leadership Group to lobby the administration and Congress when they head to Washington to talk to the Trump administration.
The Oakland Raiders announced Bank of America will replace Goldman Sachs in paying $1.9 billion for the 65,000-seat Las Vegas Stadium. March 26-29th the 32 owners will be voting on the relocation proposal and 24 owners must approve. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf presented a plan to keep the Raiders in Oakland through the creation of “one of America’s premier mixed-use sporting venues."
A survey conducted for the City of Santa Monica found 72 percent used their personal vehicle for majority of their tasks. Only 4.7 percent used bicycles, 18 percent walked, and 3 precent or 11 trips were light rail or subway. This data comes even though the city has spent significant amounts of money and resources to encourage residents to shift smaller trips to non-vehicles to easy congestion and pollution.
Tulare City Council voted, 4-0, to change the city’s general plan zoning from low density residential to community commercial as well as a CUP to include a 75-foot freeway sign. The change will allow construction of a large hotel, however residents are concerned about the compatibility with homes, a school, park and fire station.
The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved Google’s new canopied campus in North Bayshore and will begin building this year. The Charleston East project is 595,000 square feet and includes walking trails, a public park and plaza, and ground-floor retail. The company didn’t receive any pushback at the public hearing and instead residents praised the company’s community contributions from education initiatives to local environmental work.
Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance that would remove the exemption that owner-occupied buildings containing three or fewer housing units now enjoy from the county’s fair housing ordinance. Marin landlords who live in the buildings they rent may soon have to conform to a county ordinance prohibiting them from discriminating against people using Section 8 housing vouchers and other third-party housing subsidies.
Palo Alto City Council voted, 6-2, to make some zoning changes to encourage construction of accessory dwelling units. The changes also eliminate lot size requirements so these units can be built anywhere. Also allows the conversion of existing structures, such as garages, or bedrooms with a kitchenette. The council asked city staff to devise incentives for residents to build such units, especially if the units are for low-to-moderate income residents.
The High Speed Rail Authority board criticized the state’s Republican House delegation for the delay of a grant that would have benefited California’s bullet train project. The State’s 14 Republican congressmembers asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to withhold a $647 million grant, and the FTA said it would defer any action on the grant which would help pay for the $2-billion electrification of Caltrain. Democrats argue the grant was separate from the bullet train and was meant only to help Caltrain.
