SPUR, a planning think tank, found that California’s sustainable transportation projects face years of expensive and time-consuming analysis. They also face lawsuits based on the Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of the state. Report Jeff Elder and Adam Shanks. The law, which required developers and agencies disclose potential environmental impacts of proposed projects, is under increasing criticism. It also allows for lawsuits unrelated the environment, such as the one that almost led to UC Berkeley cancelling thousands of undergraduate applications.
The SPUR report evaluates the impact of SB 288, a 2020 bill that temporarily exempted green transportation projects from CEQA. This prevented head-scratchers such as San Francisco’s four-year-long pause on bike lanes installation while it navigated environmental lawsuits. Transit agencies across the state are concerned that SB 288 will soon expire and they will once again be subjected to such lawsuits.
Scott Wiener’s new bill would extend SB 288 to continue exempting light rail, pedestrian, bus, and bicycle projects until 2030. The SPUR report identified 15 projects that received SB 288, seven being in San Francisco. They include the transit-only lanes along Seventh and Eighth streets of SoMa, the Evans and Williams bicycle lanes in Bayview, and a road diet to improve safety at South Van Ness Avenue.
Wiener claims that even though only 1% of projects are subject to CEQA lawsuits (which is a small percentage), the constant fear and threat from lawsuits makes CEQA more costly and time-consuming.