ESP 179 quiz 3

Question 1

What is the name of the old and new transportation analysis for CEQA?

Answer 1

(old)= Level of Service / LOS
(New) = vehicles miles traveled (VMT)

Question 2

Level of service

Answer 2

Classifications of amount of speed of car traffic on a road
A/B = not impacted
C/D = less than significant
E/F = would have been potentially significant

Question 3

What are impacts like for lower density areas?

Answer 3

With less centralized locations there’s less walking, biking, and busing and instead is much more driving.

Question 4

Is road widening good?

Answer 4

Introduces more congestion and induced demand. It becomes less safe for pedestrians and bikers.

Question 5

SB 743

Answer 5

created new metric for driving analysis VMT (vehicle miles traveled)

Question 6

After when were lead agencies required to use VMT’s?

Answer 6

After July 1, 2020

Question 7

VMT

Answer 7

Focus shifts to total driving.
More total driving = greater significant impact

Question 8

Why do we want to reduce VMT?

Answer 8

helps reduce ghgs

Question 9

Complaints about VMT analysis

Answer 9

In suburban area: more projects will have significant impacts, mitigation may be impossible (But that’s kind of the point)

Question 10

Guidance for assessing impacts

Answer 10

Projects within a half mile are not considered of significant impact, residential with 15% less than VMT per capital are less than significant, projects that decrease VMT = less than significant

Question 11

Who has jurisdiction over local roads?

Answer 11

cities and counties have jurisdiction

Question 12

What are some safety features that may increase hazards?

Answer 12

Inadequate sight lines, sharp curves, inadequate separation distance between intersection, the width and location of medians, long crosswalks, trees, and etc..

Question 13

Emergency access impacts

Answer 13

Insufficient width of roadways, too steep, road closures, inaccessibility in general.

Question 14

What are the two types of numeric thresholds?

Answer 14

Projected-generated VMT: how much will a project produce (like land-use management)
Project effect on VMT: how much will project change area wide VMT (total impact)the

Question 15

How do you estimate the impact for VMT?

Answer 15

Baseline VMT estimation (setting thresholds)
Project level estimation (assessing whether or not exceed thresholds)

Question 16

VMT analysis on transportation

Answer 16

Must think about: the induced travel, the reduced perceived cost, and when the prices of driving goes down VMT goes up.

Question 17

What are the thresholds for transportation projects?

Answer 17

Screening: projects that are not expected to increase VMT (road maintenance, reduction of lanes, etc.)
Numeric threshold: net increase across the network

Question 18

How do you estimate VMT for transportation projects?

Answer 18

By using travel models or the elasticity based approach (formula)

Question 19

What are mitigations like for transportation project?

Answer 19

Usually reduce active travel, increasing parking prices, but not great for feasibility

Question 20

For land development project how do they estimate VMT?

Answer 20

Through travel demand, sketch models, and location-based assessment.

Question 21

What does mitigation for land use projects look like?

Answer 21

Much less detailed, only 104 jurisdictions have required how to estimate mitigation measures, so rural and suburban areas lack data on how applicable mitigation measures are.

Question 22

How did the move from LOS to VMT cause a paradigm shift in CA?

Answer 22

created the rethinking of transportation networks and streamlined the CEQA process to encourage in-fill developments. Also reduces GHGs.

Question 23

What are some challenges in the process of switching to VMT?

Answer 23

lack of resources and smaller rural areas are less researched.

Question 24

Who gets to decide how land gets used?

Answer 24

Local governments

Question 25

Who are the land use authorities in the coastal zone?

Answer 25

California coastal commission (CCC), prop 20, California coastal act (1976)

Question 26

What is the coastal commissions and justice goal?

Answer 26

Use its authority to ensure access to clean and healthy environments for communities that have been disproportionally overburdened by pollution for the benefit of wealthier communities.

Question 27

How are land use goals carried out?

Answer 27

Through general plans and zoning codes

Question 28

What are general plans?

Answer 28

long range goals and policies for development with a vision for future growth.

Question 29

What do general plan policies consist of?

Answer 29

They require a mis of housing types and designs but avoid locating liquor outlets near school, and business parks should include sophisticated land planning.

Question 30

What are zoning codes?

Answer 30

The implementation of the general plan, zoning = the law

Question 31

What are some rules for zoning codes?

Answer 31

can either have permitted allowable uses or conditional uses that need discretionary approval. Permitted = food, apparel, pharmacy, etc. Conditional = commercial recreation, drive through's, gas stations

Question 32

Discretionary approvals

Answer 32

Discretionary approvals are subject to CEQA, like if you must amend a general plan or if you have a conditional use permit

Question 33

Appendix G questions for land use

Answer 33

Would the project: -conflict with land use plans or regulations adopted for the purpose of avoiding environmental effects -physically divide an established community

Question 34

About how many people live in california?

Answer 34

39 million

Question 35

What do residents and employee need?

Answer 35

Commercial areas, services, places to live, public services and utilities. But buildings have not kept up with our need and growing population

Question 36

Appendix G questions for housing.

Answer 36

Would the project: -induce substantial unplanned population growth in an area -displace substantial numbers of existing people or housing, necessitating the construction of replacement housing elsewhere?

Question 37

What does low-density development do?

Answer 37

Consumes more land, higher water use, more VMT, more pollution and GHGs

Question 38

Builders remedy

Answer 38

projects with 20% affordable to lower incomes or 100% affordable to moderate income housing are supposed to bypass zoning codes and general plans. (NOT subject to CEQA)

Question 39

Whats the difference between infill and greenfield development?

Answer 39

Infill: Based in high density areas with lots of people where less driving is happening. Greenfield: Low density rural/agricultural areas where there is more driving.

Question 40

What are land use elements?

Answer 40

They tell us where things will be

Question 41

What does CEQA consider unplanned growth?

Answer 41

Direct or indirect growth from a project

Question 42

What is the RHNA?

Answer 42

The regional housing needs allocation, its an assessment used to determine the growth a city will have.