(1) Existing law requires certain transportation planning agencies to prepare and adopt regional transportation plans directed at achieving a coordinated and balanced regional transportation system. Existing law requires a regional transportation plan to include a policy element, a sustainable communities strategy prepared by a metropolitan planning organization, an action element, and a financial element, as provided. Existing law requires those transportation planning agencies to adopt and submit every 4 years, except as provided, an updated regional transportation plan to the California Transportation Commission and the Department of Transportation.
Existing law requires a sustainable communities strategy to achieve regional targets set by the State Air Resources Board for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the automobile and light truck sector in the region for 2020 and 2035, respectively, and requires the state board to update those targets every 8 years, consistent with each metropolitan planning organization's timeframe for updating its regional transportation plan, as specified. Existing law establishes certain procedural requirements for setting and updating those targets and authorizes the state board to revise the targets every 4 years based on changes in specified factors.
This bill would instead require, commencing with the first or 2nd regional transportation plan prepared on or after January 1, 2027, as determined by the applicable metropolitan planning organization, the regional transportation plan to include an 8-year sustainable communities strategy prepared by the metropolitan planning organization. Four years after the adoption of a sustainable communities strategy, the bill would require the metropolitan planning organization to prepare a sustainable communities strategy implementation progress report containing specified information, post the report on its internet website, and submit the report to the Strategic Growth Council. The bill would require the Strategic Growth Council to review the report at a public hearing.
This bill would instead require, no later than 2 years before the due date of a region's next sustainable communities strategy, the state board to provide the region with greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2035 and 2045, and would require the targets to reflect the combined effect of policies, regulations, and investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and be based on what is achievable for the region, as specified. The bill would require the state board to appoint a Regional Targets Advisory Committee to recommend factors and methodologies for setting those targets and to recommend how other specified state goals should be balanced in setting those targets. The bill would eliminate the authority of the state board to revise the targets every 4 years and would establish additional public participation requirements for the state board to undertake before updating those targets.
Because the bill would expand duties of local agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law, to the extent the sustainable communities strategy is unable to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, requires a metropolitan planning organization to prepare an alternative planning strategy to the sustainable communities strategy showing how the targets would be achieved through alternative development patterns, infrastructure, or additional transportation measures or policies. Existing law requires the state board to review each metropolitan planning organization's sustainable communities strategy and alternative planning strategy to determine whether the strategy, if implemented, would achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
This bill would revise the procedural requirements applicable to the state board's review of those strategies. The bill would deem a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy approved for implementation and funding alignment purposes if the state board does not take certain actions within specified time periods.
This bill would revise the requirements applicable to the preparation of an alternative planning strategy, including by requiring the metropolitan planning organization to include an analysis of an alternative development pattern for the region and, if necessary, additional infrastructure, transportation measures, or policies that could achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The bill would eliminate a requirement that an alternative development pattern be a separate document from the regional transportation plan.
(3) Existing law authorizes the commission, in cooperation with regional transportation planning agencies, to prescribe guidelines for the preparation of regional transportation plans.
This bill would require the state board to adopt or update guidelines for the preparation of sustainable communities strategies before updating the regional targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the automobile and light truck sector, as specified.
(4) Existing law requires the department to prepare the California Transportation Plan for submission to the Governor and the Legislature as a long-range planning document that incorporates various elements and is consistent with specified expressions of legislative intent. Existing law requires the plan to identify the statewide integrated multimodal transportation system needed to achieve statewide greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and to attain state and national air quality standards.
This bill would also require the plan to include a performance management plan for each district of the department that informs delivery of transportation capital projects to help achieve these results.
(5) Existing law requires certain funds appropriated by the Legislature from the Public Transportation Account to be made available for specified purposes, including, among other purposes, for the department's planning activities, mass transportation responsibilities, and assistance in regional transportation planning, as specified.
This bill, for any activities within the region of a metropolitan planning organization, would limit any activities undertaken pursuant to that provision to be limited to activities that are consistent with an applicable sustainable communities strategy.
(6) Existing law creates the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system. Existing law provides for the deposit of various moneys for the program into the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account. Existing law requires funds in the account to be allocated for various purposes, including, among others, $25,000,000, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for local planning grants to encourage local and regional planning that furthers state goals, as provided. Existing law requires the department to develop a grant guide for the allocation of these grants.
This bill, for areas within a metropolitan planning organization, would require the grant guide to encourage planning that furthers the goals of a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy.
(7) Existing law requires the commission, under a program commonly known as the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, to allocate certain state and federal funds to infrastructure projects located on or along specified transportation corridors. Existing law establishes the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program and requires the commission to allocate state funds made available to the program to projects designed to achieve a balanced set of transportation, environmental, and community access improvements within highly congested travel corridors throughout the state. Under both programs, existing law requires projects within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization to be included in an adopted regional transportation plan that includes a sustainable communities strategy determined by the state board to achieve the region's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
For purposes of those programs, this bill would instead require, if the metropolitan planning organization has adopted an alternative planning strategy, the projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(8) Existing law requires funding to be available under the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program for projects that make specific performance improvements and are part of a comprehensive corridor plan designed to reduce congestion in highly traveled corridors. Existing law authorizes the department and certain regional transportation planning agencies to nominate projects for funding through the program.
This bill would eliminate the requirement that a project be a part of a comprehensive corridor plan and would require funding to be available under the program for projects that, among other things, make specific performance improvements and support the implementation of a regional transportation plan. The bill would revise the requirements applicable to a project nomination under the program. The bill would require the commission to allocate program funds to projects after the relevant metropolitan planning organization or transportation planning agency has made a determination that a proposed project is included in the adopted regional transportation plan, as specified.
(9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Statutes affected:
SB1087: 14522 GOV, 14522 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14526.4 GOV, 14526.4 GOV, 65080 GOV, 2032 SHC, 2033.5 SHC, 65080.01 GOV, 65080.01 GOV, 2033.5 SHC, 2033.5 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2397 SHC, 2397 SHC
02/13/26 - Introduced: 65080 GOV, 2032 SHC, 2033.5 SHC
03/25/26 - Amended Senate: 14522 GOV, 14522 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14526.4 GOV, 14526.4 GOV, 65080 GOV, 2032 SHC, 2033.5 SHC, 65080.01 GOV, 65080.01 GOV, 2033.5 SHC, 2033.5 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2397 SHC, 2397 SHC
04/09/26 - Amended Senate: 14522 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14526.4 GOV, 14526.5 GOV, 14526.5 GOV, 65080 GOV, 65080.01 GOV, 2033.5 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2397 SHC
06/25/26 - Amended Assembly: 14522 GOV, 14522.1 GOV, 14526.5 GOV, 65072.2 GOV, 65072.2 GOV, 65080 GOV, 65080.01 GOV, 99315 PUC, 99315 PUC, 2033.5 SHC, 2192 SHC, 2391 SHC, 2392 SHC, 2393 SHC, 2394 SHC, 2397 SHC
SB 1087: 65080 GOV, 2032 SHC, 2033.5 SHC