AB 2059: California Environmental Quality Act: transportation impacts: vehicle miles traveled: mitigation.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

CEQA requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to prepare, develop, and transmit to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for certification and adoption proposed revisions to the CEQA implementation guidelines to establish criteria for determining the significance of transportation impacts of projects within transit priority areas, and requires the criteria to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses. CEQA requires the office to recommend potential metrics, including, among other metrics, vehicle miles traveled, to measure these transportation impacts.

This bill would require the Department of Transportation, in consultation with specified entities, to, on or before December 31, 2030, develop guidance on vehicle-miles-travel mitigation measures for transportation projects in nonmetropolitan counties, as provided. The bill would require the department to publish the guidance on its internet website and add the guidance as an addendum to the Transportation Analysis Framework and the Transportation Analysis under CEQA. The bill would specify that a transportation project for which the lead agency has issued a notice of preparation for the project’s environmental impact report on or before December 31, 2031 is presumed to have a less than significant transportation impact as determined by the vehicle-miles-traveled metric if at least 70% of the project lies within one or more nonmetropolitan counties. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency in its analysis of significant transportation impacts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 4 · Republican 1

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. September 27, 2026Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 576, Statutes of 2026.
2. September 27, 2026Approved by the Governor.
3. September 15, 2026Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
4. August 31, 2026Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 7005.).
5. August 31, 2026In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
6. August 31, 2026Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.).
7. August 26, 2026Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
8. August 25, 2026Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
9. August 17, 2026Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
10. August 13, 2026Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
11. August 13, 2026From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 13).
12. August 3, 2026In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.