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MOUNTAIN HOUSE NEIGHBORHOODS K AND L INITIAL STUDY 5.ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST 3.AIR QUALITY AND GREENHOUSE CTAS EMISSIONS Fi SB 375 i In September 2008,the California legislature adopted SB 375, legislation that 1) relaxes CEQA requirements for some housing projects that meet goals for reducing GHG emissions, and 2)requires the regional governing bodies in each of the state's major metropolitan areas to adopt,as part of their regional 'I transportation plan,"sustainable community strategies"that will meet the region's target for reducing GHG emissions. SB 375 creates incentives for implementing the sustainable community strategies by allocating federal transportation funds only to projects that are consistent with the emissions reductions. '— SB 375 also directs GARB to develop regional GHG emission reduction targets 9 9 to be achieved from the automobile and light truck sectors for 2020 and 2035. " CARB will determine the level of emissions produced by cars and light trucks, including SUVs, in each of California's 17 metropolitan planning areas. Emissions reduction goals for 2020 and 2035 would be assigned to each area. CARB appointed a Regional Targets Advisory Committee(RTAC)on January 23, 2009 to provide recommendations on factors to consider and methodologies ' to use in this target setting process. Local governments would then devise strategies for housing development, road- building,and other land uses to shorten travel distances, reduce vehicular travel time, and meet the new targets. If regions develop these integrated land use, Fj housing,and transportation plans, residential projects that conform to the sustainable community strategy(and therefore contribute to GHG reduction)can have a more streamlined environmental review process. E F,1_ CEQA Guidelines Amendments on Greenhouse Gases On April 13,2009,the California Office of Planning and Research(OPR) F,� submitted to the Secretary for Natural Resources its proposed amendments to the state CEQA Guidelines for GHG emissions, as required by Public Resources Code Section 21083.05(Senate Bill 97)(OPR,2009)to provide guidance to public agencies regarding the analysis and mitigation of the effects of GHG emissions in draft CEQA documents.The Natural Resources Agency adopted the CEQA Guidelines amendments with minor, non-substantial changes on December 31,2009 and transmitted the adopted amendments and the entire rulemaking file to the Office of Administrative Law(OAL).The adopted amendments became effective on March 18, 2010. The adopted amendments incorporated relatively modest changes to various portions of the existing CEQA Guidelines. Modifications address those issues F where analysis of GHG emissions may differ in some respects from more traditional CEQA analysis. Adopted amendments include a new section (15064.4)to assist lead agencies in determining the significance of the GHG impacts.This section urges lead agencies to quantify, where possible,the GHG emissions of projects. In addition to quantification,this section recommends consideration of several other (srrn i) 5-35