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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-27 - AGENDA REPORTS - RESO ELECTING TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA CMP (2)Agenda Item: 5 DATE: August 27, 2019 SUBJECT: RESOLUTION ELECTING TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM DEPARTMENT: Public Works PRESENTER: Ian Pari RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council adopt a resolution electing to be exempt from the California Congestion Management Program. BACKGROUND The State of California mandated the Congestion Management Program (CMP) process as part of a 1990 legislative package to implement Proposition 111. This led to the increase in state gas tax from 9 cents to 18 cents. The intent of the CMP was to tie the appropriation of new gas tax revenues to congestion reduction efforts by improving land use and transportation coordination. While the CMP requirement was one of the pioneering efforts to conduct performance -based planning, the approach has become antiquated and expensive. CMP primarily uses a level of service performance metric which is a measurement of vehicle delay that is inconsistent with new state -designated performance measures, such as vehicle miles traveled, enacted by Senate Bill 743 for California Environment Quality Act transportation analysis. Pursuant to California Government Code §65088.3, jurisdictions within a county may elect to be exempt from the CMP requirement without penalty if a majority of local jurisdictions, representing a majority of the county's population, formally adopts resolutions requesting the same. Given that the CMP has become increasingly inconsistent with regional, state, and federal planning processes and requirements, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board adopted the recommendation to initiate the process to gauge the interest of local jurisdictions and other stakeholders in electing to be exempt from the state CMP requirements. Page 1 No gas tax funding, grant funding, or any type of state or local funding will be withheld from the City as a result of electing to be exempt from the CMP. See the attached Metro Board report for more information as to their approved recommendation. If a majority of the jurisdictions elect to be exempt, then all jurisdictions within Los Angeles County (County) will act as a collective. Upon receipt of formally -adopted resolutions from a majority of local jurisdictions representing a majority of the population, Metro will notify the State Controller, Caltrans, and Southern California Association of Governments that the County has elected to be exempt from the CMP in accordance with statutory requirements. To date, 53 cities within the County have adopted resolutions, including the cities of Lancaster, Los Angeles, Palmdale, and Pasadena. ALTERNATIVE ACTION Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact associated with the recommended action. ATTACHMENTS Resolution Metro Board Report - June 20, 2018 Page 2 RESOLUTION NO. 19- RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA, ELECTING TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM WHEREAS, in 1990 the voters of California passed Proposition 111 and the requirement that urbanized counties develop and implement a Congestion Management Program (CMP); and WHEREAS, the legislature and governor established the specific requirements of the CMP by passage of legislation which was a companion to Proposition 111 and is encoded in California Government Code Sections 65088 to 65089.10; and WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has been designated as the congestion management agency responsible for Los Angeles County's CMP; and WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 65089.3 allows urbanized counties to be exempt from the CMP based on resolutions passed by local jurisdictions representing a majority of a county's jurisdiction with a majority of the county's population; and WHEREAS, the CMP is outdated and increasingly out of step with current regional, state, and federal planning processes and requirements, including new state requirements for transportation performance measures related to greenhouse gas reduction; and WHEREAS, on June 20, 2018, the Metro Board of Directors directed Metro staff to work with local jurisdictions to prepare the necessary resolutions to exempt Los Angeles County from the CMP. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita, California, does hereby resolve as follows: SECTION 1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct, and the City Council hereby so finds and determines. SECTION 2. That the City of Santa Clarita, California, hereby elects to be exempt from the CMP as described in California Government Code Sections 65088 to 65089.10. SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution. Page 1 of 2 PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 271h day of August 2019. MAYOR ATTEST: CITY CLERK DATE: STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss. CITY OF SANTA CLARITA ) I, Mary Cusick, City Clerk of the City of Santa Clarita do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution 19- was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 271h day of August 2019, by the following vote: AYES: COUNCIL,MEMBERS: NOES: COUNCIL,MEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCIL,MEMBERS: CITY CLERK Page 2 of 2 0 Metro Metro Board Report Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority One Gateway Plaza 3rd Floor Board Room Los Angeles, CA File #: 2018-0122, File Type: Program Agenda Number: 22 PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE JUNE 20, 2018 SUBJECT: CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OPT -OUT ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION APPROVE initiating the process for Metro and all Los Angeles County local jurisdictions to opt out of the California Congestion Management Program (CMP), in accordance with State CMP statute. ISSUE Metro is required by state law to prepare and update on a biennial basis a Congestion Management Program (CMP) for the County of Los Angeles. The CMP process was established as part of a 199C legislative package to implement Proposition 111, which increased the state gas tax from 9 to 18 cents. The intent of the CMP was to tie the appropriation of new gas tax revenues to congestion reduction efforts by improving land use/transportation coordination. While the CMP requirement was one of the pioneering efforts to conduct performance -based planning, the approach has become antiquated and expensive. CMP primarily uses a level of service (LOS) performance metric which is a measurement of vehicle delay that is inconsistent with new state -designated performance measures, such as vehicle miles travelled (VMT), enacted by SB 743 for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) transportation analysis. Pursuant to California Government Code §65088.3 (Attachment A, C.G.C. §65000 et seq.), jurisdictions within a county may opt out of the CMP requirement without penalty, if a majority of local jurisdictions representing a majority of the county's population formally adopt resolutions requesting to opt out of the program. Given that the CMP has become increasingly out of step with regional, state, and federal planning processes and requirements, staff recommends that Metro initiate the process to gauge the interest of local jurisdictions and other stakeholders in opting out of State CMP requirements. DISCUSSION Under the CMP, the 88 incorporated cities plus the County of Los Angeles share various statutory responsibilities, including monitoring traffic count locations on select arterials, implementing transportation improvements, adoption of travel demand management and land use ordinances, and mitigating congestion impacts. 00 0 N O N r_ 0 Q m L 0 m 0 L a� a� E U M Q Metro Pagel of 4 Printed on 6/21/2018 File #: 2018-0122, File Type: Program Agenda Number: 22. The framework for the CMP is firmly grounded in the idea that congestion can be mitigated by continuing to add capacity to roadways. This is evidenced by the primary metric that drives the program which is LOS. Recent state laws and rulemaking, namely AB 32 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006), SB 375 (Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008), SB 743 (Environmental quality: transit oriented infill projects, judicial review streamlining for environmental leadership development projects) and SB 32 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006), all move away from LOS directly or indirectly. Therefore, the CMP contradicts these key state policies and Metro's own efforts to promote a more sustainable and equitable region. A number of counties have elected to opt out of the CMP over the years including San Diego, Fresno, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties. The reasons for doing so are varied but generally concern redundant, expensive, administrative processes that come with great expense, little to no congestion benefit and continue to mandate the use of LOS to determine roadway deficiencies. The passage of Measure M and the update of the Long Range Transportation Plan present Metro with an opportunity to consider new ways to measure transportation system performance, measures that complement efforts to combat climate change, support sustainable, vibrant communities and improve mobility. For Metro and cities alike, the continued administration of the CMP is a distraction at best or an impediment at worst to improving our transportation system. Over the last several years, the CMP has become increasingly outdated in relation to the direction of Metro's planning process and regional, state, and federal transportation planning requirements. Additional reasons to opt out of the CMP include: Relieves Metro and local jurisdictions of a mandate to use a single measure (LOS) to determine roadway deficiencies. Eliminates the risk to local jurisdictions of losing their state gas tax funds or being ineligible to receive state and federal Transportation Improvement Program funds, as a result of not being in compliance with CMP requirements or performance standards. Eliminates the administrative and financial burden to cities associated with the preparation of documents to demonstrate conformance with the CMP. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED Metro could continue to implement the CMP as adopted by the Board or look to update the program. We do not recommend this as we have examined multiple ways to adapt state legislative requirements, but we have been unable to fit Los Angeles county mobility complexities to statutory requirements in a manner that achieves consensus of our stakeholders over the twenty -five-year life of the program. Opting out of the CMP gives Metro the flexibility to implement mobility improvements through the programs and projects in the Long Range Transportation Plan adopted by the Board, while furthering improvements to transportation capacity, choice and cost-effectiveness. DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT This Board action will have no adverse impact on safety standards for Metro. 00 0 N O N 0 Q m L 0 m 0 a� a� E U M Q Metro Page 2 of 4 Printed on 6/21/2018 File #: 2018-0122, File Type: Program FINANCIAL IMPACT Agenda Number: 22. There is no impact to the current fiscal year budget, nor any anticipated impact to future budgets or the continued flow of state gas tax revenues to local jurisdictions. The recommended action may have a positive impact on Metro and local jurisdiction budgets in future years by eliminating the annual costs associated with implementing the CMP. Annual costs to local agencies vary based on size but generally require a staff commitment of 25-60 hours per jurisdiction plus the cost of conducting traffic counts at the 164 CMP intersections at a cost of approximately $250 per intersection. For Metro the annual burden of administering the CMP is approximately 1.2 Full Time Equivalents (FTE). NEXT STEPS Upon Board approval, staff will proceed in consulting with local jurisdictions and other interested stakeholders as follows: • Consult with the Metro Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) regarding opting out of the CMP and conduct a workshop of our stakeholders to receive input on the interest in opting out of the CMP. • With the concurrence of the TAC and workshop participants, request local jurisdictions to consider adopting draft resolution (Attachment B) to opt out of the program. • Upon receipt of formally -adopted resolutions from a majority of local jurisdictions representing a majority of the population, notify the State Controller, Caltrans, and SCAG that Los Angeles County has opted out of the CMP in accordance with statutory requirements. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A - CMP legislation Attachment B - Draft Resolution to Opt Out of the Congestion Management Program in Los Angeles County Prepared by: Paul Backstrom, Manager, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-2183 Mark Yamarone, DEO, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 418-3452 Kalieh Honish, EO, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-7109 Manjeet Ranu, SEO, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 418-3157 Reviewed by: Therese W. McMillan, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-7077 Metro Page 3 of 4 Printed on 6/21/2018 File #: 2018-0122, File Type: Program Phillip A. Washington Chief Executive Officer Agenda Number: 22. Metro Page 4 of 4 Printed on 6/21/2018