Communities for a Better Environment v. Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Communities for a Better Environment and Sierra Club reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments to resolve their CEQA challenge to Plan Bay Area. Respondents agreed to undertake certain analyses in the next update to the plan, including disclosing total greenhouse gas emissions both with and without the implementation of state-wide emissions reduction programs, studying the effects of the creation of express lanes on greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled, and preparing a Freight Emissions Reduction Action Plan that will study options for zero-emissions rail and truck technologies.

Communities for a Better Environment and the Sierra Club commenced a challenge to the adoption of Plan Bay Area by the Bay Area’s regional transportation and land use planning agencies (the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)). Plan Bay Area is a regional land use and transportation plan intended to meet state-mandated goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. A primary allegation of the lawsuit was that Plan Bay Area did not do enough to reduce reliance on cars and trucks and therefore failed to make the required greenhouse gas reductions. The verified petition alleged, among other things, that the EIR for the Plan misleadingly indicated that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulted from the Plan when the reductions were in fact attributable to state-level programs. The verified petition also alleged that the EIR for the Plan failed to provide adequate information about the feasibility and implementation of mitigation measures to combat the effects of development in areas vulnerable to rising sea levels.