First Measure to Link Transportation Funding to Urban Planning

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a revolutionary bill has just passed both houses of the California legislature and is on its way to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk for his signature or veto. The Bill, Senate Bill 375, intends to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by rewarding cities and counties that prevent sprawl and improve public transportation.

The bill requires California's regional planning authorities to develop plans to meet a set of emission reduction goals in order to receive transportation funding. Builders who construct projects closer to public transportation will be graced with a lighter regulatory hand (e.g. reduced requirements for environmental studies).

There were a number of concerns, including an increase in the cost of housing, the loss of a city's right to determine the use of its land, and a fear that the law would impede California's growth, but the bill was ultimately supported by environmentalists, local governments, and builders.

Proponents hope that this bill will be a model used by other states to reduce the spread of sprawl, increase transportation-minded development, and lower carbon-dioxide emissions.

There is no word yet on whether the Governor will sign the bill into law.