Step 1: Initial Screening
The first step is to determine if your project can be screened out. Project screening criteria are detailed in the Fresno COG SB 743 Regional Guidelines. Your project is considered less than significant to countywide VMT if it satisfies any of the following:
- The project is within 0.5 mile of a transit priority area or a high-quality transit area and is consistent with the respective jurisdiction’s General Plan, has a floor-to-area ratio (FAR) equal or greater than 0.75, does not provide more parking than what is required by the agency’s Municipal Code, or does not reduce the number of affordable residential units.
- The project involves local-serving retail space of less than 50,000 square feet.
- The project has a high level of affordable-housing units. Affordable housing units consists of low-income households, and research has shown that low-income households produce lower VMT compared to a market-rate housing unit.
- The project generates fewer than 500 average daily trips (ADT)
- The development of institutional/government and public service uses that support community health, safety, and welfare may also be screened from subsequent CEQA VMT analysis. These facilities (e.g., police stations, fire stations, government offices, utilities, public libraries, community centers, and refuse stations) would be a part of the community and, as public service, the VMT would be accounted for in the existing regional average. A decision whether a particular project can be categorized as a public service facility will be determined at the discretion of the lead agency. Similarly, any other similar use not included in the list can be approved on a case-by-case basis by the lead agency as applicable. As such, these uses would result in reduction in total VMT due to the proximity of these services within the community. Additionally, many of these facilities generate fewer than 500 ADT and/or use vehicles other than passenger cars or light-duty trucks. These other vehicle fleets are subject to regulation outside of CEQA, such as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. The local jurisdiction will have the discretion to determine whether such facilities (i.e., those that provide safety, security, and serve the local communities) can be screened out from VMT analysis.
- Local parks, daycare centers, student housing projects on or adjacent to a college/university campus, local-serving gas stations, banks, and K–12 public schools typically help in reducing commute and VMT. As such, these land use projects can be screened out from VMT analysis. Redevelopment projects that result in an equal or net reduction in VMT can be considered to have less than significant VMT impact. A net reduction in VMT would occur if the land use proposed by the project would generate less VMT than the existing land use. A model-based VMT analysis may be required on a case-by-case basis to establish that the proposed project’s total VMT is lower than the total VMT of the existing land use.
- Projects located in areas with low VMT may be screened out from further CEQA analysis. The TA acknowledges that residential and office projects that are located in areas having low VMT (which incorporate features such as density, mix of uses, and transit accessibility) tend to exhibit a similar VMT profile. This will also be applicable to other non-residential uses (non-retail) using the corresponding VMT metric for such projects (e.g., VMT per service population for industrial uses). Therefore, residential, office, industrial, or mixed-use projects that are consistent with the local jurisdiction’s General Plan and located within low VMT areas (using the Fresno COG VMT Screening Tool and applying appropriate thresholds) can be presumed to have similar low VMT profiles and could be screened out from the need for further VMT analysis. It should be noted that if a project constitutes a General Plan Amendment or Zone Change, such projects need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the respective jurisdiction to determine whether they will be eligible to be screened out if they are located within a low VMT zone. Additionally, for mixed-use project, each of the land use components need to be evaluated separately by their respective metrics to be eligible for being screened out using this criteria.