NOTICE is hereby given that a Partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Section 6.4.2(h) has been prepared by the Association of Monterey Bay Area of Governments (AMBAG) of Monterey, California, and is available for public review pursuant to State of California, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines for the project listed below:
PROPOSED PROJECT: 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) and County Level Regional Transportation Plans

PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD: April 15, 2022 to May 31, 2022

PROJECT LOCATION: Project covers the three‐county region of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz Counties

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The proposed 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) is the region’s long range land use and transportation plan through 2045 for the three‐county AMBAG region, including Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties. The 2045 MTP/SCS will guide the development of the Regional and Federal Transportation Improvement Programs (RTIP and FTIP) as well as other transportation programming documents and plans throughout the three‐county region. Specifically, the 2045 MTP/SCS is intended to implement regional goals regarding future mobility needs and identify programs, actions and a plan of projects intended to address these needs consistent with adopted goals and policies. The SCS is included as a component of the 2045 MTP/SCS pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 375 and provides a framework for land use patterns that would effectively meet SB 375 greenhouse gas emission requirements.

PURPOSE OF THE PARTIALLY RECIRCULATED DRAFT EIR: In accordance with Public Resources Code Section 21092.1 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5, AMBAG has elected to recirculate a portion of the 2045 MTP/SCS Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR).

AMBAG has decided to recirculate a part of Section 6, Other Statutory Considerations, of the Draft EIR, specifically Section 6.4.2(h) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions), Impact GHG‐C‐1. This decision was made based on the fact that, after completion of the Draft EIR, AMBAG identified a clerical error indicating that the 2045 MTP/SCS would not have a cumulatively considerable contribution to a significant cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) impact related to exceeding state GHG reduction targets, when in actuality it would. Because the 2045 MTP/SCS would result in GHG emissions that have direct significant and unavoidable impacts related to exceeding state GHG reduction targets, the 2045 MTP/SCS also contributes considerably to this significant cumulative impact of GHG emissions.

Accordingly, Impact GHG‐C‐1, set forth in Section 6.4.2(h) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) of the Draft EIR, has been revised to identify the contribution of the 2045 MTP/SCS to the cumulative impact related to exceeding state GHG reduction targets as cumulatively considerable. The revisions to Impact GHG‐C‐1 also make minor clarifications to the cumulative construction and operational emissions significance conclusions to make them more clearly consistent with Draft EIR Section 4.8. Minor clarifications do not require recirculation or partial recirculation of a Draft EIR pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5. However, AMBAG in the interests of full public disclosure and involvement has elected to recirculate Section 6.4.2(h) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) that includes Impact GHG‐C‐1 for additional public review and comment.

SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: Because GHG impacts are inherently cumulative and Section 4.8 of the Draft EIR already identified significant and unavoidable GHG impacts of the 2045 MTP/SCS related to exceeding state GHG reduction targets, the revisions to Impact GHGC‐1 in Section 6 are minor clarifications; they do not represent a new or substantially revised impact, or include any new data or impact analysis not already included in the Draft EIR. Hazardous waste sites as defined by Government Code Section 65962.5 are present where 2045 MTP/SCS projects would be implemented.
WHERE PARTIALLY RECIRCULATED DRAFT EIR MAY BE REVIEWED: The Partially Recirculated Draft EIR is available for review during normal business hours at the AMBAG offices at 24580 Silver Cloud Court, Monterey, CA 93940. The Partially Recirculated Draft EIR as well as the Draft EIR are also available online at: https://ambag.org/plans/2045‐metropolitan‐transportationplan‐sustainable‐communities‐strategy. Hard copies are available by request.

Commenting on the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR, Section 6.4.2(h): Consistent with the requirements of Sections 15087 and 15088.5(d) of the State CEQA Guidelines, this Partially Recirculated Draft EIR is being made available on April 15, 2022, for public review for a period of 46 days. During this period, the general public, agencies, and organizations may submit written comments on the content of this Partially Recirculated Draft EIR only to AMBAG.

Pursuant to procedures set forth in Section 15088.5(f)(2) of the State CEQA Guidelines, reviewers are directed to limit their comments to the revised information contained in this Partially Recirculated Draft EIR. Reviewers should not resubmit comments on the Draft EIR. Comments on the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR (Section 6.4.2(h) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions), Impact GHG‐C‐1) will be responded to in the Final EIR, along with comments previously received on the Draft EIR.

SEND COMMENTS TO: AMBAG, 24580 Silver Cloud Court, Monterey, CA 93940, Attention: Heather Adamson, Director of Planning; or emailed to hadamson@ambag.org no later than 4:00 p.m. on May 31, 2022. Failure to comment will not preclude your right to testify at a future public hearing for the proposed project. For more information on the project, please contact Heather Adamson, Director of Planning, at (831) 264‐5086.