Council Sponsors Legislation to Fast Track Transportation Infrastructure Projects

With billions of dollars in new federal infrastructure funding poised to pour into the Bay Area, new legislation (SB 922) introduced this week (Feb. 7) by Sen. Scott Wiener (San Francisco) that the Bay Area Council is co-sponsoring will help fast track a wide range of important and inherently sustainable transportation projects. The bill would permanently exempt bike, pedestrian, light rail and bus rapid transit projects from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), avoiding often frivolous and unmerited legal and administrative challenges that can delay projects for months or years and add significant costs.

This is an important moment to make use of transformational funds and expand our transportation infrastructure across the state quickly and decisively. Our region cannot afford for transportation projects to get bogged down in years of unnecessary and expensive administrative delays. We are proud to co-sponsor SB 922 with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and SPUR. To engage in the Council’s transportation policy work, please contact Senior Vice President Gwen Litvak.