NOTICE OF PREPARATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE 2025 METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLAN/SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES STRATEGY FOR THE SACRAMENTO REGION

INTRODUCTION

You are invited by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) to comment on the scope and content of the programmatic environmental impact report (EIR) that will be prepared for the 2025 update of the regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). You may do so electronically, during a virtual meeting, or by mail - instructions are provided below.

 

The 2025 MTP/SCS is an integrated land use and transportation strategy for the six-county region consisting of Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba, and portions of Placer and El Dorado counties (the Lake Tahoe basin in these counties is excluded from the SACOG region). Figure 1 depicts the Sacramento metropolitan planning area which is the area covered by the 2025 MTP/SCS. More information about the 2025 MTP/SCS and the update process is available at the following web site: https://www.sacog.org/planning/blueprint

 

SACOG will be the lead agency for preparation of the EIR. This notice of preparation (NOP) is being issued for the 2025 MTP/SCS EIR to responsible agencies, interested parties, and organizations. If you wish to provide comments or suggestions addressing the scope and content of the EIR, you may do so during the designated 30-day comment period, which runs from February 5, 2025, to March 7, 2025 (4:00 p.m.).

 

PROJECT LOCATION

The plan area for the proposed 2025 MTP/SCS includes El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties, exclusive of the Tahoe Basin. Located in the north San Joaquin Valley in Central California, the plan area encompasses approximately 6,000 square miles and is bounded by Colusa, Lake, Napa, and Solano counties to the west; Butte, Sierra, and Nevada counties to the north; the Lake Tahoe Basin, Plumas, and Alpine counties to the east; and Amador, San Joaquin, and Contra Costa counties to the south. The bulk of the plan area is located in the Sacramento Valley, a basin generally bounded by the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the east and the coastal ranges to the west. The eastern portion of the region – Placer County, El Dorado County, and Eastern Yuba County – is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills. The western portion of the region, in Yolo County, marks the eastern edge of the coastal mountain ranges. North to south, the plan area spans from the lower Sacramento Valley in northern Sutter and Yuba counties to the Sacramento River Delta in southern Sacramento County. In the valley portion of the plan area – Sacramento County, western Placer County, western Yuba County, Sutter County, and eastern Yolo County – the topography is generally flat, with the exception of the Sutter Buttes mountain range in Sutter County. Urban uses in the 2025 MTP/SCS plan area are primarily concentrated in an urban core in northern and central Sacramento County, eastern Yolo County, southwestern Placer County, and western El Dorado County, with smaller urban areas separated from this core and each other by rural lands.

 

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION

Designated by the Federal government as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the region, SACOG oversees the MTP, which is updated every 4 years in collaboration with local governments. The MTP is a long-range (at least 20-year) comprehensive plan for the region’s multi-modal transportation system that is required for the region to qualify for some federal and state transportation funding for public transit, streets/roads, and bicycle and pedestrian improvements. SACOG’s last adopted MTP/SCS was published in 2020 and has a 2040 planning horizon.

 

The 2025 MTP/SCS aims to achieve various federal, state, regional, and local policy objectives related to sustainable development, transportation, and GHG emission reduction while considering financial, growth, and regulatory constraints. The plan is built on extensive data analysis, public outreach, and collaboration with local agencies and experts while being grounded in the board-adopted Triple Bottom Line framework, emphasizing a balanced approach to equity, economy, and environment. Over the past year, SACOG has laid the groundwork for the update, culminating in the adoption of a set of land use assumptions for the plan in June 2024 and a transportation investment strategy that complements the adopted land use assumptions in November 2024.

 

Under California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, or Senate Bill (SB) 375 (Statutes of 2008, Chapter 728), SACOG is required to adopt an SCS as part of every MTP that aligns transportation, housing, and land use decisions to help achieve the per-capita reduction targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger vehicles that are set by the California Air Resources Board. For each plan update, SACOG prepares a projection for the amount of regional growth in population, employment, and households the region can expect over the life of the plan. For the 2025 MTP/SCS, the forecast of growth (called the regional growth projections) was adopted by the SACOG board in 2022 and anticipates that the region will grow by nearly 600,000 people, and will add just over 260,000 new jobs, and 278,000 new homes.

 

The 2025 MTP/SCS is designed to achieve the regional SB 375 GHG target while prioritizing maintenance and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure. It integrates smart land use planning principles with a diverse and efficient transportation network. The plan identifies targeted transportation investments, including new capital improvements (e.g., highways, roads, bridges, and light rail), policies such as roadway pricing strategies (e.g., tolling and mileage fees), and multimodal benefits aimed at connecting housing to jobs, managing congestion, and addressing forecasted travel volumes.

 

SCOPING PROCESS

In accordance with Section 15082 of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, the purpose of this NOP is to seek comments about the scope and content of the EIR that will be prepared analyzing this update of the MTP/SCS. Comments and suggestions as to the appropriate scope of analysis in the EIR, potential mitigation measures, and alternatives are invited from all interested parties. If you represent an agency that may use the EIR for tiering purposes, SACOG is particularly interested in learning what information may be helpful for such tiering in connection with your project-specific environmental review.

 

PROBABLE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND SCOPE OF THE EIR

The environmental analysis presented in the EIR will describe the existing conditions in the plan area. Relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including applicable General Plan policies from local jurisdictions, will be summarized. The methods of analysis and standards of significance used to determine projected-related impacts will be described in each of the environmental analysis sections of the EIR, including any assumptions that are important to understand the conclusions of the analysis. The EIR will also evaluate potential cumulative effects and potential growth-inducing impacts of the proposed project and compare impacts of the project to a reasonable range of project alternatives. Based on available information and the scope of effects that could result from implementation of the 2025 MTP/SCS, SACOG anticipates that the following resource areas will be evaluated in the EIR:

• Aesthetic

• Agriculture Resources/Forestry Resources

• Air Quality

• Biological Resources

• Cultural Resources

• Energy

• Geology/Soils

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Hazards and Hazardous Materials

• Hydrology/Water Quality

• Land Use/Planning

• Mineral Resources

• Noise

• Population/Housing

• Public Services

• Recreation

• Transportation

• Tribal Cultural Resources

• Utilities/Service Systems

• Wildfire

 

 

SCOPING MEETINGS

Two virtual public scoping meetings will be held via Zoom to receive comments on the appropriate scope and content of the EIR. These meetings will take place on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 11:30 to 1:00 and Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Thursday, February 27, 2025