He's no longer in the movies, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still likes to engage in some drama.
As of Friday, it appeared that Schwarzenegger was ready to veto Senate Bill 375, a bill that aims to align the state's land-use policies with its fight against global warming.
Had the governor vetoed it, his environmental legacy would have been scorched, and his relationship with the bill's author – incoming Senate leader Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento – would have gone up in smoke.
But sometime between Friday and Tuesday, Schwarzenegger came to his senses. Perhaps he stopped listening to aides who were making spurious claims about SB 375. Perhaps the bill's advocates did an effective job of countering those claims. Or perhaps, amid the frenzy of vetoing and signing hundreds of bills, the governor and his top lieutenants finally had a chance to read this legislation and understand its historic significance.
More than any previous law, Steinberg's seeks to address one of California's nagging flaws – its Wild West patterns of development. Housing separated from jobs has led to traffic jams, smog, long-distance commutes, loss of valuable farmland and transit systems that can't easily build ridership.
SB 375, by itself, won't stop this kind of "dumb growth." But it will discourage it – and help create more sustainable communities – with a mix of incentives and regulatory relief.
Under the bill, the California Air Resources Board will work with each of the state's 18 metro regions on land-use strategies – similar to Sacramento's "Blueprint" – to reduce future greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.
Each region will be assigned a target for emissions reductions. If those targets are tough – CARB will decide on them in September – they will constrain the march of sprawl and reward new communities that are walkable and designed for transit. Developers will get a long-desired break from the California Environmental Quality Act, but only if their projects are aligned with a regional strategy for reducing vehicle emissions.
In signing the bill Tuesday, Schwarzenegger praised Steinberg for bringing together disparate interests for a "historic state-local partnership." He noted how the bill will help California meet its greenhouse gas rules. "Spending less time on the road is the single-most powerful way for California to reduce its carbon footprint," he said in a press release.
Unfortunately, the governor continues to press for "cleanup" changes to the bill that are unneeded. In particular, the governor wants stand-alone commercial developments to get the same relief from CEQA that smart growth housing projects would enjoy. Local governments have already zoned too much land for such retail projects (because of the tax revenue they generate). No additional incentive is needed, and Steinberg should resist pressure to immediately create one.
On the other hand, Steinberg has agreed to work with the governor on other forms of cleanup legislation, including language that would put to rest claims that SB 375 could affect the rewarding of transportation bond funds.
Steinberg should keep that commitment. This bill has generated enough drama already.
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