As discussed by the California Planning and Development Report, Chris Calfee, counsel at the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research, has indicated that lead agencies will no longer be able to use General Plan congestion standards to determine whether a project will result in a significant transportation impact.  This change would be the result of proposed CEQA Guidelines concerning the switch from CEQA traffic evaluations based on Level of Service standards to Vehicle Miles Traveled.

According to the Report, Calfee stated: “Once the guidelines are adopted, then those measures can’t be the basis of a significance finding under CEQA.” The Report further observes that Calfee’s statement gave “the general impression” that “the CEQA Guidelines amendments are likely to drive local government policies away from congestion and toward VMT as a standard.”