FRESNO COUNTY – As required by state and federal law, the Fresno Council of Governments has spent the last two years preparing its 2026 Regional Transportation Plan. However, components of this plan, and its corresponding Environmental Impact Report, could become a liability, according to a letter submitted to the Fresno COG Policy Board.
Sent in ahead of the policy board’s public hearing on July 29 for the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), the letter was intended to inform COG about the effects of the Measure C replacement initiative potentially not making it to the ballot this November. It was written by San Francisco-based law firm Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger on behalf of Fresno Building Healthy Communities, one of the groups backing the citizen-led initiative to replace Measure C.
“As was previously mentioned, the current Measure C sales tax expires in June of 2027, creating a serious funding gap that directly undermines the EIR,” Fresno Building Healthy Communities President and CEO Sandra Celedon said to the Fresno COG Policy Board.
Celedon said the Environmental Impact Report (EIR)’s project description explicitly assumed that Measure C would be renewed or replaced before it expires.
“It’s baked into the financial tables, the financially-constrained project list — which is required under federal law — and the assumption that local funding grows as a share of the plan over time,” Celedon said. “If that assumption fails, then the project description becomes factually inaccurate, which courts have called the fundamental building block of a legally adequate EIR.”
Although policy board members had questions about the accuracy of the letter and what it would mean for their cities and the RTP, Fresno COG Deputy Director Paul Herman said he wanted COG’s legal counsel to review it before making any public statements.
Veronica Gariby, co-director of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, another group backing the Measure C replacement, also spoke at the public hearing. She said that if Fresno COG were to certify the EIR without the initiative on the ballot, the agency could end up with a plan that is not compliant with state and federal law, which could then be subject to litigation.
“We are now just understanding the cascading impact and the ripple effects of last week’s decision and what it means for each of your cities,” Garibay said. “So the county itself is not only at risk, every single one of your cities is at risk.”
Both the letter and those who spoke encouraged Fresno COG to send a letter to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors urging them to call a special meeting before the Aug. 7 deadline and place the initiative, known as Better Roads, Safe Streets, on the November ballot. Policy Board Chair and Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez directed COG staff to do just that.
What’s an RTP?
A Regional Transportation Plan is a long-range planning document developed by Metropolitan Planning Organizations like Fresno COG. Planning agencies are required to have these plans under both state and federal law.
According to the California Department of Transportation, RTPs identify a 20-year vision for transportation priorities and investments. This is done to create regional goals, identify needs, estimate available funding and propose investments in a region’s transportation system.
The plans are developed every four or five years — depending on if a region meets air quality standards — and are done in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Caltrans and additional stakeholders. California law also requires planning agencies to create a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) alongside the RTP that identifies strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Funding in jeopardy
An RTP is also accompanied by a Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP), which is a four-year prioritized list of projects proposed to receive federal, state and local funding. According to the 2024 RTP guidelines developed by Caltrans, an FTIP is a prerequisite to receive federal funding.
Further, agencies that do not have up-to-date RTPs can lose both state and federal funding.
Fresno COG’s current RTP/SCS was adopted in July 2022. Due to nonattainment with air quality standards, the region must adopt a new RTP within a four-year timeline.
Given the concerns brought up by the letter, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer asked if the policy board could postpone review of the RTP and the certification of the EIR. However, the public review period for each planning document has already been opened, and COG staff said they are working on a tight timeline.
COG Executive Director Robert Phipps said the current documents, including the RTP/SCS, EIR and FTIP will all lapse on Sept. 30.
“Practically, I don’t know how quickly (it) would happen, but technically the funding could be restricted at that point because we are no longer in compliance with federal and state statute,” Phipps said.
The public review period for the draft RTP/SCS, EIR and FTIP is now open and each document is available on the Fresno COG website. Members of the public can submit written comments on the documents to Herman at pherman@fresnocog.org. Herman said the public review period ends on Aug. 17 and at that point, COG staff will review and respond to all comments.
The policy board does not have a meeting scheduled for August and is set to adopt the final versions of the RTP and corresponding documents at its next meeting on Sept. 24.
