METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter
101 Eighth Street
Oakland, CA 94607-4700
Tel.: 510.464.7700
TTY/TTD: 510.464.7769
Fax: 510.464.7848
e-mail: info@mtc.ca.gov
web: www.mtc.ca.gov


August 6, 1999

Ms. Kathleen Walsh
General Counsel
Air Resources Board
2020 L Street
P0 Box 2815
Sacramento, CA 95812

RE: Transportation Control Measures: Your Letter Dated June 28, 1999, Received July 29 1999

Dear Ms. Walsh:

This is in response to your letter regarding the possibility of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) implementing additional four transportation control measures (TCMs).

The quick and simple response regarding to your question about whether MTC has the legal authority to implement the four proposed TCMs is that the TCMs involve land use decisions and MTC has no direct authority over land use. That simple answer is mitigated by MTC's ability to withhold approval of federal, state and regional funds subject to its review or allocation authority for any project MTC chooses to exclude from its Regional Transportation Plan. However, that exercise of denial authority cannot be imposed arbitrarily on locally affected jurisdictions, which often regard transportation funds in the context of a return-to-source entitlement. Perhaps the best summary of MTC's role and responsibilities regarding transportation funding and land use is that contained in a memorandum prepared in 1996 by then-MTC Deputy Executive Director Bill Hem to MTC's Citizen's Advisory Council. The memorandum was prepared with the concurrence of my office.

I suggest that rather than for me to go into more detail over each of the proposed TCMs, that MTC's planning staff meet at your convenience with ARB staff to review the proposed TCMs in greater detail.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Francis Chin
General Counsel

CC: Robert Jenne, Senior Staff Counsel, ARB