Glyphosate, regional plan development tracking and transportation projects: TRPA governing board updates. NewsNews | May 28, 2026 TAHOE CITY, Calif. - The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) met at the Granlibakken to hear informational items on regional plan development tracking, reporting and accountability permit tracking and the regional transportation projects. Multiple public comments and the executive director status report touched on glyphosate, a controversial herbicide that TRPA previously commented on. Regional plan development tracking Ken Kasman, reporting and accountability department director, spoke on the regional plan growth management system, which limits the total amount of development allowed in the region. In 2025, the Tahoe Region experienced the largest increase in residential units since the update to the regional plan in 2012, driven by affordable housing at the Lake Tahoe Community College and Sugar Pine Village. Roughly 80% of the residential allocations have been assigned to development as 2025, with 63% residential bonus units, 49% tourist bonus units and 51% commercial floor area. Throughout the region, the city of South Lake Tahoe leads housing with nearly 15,500 residential units. Kasman noted there are restrictions on the Nevada side with restrictions on vacant lots. Kasman also spoke positively of the transferral program, saying it helped incentivize development in town centers through removing aging infrastructure that may not have best management practices. One example of this is the transferral of Motel 6 allocations to other developments. The TRPA has developed a dashboard at https://data.trpa.gov/regional-plan-tracking/ to help people better understand development happening in the basin. Several board members raised questions about the usage of residential allocations, and Cody Bass suggested some sort of separation be made around tourist accommodation units and residential units of use, especially in terms of tracking data for visitors using vacation home rentals. The meeting was halted for a medical emergency. As the item was informational, like others on the agenda, the board simply received the presentation and planned for potential further discussion during the strategic retreat tomorrow. Reporting and accountability permit tracking update Jeanne McNamara presented on permit tracking and discussing some recommendations for the program. According to her, TRPA issues hundreds of permits each year and has since the agency's inception in the 70s. After efforts to digitize their records, TRPA also chose Beacon as a tracking system, which was developed by Environmental Science Associates. Instead of emailing individual staff, people may now email the [email protected] email to submit required documents. In the future, they intend to expand tracking to other types of projects such as rental concessionaires or settlement agreements. The board briefly discussed some items such as what would appear on the tracking system. Transportation projects Nick Haven, who is with the transportation department of TRPA, gave an overview of transportation projects throughout the region. He touched on the Tahoe City Pedestrian Safety projects, the parking management throughout North Tahoe and the East Shore, the park and ride vanpool programs and the Spooner Mobility Hub. Haven made note that on the east shore, TRPA and its partners were looking to expand parking so as to reduce roadside parking, especially around Chimney Beach and Secret Cove. The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) also added more crossings across the road to access the lake on the east shore. On the south and west shores, Haven highlighted the US-50 Roadway Rehabilitation and Safety through the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and addressing parking and access at Zephyr Cove. He also touched on the Kahle Drive Complete Streets project, which will be adding sidewalks and safer roads through the Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, connecting with Stateline Avenue Complete Streets Project through the city of South Lake Tahoe. There are also improvements on US-50 through Caltrans (including the new lights and crossings, as well as the painted bike lanes), pedestrian improvements on Pioneer Trail and the Tahoe Greenway Trail, as well as transit enhancements through the TTD and Lake Link. Lastly, the Emerald Bay Shuttle Program is entering its second year after success last year, expanding its services. More information can be seen at https://transportation.laketahoeinfo.org. Haven said, "It's kind of the theme of the day: transparency and access to information." Board members praised that transparency for both TRPA and the public. Executive director report Executive director Julie Regan highlighted the Fanny Bridge ribbon cutting event, saying "Many partners are doing a series of projects that will revitalize the north shore area, provide better evacuation routes out of the west shore and improve the environment." Regan also highlighted the groundbreaking of the public safety training complex at the community college. To address the Caldor Fire Restoration Project, Regan stated, "A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the Forest Service and our firefighters. I also want to thank the community and partner agencies for bringing forward the concerns about the restoration project, particularly the potential use of herbicides within our watershed. We take these concerns seriously." Regan said that the sent a formal letter to the Forest Service requesting coordination with TRPA, the Lahontan Regional Quality Control Board and others to protect the lake's water quality. "The purpose of our letter was to request a meeting before any site-specific implementation, including herbicide use, in the area would occur." She went on to say that as far as drinking water quality sampling, they had reached out to water purveyors and the South Tahoe Public Utility District said they did not detect glyphosate in the well protection program historically. In collaboration with the Lahontan Water Board and Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, they will be taking water samples to test for glyphosate downstream of the Caldor burn area. Regan noted that this year would mark the 30th Lake Tahoe Summit, and that next month they will be addressing workplan and budget, the Tahoe Keys Marina project, legal appeals and the monopine cell tower ordinance. During public comment, many spoke up about their concerns around glyphosate, including the group Protect Tahoe, which advocated for a ban on synthetic herbicides. They believe that Tahoe could serve as a model for the rest of the country. Others pointed out that in the Tahoe Keys, courts sided with the legal challenges to herbicide usage for managing aquatic invasive species. Several people called for further action by the TRPA, including calls for class action or civil lawsuits against the U.S. Forest Service, requests to the California Environmental Protection Agency and intervention at the federal level. Sara Rich, who started a change.org petition opposing the use of glyphosate, garnered over 15,000 signatures and urged for change. Irate commenters said that they had been exposed without their knowledge to these chemicals and said the TRPA should have been the ones to bring this to the public's attention, not the other way around. Others said they would consider moving to protect their health and the health of their families, lamenting that the environment and animals would suffer the consequences of the use of the chemical. Glyphosate notably has been linked to increased risk for cancer, Parkinson's, ALS and other illnesses. It has also been shown to have adverse effects on bees (and other insects) and fungal populations in soil. Cindy Gustafson urged people to reach out to congressional and federal representatives, who would have jurisdiction over the actions of the U.S. Forest Service. Regan again emphasized the importance of the issue. "We do take these concerns seriously and we are actively engaging with the Forest Service beyond just a letter. We've already been in contact with their leadership, with the regional office and this will be going all the way to Washington D.C." Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024-26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley. Environment May 29, 2026

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