Featured photo: off-road motorcycle riding by Nima Mot / Unsplash. Illustrative only; this is not Carnegie SVRA or the October 2026 public process.
LIVERMORE NEWS | ALAMEDA AND SAN JOAQUIN COUNTIES — OCTOBER 19, 2026. Residents, off-road riders, environmental groups and other interested members of the public have until 5 p.m. Monday, October 19, to provide focused comments on the future planning alternatives for Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area, a state-managed off-highway vehicle park between Livermore and Tracy. California State Parks is revisiting the environmental impact review after a court found that the earlier analysis did not examine a sufficient range of alternatives.
Today’s comment deadline
State Parks asks contributors to put “Carnegie SVRA General Plan Update” in the subject or heading and send comments by 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, October 19, 2026. The agency lists:
- Email: planning@parks.ca.gov.
- Mail: C/O Katie Metraux, OHMVR Division, California State Parks, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001.
- Official planning page: Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area General Plan Update.
Those submitting shortly before the deadline should use the agency’s official instructions and retain a copy of the submission. This is a public comment process, not a referendum or an application for recreational access.
Why a plan adopted in 2024 is being reviewed again
The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission had approved a general-plan update and certified an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in October 2024. Opponents challenged the decisions. On March 10, 2026, a Sacramento County Superior Court ruling found that the EIR had not evaluated a reasonable range of alternatives under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). State Parks says the court rejected other grounds raised in that case.
Following the decision and writ, the commission rescinded the 2024 EIR certification and plan approval on June 17, 2026. The agency is preparing a partially recirculated EIR with additional alternatives that could reduce the plan’s significant air-quality impacts. The ongoing process should not be portrayed as a final vote either to close the park or to approve all proposed development.
What is the public allowed to comment on now?
This scoping round has a narrow subject: the range and scope of alternatives to the general-plan update that might lessen air-quality impacts. State Parks says earlier comments on other chapters were already collected and addressed in the 2024 process. General statements unrelated to alternative strategies may not be responsive to this particular notice.
Where is the park and why does it matter locally?
Carnegie SVRA spans unincorporated land in Alameda and San Joaquin counties, about 15 miles east of Livermore and 12 miles west of Tracy. It has a long history of off-highway riding and has been part of the state park system since 1980. Land use in the Diablo Range can raise questions about dust, air quality, habitat, trail access and nearby ranch operations.
The current process concerns the existing Carnegie OHV park; it should not be conflated with separate past planning disputes over the adjoining Alameda/Tesla expansion area, which the agency says has been excluded from this general-plan update.
Five useful questions for comments
- What specific alternative recreational uses or operating patterns could meaningfully reduce dust and air emissions?
- How should alternatives address air-quality effects while describing recreational access and land-management constraints?
- What data or monitoring could demonstrate the predicted differences between options?
- How might alternatives affect local residents, ranch operations or users of the existing park?
- Which alternatives deserve detailed evaluation in the recirculated EIR, and why?
What happens next?
The agency’s published schedule anticipates a partially recirculated draft EIR in the winter 2026/spring 2027 period. The revised analysis will be subject to the agency’s subsequent process. A 2026 scoping submission does not itself approve or reject a project, and it does not guarantee an individual’s preferred alternative will be selected.
For the full planning record, official notices, prior court-related materials and the September 30 virtual meeting recording, visit California State Parks’ Carnegie SVRA project page. Follow Livermore News and the Tracy News local edition for continued coverage of decisions affecting both counties.
Primary source: California State Parks, Carnegie SVRA General Plan Update — October 19, 2026 deadline and procedural history. This article reports the agency’s published deadline and process, not any independent assessment of environmental impacts. Readers should check the official site for last-minute changes.
Support Livermore News
Choose how to support Livermore News:
Credit / Debit Card via StripeChoose an amount from $1. One-time support through the publisher's LINKERNO Stripe account.
Continue with PayPalZelle323-677-7643Open Zelle through your bank. Verify the recipient before sending.
Optional reader support. When possible, add “Livermore News” to the payment note. Contributions are not advertised as tax-deductible. Support does not influence editorial decisions.
COMMUNITY
Comments
Join the California58 conversation. You must be signed in to comment.
Create a free California58 account or sign in with an available social provider.