Bill Text: CA SB409 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Passenger rail programs: strategic planning.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-13 - Set, second hearing. Held in committee and under submission. [SB409 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB409-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 409 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 26, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 21, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Ducheny
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Torres)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to amend Section 13975 of, and to add Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 13985) to Part 4.5 of Division 3 of Title 2
of, An act to add Section 14036.10 to the
Government Code, and to amend Section 185020 of, and to add Section
185025 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 409, as amended, Ducheny. Passenger rail programs: strategic
planning.
Existing law creates the Department of Transportation in the
Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, with various powers and
duties relative to the intercity passenger rail program, among other
transportation programs. Existing law creates in state government the
High-Speed Rail Authority, with various powers and duties relative
to development and implementation of a high-speed passenger train
system. The authority has 9 members, 5 appointed by the Governor and
4 appointed by the Legislature. Existing law also creates in state
government the California Transportation Commission, with various
powers and duties relative to programming of transportation capital
projects and assisting the Secretary of Business, Transportation and
Housing in formulating state transportation policies.
This bill would place the High-Speed Rail Authority
within the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The bill
would require the 5 members of the authority appointed by
the Governor to be appointed with the advice and consent of the
Senate. The bill would require the authority to annually adopt
and submit a funding plan 5-year
high-speed rail passenger train program to the
California Transportation Commission for approval, identifying the
need for investments during the fiscal year and the amount of bond
sales necessary to accommodate those investments
Governor and Legislature, as specified .
This bill would require the Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency Department of Transportation to
prepare a 5-year Strategic Rail Connectivity Plan for the state, the
focus of which would be to identify, with a statewide emphasis,
opportunities for passenger rail system improvements and linkages.
The plan would be required to include desirable linkages and feeder
opportunities between high-speed and conventional intercity rail,
commuter rail, and rail transit, and to identify the coordination in
planning and the capital investments necessary in that regard. The
plan would also be required to identify future right-of-way needs of
passenger rail lines in connection with state and local highway
system improvements in order to accommodate future rail system
improvements. The plan would be developed in consultation with
the High-Speed Rail Authority, transportation planning agencies
, and the agencies and entities responsible for the
various rail and highway systems. The A draft
of the plan would initially be submitted to
presented on an informational basis at a meeting of the
California Transportation Commission for approval on
September 1, 2011, and every 5 years thereafter. Upon approval of the
plan, the commission, for each transportation project subject to
commission approval and implicated by the plan, would be required to
make a determination that the project is consistent with the plan.
The bill would also provide that the commission, for good cause, may
approve a project that is not consistent with the plan, subject to a
waiver granted by the Secretary of Business, Transportation and
Housing , followed by a public comment
period. Upon considering the public comments, the department would
make another informational presentation to the commission prior to
finalizing the plan and submitting it to the Federal Railroad
Administration .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13975 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
13975. The Business and Transportation Agency in state government
is hereby renamed the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
The agency consists of the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the
Department of Corporations, the Department of Housing and Community
Development, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Real
Estate, the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail
Authority, the Department of Financial Institutions, the Department
of Managed Health Care, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the
Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun; and the California
Housing Finance Agency is also located within the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency, as specified in Division 31
(commencing with Section 50000) of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 2. Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
13985) is added to Part 4.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2. STRATEGIC RAIL CONNECTIVITY PLAN
13985. (a) The agency shall be responsible for preparation of a
five-year Strategic Rail Connectivity Plan for the state. The focus
of the strategic plan shall be to identify, with a statewide
emphasis, those opportunities for passenger rail system improvements
and linkages that otherwise are likely to be missed, or assigned a
relative lower priority, by implementing agencies because of the
natural focus of those agencies on the specific rail systems under
their respective jurisdictions. In that regard, the strategic plan
shall include desirable linkages and feeder opportunities between
various passenger rail services, including high-speed and
conventional intercity rail, commuter rail, and rail transit, where
the various services are the responsibility of different implementing
and operating agencies. The strategic plan shall identify the
coordination in planning and capital investments necessary to
maximize the opportunities for each of those services in providing a
cohesive, connected, and easy-to-use system for Californians
consisting of all of those services, rather than a cumbersome set of
unlinked individual rail services. The strategic plan shall also
identify future right-of-way needs of passenger rail lines in
connection with state and local highway system improvements in order
to accommodate future rail system improvements as those highway
improvements proceed to implementation, with the objective of
avoiding lost opportunities by failure to reserve right-of-way
capacity for future rail improvements. The strategic plan may also
include other matters that offer similar opportunities for statewide
coordination, including the efficient movement of goods.
(b) The strategic plan shall be developed in consultation with
transportation planning agencies and agencies and entities
responsible for the various rail and highway systems. The strategic
plan shall be submitted to the California Transportation Commission
for approval on September 1, 2011, and every five years thereafter on
September 1. Amendments to an approved strategic plan may be
developed and presented to the commission for approval in the same
manner during each five-year period.
(c) Upon approval of the strategic plan, the commission, for each
transportation project subject to commission approval and implicated
by the strategic plan, shall make a determination that the project is
consistent with the strategic plan. The commission may approve a
project that is not consistent with the strategic plan for good
cause, subject to a waiver granted by the secretary.
SECTION 1. Section 14036.10 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
14036.10. (a) The department shall be responsible for preparation
of a five-year Strategic Rail Connectivity Plan for the state. The
focus of the strategic plan shall be to identify, with a statewide
emphasis, those opportunities for passenger rail system improvements
and linkages that otherwise are likely to be missed, or assigned a
relative lower priority, by implementing agencies because of the
natural focus of those agencies on the specific rail systems under
their respective jurisdictions. In that regard, the strategic plan
shall include desirable linkages and feeder opportunities between
various passenger rail services, including high-speed and
conventional intercity rail, commuter rail, and rail transit, where
the various services are the responsibility of different implementing
and operating agencies. The strategic plan shall identify the
coordination in planning and capital investments necessary to
maximize the opportunities for each of those services in providing a
cohesive, connected, and easy-to-use system for Californians
consisting of all of those services, rather than a cumbersome set of
unlinked individual rail services. The strategic plan shall also
identify future right-of-way needs of passenger rail lines in
connection with state and local highway system improvements in order
to accommodate future rail system improvements as those highway
improvements proceed to implementation, with the objective of
avoiding lost opportunities by failure to reserve right-of-way
capacity for future rail improvements. The strategic plan may also
include other matters that offer similar opportunities for statewide
coordination, including the efficient movement of goods.
(b) The strategic plan shall be developed in consultation with the
High-Speed Rail Authority, transportation planning agencies, and
agencies and entities responsible for the various rail and highway
systems.
(c) A draft of the strategic plan shall be presented by the
department on an informational basis at a meeting of the California
Transportation Commission for purposes of receiving public comment.
Within 45 days after the meeting, the department shall receive any
comments and proposed changes for the draft strategic plan.
(d) Following the close of the 45-day comment period, the
department shall review all written comments, including those of the
High-Speed Rail Authority, and shall prepare a summary of any
objections and recommendations made in those comments and an
explanation of how the draft strategic plan is proposed to be changed
to accommodate the objections or recommendations, or the reason or
reasons for proposing no change.
(e) The department's recommendations and summary described in
subdivision (d) shall be made publicly available at least 15 days
prior to a subsequent regular meeting of the commission. At that
subsequent public meeting, after considering all comments and
recompiling the information pursuant to subdivision (c), the
department shall present the final strategic plan on an informational
basis prior to its submittal to the Federal Railroad Administration.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Section 185020 of
the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
185020. (a) There is in the Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency state government the High-Speed
Rail Authority.
(b) (1) The authority is composed of nine members as follows:
(A) Five members appointed by the Governor with the advice and
consent of the Senate.
(B) Two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(C) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(2) For the purposes of making appointments to the authority, the
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly shall take into consideration geographical diversity to
ensure that all regions of the state are adequately represented.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), and until their
successors are appointed, members of the authority shall hold office
for terms of four years. A vacancy shall be filled by the appointing
power making the original appointment, by appointing a member to
serve the remainder of the term.
(d) (1) On and after January 1, 2001, the terms of all persons who
are then members of the authority shall expire, but those members
may continue to serve until they are reappointed or until their
successors are appointed. In order to provide for evenly staggered
terms, persons appointed or reappointed to the authority after
January 1, 2001, shall be appointed to initial terms to expire as
follows:
(A) Of the five persons appointed by the Governor, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2004, and two shall
be appointed to terms which expires on December 31, 2005.
(B) Of the two persons appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2004.
(C) Of the two persons appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2005.
(2) Following expiration of each of the initial terms provided for
in this subdivision, the term shall expire every four years
thereafter on December 31.
(e) Members of the authority are subject to the Political Reform
Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000)).
(f) From among its members, the authority shall elect a
chairperson, who shall preside at all meetings of the authority, and
a vice chairperson to preside in the absence of the chairperson. The
chairperson shall serve a term of one year.
(g) Five members of the authority constitute a quorum for taking
any action by the authority.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. Section 185025 is
added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
185025. The authority shall submit an annual funding plan to the
California Transportation Commission for approval. Among other
things, the funding plan shall identify the need for investments
during the fiscal year to which it applies, and the amount of bond
sales necessary to accommodate those investments.
185025. (a) The authority shall adopt and submit to
the Governor and the Legislature, not later than October 1 of each
year, a high-speed rail passenger train program. The program shall
cover a period of five fiscal years, beginning July 1 of the year
following the year it is adopted, and shall be a statement of intent
by the authority to request funding in the annual Budget Act for the
following five years.
(b) The high-speed rail passenger train program shall include a
listing of all capital improvement projects that are expected to
require appropriation in the annual Budget Act, including state,
federal, local, and private funds, during the following five fiscal
years.
(c) For each segment, the high-speed rail passenger train program
shall specify the expenditure amount and the expenditure year for
each of the following project components:
(1) Completion of all permits and environmental studies.
(2) Preparation of plans, specifications, and estimates.
(3) Acquisition of rights-of-way, including, but not limited to,
support activities.
(4) Construction and construction management and engineering,
including surveys and inspection.
(5) Any additional components the authority deems to be
appropriate.
