BILL NUMBER: SB 9 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 15, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
( Coauthor: Senator Allen
)
DECEMBER 1, 2014
An act to amend Sections 75220, 75221, and 75222 of, and to add
Sections 75223, 75224, and 75225 to, the Public Resources Code,
relating to transportation, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 9, as amended, Beall. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Transit
and Intercity Rail Capital Program.
Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties,
collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale
of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative
to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be deposited in the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law provides various sources of funding for
transportation programs, including capital and operating funds for
rail services, including intercity, commuter, and urban rail systems,
including the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program which
receives 10% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Fund as a continuous appropriation. Existing law provides that the
purpose of the program is to fund capital improvements and
operational investments to modernize California's rail systems to
achieve certain policy objectives, including the reduction
of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
the expansion and integration of expandin g
and improving rail services to increase ridership, and
to improve improving rail safety.
Existing law requires the Transportation Agency to evaluate
applications for funding under the program and to prepare a list of
projects recommended for funding, with grants to be awarded by the
California Transportation Commission.
This bill would modify the purpose of the program to delete
references to operational investments and instead provide for the
funding of large, transformative capital improvements that will
modernize California's intercity, commuter, and urban rail systems
and bus and ferry transit systems to achieve certain policy
objectives, including reducing emissions of greenhouse gases,
the expansion of expanding and improving
transit services to increase ridership, and to improve
improving transit safety. By expanding the
purposes for which continuously appropriated funds may be used, the
bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the
Transportation Agency to adopt a multiyear program of projects for
funding, and require the California Transportation Commission to
allocate funding to applicants pursuant to the program of projects.
The bill would require that 90% 70% of
available funds be programmed and allocated to projects with a total
cost of $100,000,000 or more, and 10% 30%
to projects with a total cost of less than $100,000,000. The
bill would require the Transportation Agency, in selecting projects
for funding, to consider the extent to which a project reduces
greenhouse gas emissions, would add additional factors to be
considered in evaluating applications for funding, and would expand
certain factors considered to include bus and ferry transit service.
The bill would require the Transportation Agency to develop, by July
1, 2016, a 5-year estimate of revenues reasonably expected to be
available for the program, with subsequent estimates to be made every
other year for additional 5-year periods, and would require the
agency to adopt 5-year programs of projects consistent with those
estimates. The bill would authorize the Transportation Agency, in
cooperation with the California Transportation Commission, to make a
multiyear funding commitment for a project proposed to be funded over
more than one fiscal year, and would authorize the California
Transportation Commission to approve a letter of no prejudice that
would allow an applicant to expend its own funds on a project in the
adopted program of projects, subject to future reimbursement from
program funds for eligible expenditures.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 75220 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
75220. (a) The Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program is
hereby created to fund large, transformative capital improvements
that will modernize California's intercity, commuter, and urban rail
systems and bus and ferry transit systems to achieve all of the
following policy objectives:
(1) Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
(2) Expand and improve transit service to increase ridership.
(3) Integrate the rail service of the state's various rail
operators, including integration with the high-speed rail system.
(4) Improve transit safety.
(b) The Transportation Agency shall evaluate applications
consistent with the criteria set forth in this chapter and adopt a
multiyear program of projects for funding pursuant to Section 75224,
that may be revised at any time.
(c) The California Transportation Commission shall allocate
funding to applicants pursuant to the program of projects adopted by
the Transportation Agency.
(d) Ninety Seventy percent of
available funds shall be programmed and allocated to projects with a
total cost of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) or more, and
10 30 percent shall be programmed
and allocated to projects with a total cost of less than one
hundred million dollars ($100,000,000).
SEC. 2. Section 75221 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
75221. (a) Projects eligible for funding under the program
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Rail capital projects, including acquisition of rail cars and
locomotives, that expand, enhance, and improve existing rail systems
and connectivity to existing and future transit systems, including
the high-speed rail system.
(2) Intercity and commuter rail projects that increase service
levels, improve reliability, and decrease travel times.
(3) Rail integration implementation, including integrated
ticketing and scheduling systems, shared-use corridors, related
planning efforts, and other service integration initiatives.
(4) Bus rapid transit and other bus and ferry transit investments
to increase ridership and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(b) In order to be eligible for funding under the program, a
project shall demonstrate that it will achieve a reduction in
emissions of greenhouse gases. In selecting projects for funding, the
Transportation Agency shall consider the extent to which a project
reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.
(c) The program shall have a programmatic goal of providing at
least 25 percent of available funding to projects benefiting
disadvantaged communities, consistent with the objectives of Chapter
830 of the Statutes of 2012.
(d) In evaluating grant applications for funding, the
Transportation Agency shall consider all of the following:
(1) The cobenefits of projects that support implementation of
sustainable communities strategies through one or more of the
following:
(A) Reducing auto vehicles miles traveled and the number of auto
trips through growth in transit ridership.
(B) Promoting housing development in the vicinity of rail
stations.
(C) Expanding existing rail and public transit systems.
(D) Enhancing the connectivity, integration, and coordination of
the state's various regional and local transit systems.
(E) Providing a direct connection to the high-speed rail system.
(F) Implementing clean vehicle technology.
(G) Promoting active transportation.
(H) Improving public health.
(2) The project priorities developed through the collaboration of
two or more rail operators and any memoranda of understanding between
state agencies and local or regional rail operators.
(3) Geographic equity.
(4) Consistency with an adopted sustainable communities strategy
or, if a sustainable strategy is not required for a region by law, a
regional plan that includes policies and programs to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases.
(5) The extent to which a project has supplemental funding
committed to it from other nonstate sources.
(6) The extent to which the project will increase transit
ridership.
(e) Eligible applicants under the program shall be public
agencies, including joint powers agencies, that operate existing or
planned regularly scheduled intercity or commuter passenger rail
service, urban rail transit service, or bus or ferry transit service.
(f) A recipient of funds under the program may combine funding
from the program with other state funding, including, but not limited
to, the State Transportation Improvement Program, the Low Carbon
Transit Operations Program, the State Air Resources Board clean
vehicle program, and state transportation bond funds.
SEC. 3. Section 75222 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
75222. (a) Applications for grants under the program shall be
submitted to the Transportation Agency for evaluation in accordance
with procedures and program guidelines adopted by the agency. An
eligible applicant may submit an application to the agency to fund a
project over multiple fiscal years. The agency may make multiyear
funding commitments for projects that are proposed to be funded from
the program over a period of more than one fiscal year.
(b) The application shall define the project purpose, intended
scope, proposed cost, intended funding sources, and schedule for
project completion.
(c) The application shall specify the phases of work for which an
eligible applicant is seeking an allocation of funds from the
program, as appropriate:
(1) Studies, environmental review, and permits.
(2) Preparation of project plans and specifications.
(3) Right-of-way acquisition.
(4) Construction or procurement.
(d) The application shall identify the sources and timing of all
funds required to undertake and complete any phase of a project for
which an eligible applicant is seeking an allocation of funds from
the program. The application shall also describe intended sources and
timing of funds to complete any subsequent phases of the project,
through construction or procurement.
(e) The application shall include information describing the
funding sources and approach to ensuring ongoing operating and
maintenance costs of the project are funded through the useful life
of the project, as applicable.
SEC. 4. Section 75223 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75223. (a) The Transportation Agency shall conduct at least two
public workshops on draft program guidelines containing selection
criteria prior to adoption and shall post the draft guidelines on the
agency's Internet Web site at least 30 days prior to the first
public workshop. Concurrent with the posting, the agency shall
transmit the draft guidelines to the fiscal committees and the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
(b) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to the
development and adoption of procedures and program guidelines for the
program pursuant to this section.
SEC. 5. Section 75224 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75224. (a) No later than July 1, 2016, the Transportation Agency
shall develop a five-year estimate of revenues, in annual increments,
reasonably expected to be available to the program from the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and adopt a program of projects, which
shall cover a period of five fiscal years, beginning with fiscal
year 2016-17.
(b) The Transportation Agency shall adopt each subsequent program
of projects not later than April 1 of each even-numbered year based
on a five-year estimate of revenues, in annual increments. Each
subsequent program shall cover a period of five fiscal years,
beginning July 1 of the year of adoption, and shall be a statement of
intent by the Transportation Agency for the allocation and
expenditure of funds during those five fiscal years.
(c) In cooperation with the commission, the Transportation Agency
may enter into and execute a multiyear funding agreement with an
eligible applicant for a project that is proposed to be funded from
the program over a period of more than one fiscal year. The agreement
shall include a proposed schedule of the amount of funds expected to
be provided to the eligible applicant for each fiscal year of the
agreement and may be for a period that extends beyond the five fiscal
years covered by the program of projects.
SEC. 6. Section 75225 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75225. (a) A lead applicant agency may apply to the commission
for a letter of no prejudice for a project or for any component of a
project included in the five-year program of projects adopted by the
Transportation Agency. If approved by the commission, the letter of
no prejudice shall allow the lead applicant agency to expend its own
funds for the project or any component of the project and to be
eligible for future reimbursement from funds available for the
program from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
(b) The amount expended under subdivision (a) shall be reimbursed
by the state from funds available for the program from the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The project or project component for which the letter of no
prejudice was requested has commenced, and the regional or local
expenditures have been incurred.
(2) The expenditures made by the lead applicant agency are
eligible for reimbursement in accordance with applicable laws and
procedures. In the event If expenditures
made by the lead applicant agency are determined to be ineligible,
the state has no obligation to reimburse those expenditures.
(3) The lead applicant agency complies with all legal requirements
for the project, including the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000)).
(4) There are funds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
designated for the program that are sufficient to make the
reimbursement payment.
(c) The lead applicant agency and the commission shall enter into
an agreement governing reimbursement as described in this section.
The timing and final amount of reimbursement is dependent on the
terms of the agreement and the availability of funds in the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the program.
(d) The commission, in consultation with intercity, commuter,
urban rail, and other public transit entities, may develop guidelines
to implement this section.