BILL NUMBER: AB 437 CHAPTERED 09/25/01 CHAPTER 333 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 6, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE JULY 22, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 21, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Budget (Cardenas (Chair), Aroner, Cardoza, Cedillo, Dutra, Firebaugh, Horton, Keeley, Nakano, Oropeza, Pavley, Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, and Wright) FEBRUARY 20, 2001 An act to add and repeal Section 14057 of the Government Code, relating to transportation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 437, as amended, Committee on Budget. Rural Transit System Grant Program. Existing law provides for funding of public transit under various programs, including the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, also known as the Transportation Development Act. This bill, until July 1, 2002, would require the Department of Transportation and the California Transportation Commission to establish a Rural Transit System Grant Program to purchase, construct, and rehabilitate transit facilities, vehicles, and equipment, including energy efficiency retrofits, and to purchase rights-of-way for transit systems. The bill would require the department to submit a report describing the projects funded under the program to the Legislature on or before June 30, 2002. This bill would not become operative unless funds for the program are appropriated by the Budget Act of 2001. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 14057 is added to the Government Code, to read: 14057. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) The "program" is the Rural Transit System Grant Program established under this section. (2) A "rural area" is an area that is not included within the boundaries of an urbanized area, as defined by the United States Bureau of Census in its latest decennial census. (b) Not later than August 31, 2001, the department shall prepare guidelines for the implementation of a Rural Transit System Grant Program and submit those guidelines to the commission for review. (c) Not later than October 15, 2001, both of the following shall occur: (1) The commission shall adopt guidelines for the program. (2) The department shall establish the program in accordance with this section and the guidelines adopted by the commission. (d) The guidelines prepared by the department and adopted by the commission shall include all of the following requirements: (1) The department shall award grants to recipients on a competitive basis for projects that serve primarily rural areas. (2) Grants shall be used for the following purposes: (A) To purchase, construct, and rehabilitate transit facilities, vehicles, and equipment, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency retrofits. (B) To purchase rights-of-way for transit systems. (3) Grants shall be awarded based on criteria that include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (A) Project need and effectiveness. (B) Filling transit service gaps, including, but not limited to, connectivity to other transit systems. (C) The equitable distribution of funds. (D) The potential of the project to improve the safety of passengers, transit workers, and the general public. (E) Replacement of vehicles or equipment that have exceeded service life expectations. (4) Grant awards shall be limited to any claimant, as defined in Section 99203 of the Public Utilities Code. (5) Grants shall require all of the following: (A) A project match requirement equal to the percentage of Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code) funds expended for purposes other than transit, community transit services, pedestrian and bicycle, and transportation planning purposes, averaged over the three most recent fiscal years. The match requirement may not be less than 10 percent, and may not be more than 50 percent. However, no grant may be awarded to an applicant in any city, county, or city and county, in which funds that may be claimed by the applicant under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act are expended for street and road purposes pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 99400 of the Public Utilities Code in the same year as the year in which the application for a grant is made. (B) A demonstration of maintenance of effort. (C) A demonstration of financial ability to support ongoing operations of the public transportation services. (e) The department shall prepare a report describing the types of projects funded under the Rural Transit System Grant Program, which shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before June 30, 2002. (f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2002, and, as of January 1, 2003, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 1 of this act shall not become operative unless the Budget Act of 2001 for the 2001-02 fiscal year contains an appropriation for the Rural Transit System Grant Program.