BILL NUMBER: SB 1768 CHAPTERED 09/11/02 CHAPTER 472 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE APRIL 25, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Murray FEBRUARY 21, 2002 An act to amend Section 14527 of the Government Code, relating to transportation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1768, Murray. Regional transportation improvement program. Existing law requires that funds made available for transportation capital improvement projects be programmed and expended for specified program categories, including regional improvements. Under existing law, a regional transportation planning agency and a county transportation commission are required to submit to the Department of Transportation and the California Transportation Commission a 5-year regional transportation improvement program, including projects to be funded with regional improvement funds. This bill would authorize the department to nominate or recommend projects to be included in the regional transportation program to improve state highways using regional transportation improvement funds. The bill would specify that the regional transportation planning agency or county transportation commission has the sole authority to determine whether the projects are included in the regional transportation improvement program. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 14527 of the Government Code is amended to read: 14527. (a) After consulting with the department, the regional transportation planning agencies and county transportation commissions shall adopt and submit to the commission and the department, not later than December 15, 2001, and December 15 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, a five-year regional transportation improvement program in conformance with Section 65082. In counties where a county transportation commission or authority has been created pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 130050) of Division 12 of the Public Utilities Code, the commission or the authority shall adopt and submit the county transportation improvement program, in conformance with Sections 130303 and 130304 of that code, to the multicounty designated transportation planning agency. Other information, including a program for expenditure of local or federal funds, may be submitted for information purposes with the program, but only at the discretion of the transportation planning agencies or the county transportation commissions. (b) The regional transportation improvement program shall include all projects to be funded with regional improvement funds under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 164 of the Streets and Highways Code. The regional programs shall be limited to projects to be funded in whole or in part with regional improvement funds that shall include all projects to receive allocations by the commission during the following five fiscal years. For each project, the total expenditure for each project component and the total amount of commission allocation and the year of allocation shall be stated. The total cost of projects to be funded with regional improvement funds shall not exceed the amount specified in the fund estimate made by the commission pursuant to Section 14525. (c) The regional transportation planning agencies and county transportation commissions may recommend projects to improve state highways with interregional improvement funds pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 164 of the Streets and Highways Code. The recommendations shall be separate and distinct from the regional transportation program. A project recommended for funding pursuant to this subdivision shall constitute a usable segment and shall not be a condition for inclusion of other projects in the regional transportation improvement program. (d) The department may nominate or recommend the inclusion of projects in the regional transportation improvement program to improve state highways with regional transportation improvement funds pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) and subdivision (e) of Section 164 of the Streets and Highways Code. A regional transportation planning agency and a county transportation commission shall have sole authority for determining whether any of the project nominations or recommendations are accepted and included in the regional transportation improvement program adopted and submitted pursuant to this section. This authority provided to a regional transportation planning agency or to a county transportation commission extends only to a project located within its jurisdiction. (e) Major projects shall include current costs updated as of November 1 of the year of submittal and escalated to the appropriate year, and shall be consistent with, and provide the information required in, subdivision (b) of Section 14529. (f) The regional transportation improvement program may not change the project delivery milestone date of any project as shown in the prior adopted state transportation improvement program without the consent of the department or other agency responsible for the project' s delivery. (g) Projects may not be included in the regional transportation improvement program without a complete project study report or, for a project that is not on a state highway, a project study report equivalent or major investment study. (h) The transportation planning agencies and county transportation commissions may request and receive an amount not to exceed 1 percent of their regional improvement fund expenditures for the purposes of project planning, programming, and monitoring. A transportation planning agency or county transportation commission not receiving federal metropolitan planning funds may request and receive an amount not to exceed 5 percent of its regional improvement fund expenditures for the purposes of project planning, programming, and monitoring.