BILL NUMBER: AB 1471 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Article 6.95 (commencing with Section
20209.45) to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code, and to amend Section 215.5 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to design-build procurement. An act to amend
Sections 20321 and 20341 of the Public Contract Code , and
to amend Sections 130051.11 and 130232 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to procurement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1471, as amended, Eng. Design-build procurement:
Procurement: Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
The County Transportation Commissions Act provides for the
creation of county transportation commissions and authorities in 5
counties, including the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, with specified powers and duties relative
to transportation planning, programming, and operations. Existing law
specifies certain procurement procedures applicable to these
agencies, with certain procedures applicable solely to the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Existing law generally provides that purchase by the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority or another county
transportation commission of all supplies, equipment, and materials,
and the construction of all facilities and works, when the
expenditure required exceeds $25,000, shall be by contract let to the
lowest responsible bidder, with certain exceptions.
This bill would delete a duplicate provision relating to the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a provision
of the Public Contract Code governing the contracting procedures of
the Sacramento Regional Transit District. The bill would delete an
unnecessary reference to the authority in a provision of the Public
Contract Code governing the contracting procedures of 2 transit
development boards in San Diego County.
This bill would also authorize the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority to purchase supplies, equipment, and
materials from a public auction sale using the procedures established
for all other participants in the auction. The bill would authorize
the authority to participate in a cooperative procurement agreement
with other public agencies under specified conditions.
Existing law makes the Department of Transportation responsible
for improving and maintaining the state highway system, including the
development and implementation of a system of priorities for ranking
the need for installation of noise attenuation barriers along
freeways in the state. Under existing law, until January 1, 2010, the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in
consultation with the department, is authorized to use a design-build
procurement process for the construction of a specified
high-occupancy vehicle lane in the County of Los Angeles.
This bill would authorize the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority to use a design-build procurement process
for the construction of soundwalls, as defined, along any freeway or
expressway that is located within the jurisdiction of the authority,
as specified. The bill would make a conforming change to a related
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 20321 of the Public
Contract Code is amended to read:
20321. (a) Except
as provided in subdivision (b), contracts Contracts
for the construction of transit works or transit facilities in
excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) shall be awarded to the
lowest responsible bidder after competitive bidding, except in
emergency declared by four-fifths vote of the board of the district.
(b) Contracts for the construction of transit works or transit
facilities let by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall
be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after competitive
bidding, except in an emergency declared by four-fifths vote of the
board of the district.
SEC. 2. Section 20341 of the Public
Contract Code is amended to read:
20341. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c),
contracts Contracts for construction in excess
of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be awarded to the lowest
responsible bidder submitting a responsive bid after competitive
bidding, except in emergency declared by the vote of two-thirds of
the membership of the board. If the expected construction contract
exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000) and does not exceed fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000), the board shall seek a minimum of three
quotations, either written or oral, that permit prices and other
terms to be compared, and the board shall award the contract to the
bidder who submitted the lowest quotation.
(b) If no bids are received, the project may be performed by a
negotiated contract.
(c) This section does not apply to the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
SEC. 3. Section 130051.11 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
130051.11. (a) The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority may determine its organizational structure, which may
include, but is not limited to, the establishment of departments,
divisions, subsidiary units, or similar entities. Any department,
division, subsidiary unit, or similar entity established by the
authority shall be referred to in this chapter as an "organizational
unit." The authority shall, at a minimum, establish the following
organizational units:
(1) A transit construction organizational unit to assume the
construction responsibilities for all exclusive public mass transit
guideway construction projects in Los Angeles County.
(2) An operating organizational unit with the following
responsibilities:
(A) The operating responsibilities of the former
Southern California Rapid Transit District on all exclusive public
mass transit guideway projects in the County of Los Angeles.
(B) The operation of bus routes operated by the former
Southern California Rapid Transit District, and all the duties,
obligations, and liabilities of the district relating to those bus
routes.
(3) A transportation planning and programming organizational unit
with all planning responsibilities previously performed by the
former Southern California Rapid Transit District and the
former Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require specific
bus routes to be operated. The authority or the operating
organizational unit may make any adjustment with respect to bus
routes, bus services, or both, which is within the power of the
former Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, or the
former Southern California Rapid Transit District.
(c) Any obligations of the former Southern California
Rapid Transit District arising out of a collective bargaining
agreement entered into by the district shall be the exclusive
obligations of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority. It is the intent of the Legislature that the rights or
obligations under any collective bargaining agreement in existence on
January 1, 1993, not be enlarged or diminished by this section or
any other provision of the act which added this section.
(d) No collective bargaining agreement entered into by the
former Southern California Rapid Transit District on or after
January 1, 1993, shall be effective unless approved by the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The authority's
approval of an agreement shall cause the agreement to be binding
upon the authority.
(e) On and after April 1, 1993, any reference to the former
Southern California Rapid Transit District in Article 10
(commencing with Section 30750) of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 10
is deemed to refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
(f) The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
may administratively delegate to an organizational unit or to its
chief executive officer any powers and duties it deems appropriate.
Powers and duties which may be delegated to an organizational unit
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The power of eminent domain.
(2) Approval of contracts, except the final approval of labor
contracts.
(3) Hearing and resolving bid protests.
(4) Preparation of supporting documents and findings, and approval
of contracts, under Sections 130233, 130234, 130236, and 132237
within guidelines adopted by the board of directors.
(g) The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
shall establish a citizens' advisory council pursuant to subdivision
(d) of Section 130105.
SEC. 4. Section 130232 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
130232. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), purchase of
all supplies, equipment, and materials, and the construction of all
facilities and works, when the expenditure required exceeds
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), shall be by contract let to
the lowest responsible bidder. Notice requesting bids shall be
published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation. The
publication shall be made at least 10 days before the date for the
receipt of the bids. The commission, at its discretion, may reject
any and all bids and readvertise.
(b) Except as provided for in subdivision (f), whenever the
expected expenditure required exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000),
but not twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), the commission shall
obtain a minimum of three quotations, either written or oral, that
permit prices and terms to be compared.
(c) Where the expenditure required by the bid price is less than
fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the executive director may act for
the commission.
(d) All bids for construction work submitted pursuant to this
section shall be presented under sealed cover and shall be
accompanied by one of the following forms of bidder's security:
(1) Cash.
(2) A cashier's check made payable to the commission.
(3) A certified check made payable to the commission.
(4) A bidder's bond executed by an admitted surety insurer, made
payable to the commission.
(e) Upon an award to the lowest bidder, the security of an
unsuccessful bidder shall be returned in a reasonable period of time,
but in no event shall that security be held by the commission beyond
60 days from the date that the award was made.
(f) The following provisions apply only to the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority:
(1) The contract shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder or,
in the commission's authority's
discretion, to the responsible bidder who submitted a proposal that
provides the best value to the commission on the basis of the factors
identified in the solicitation when the purchase price of all
supplies, equipment, and materials exceeds one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000). "Best value" means the overall combination of
quality, price, and other elements of a proposal that, when
considered together, provide the greatest overall benefit in response
to requirements described in the solicitation documents. The
contract shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder when the
purchase price of the construction of all facilities exceeds
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
(2) The commission authority shall
obtain a minimum of three quotations, either written or oral, that
permit prices and terms to be compared whenever the expected
expenditure required exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), but not one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(3) The authority may purchase supplies, equipment, and materials
from a public auction sale, including public auctions held via the
Internet, using the procedures established for all other participants
in the public auction.
(4) The authority may participate in a procurement agreement
involving other public entities that is identified by a procuring
public entity or entities as a cooperative procuring agreement from
which other public entities may make purchases or enter into
contracts, and the authority may procure, and enter into contracts
for, items purchased pursuant to that procurement agreement,
notwithstanding that the authority may not be the procuring public
entity, provided the procurement agreement is awarded or entered into
by either of the following:
(A) One or more public entities or an organization of public
entities, which may include the authority.
(B) A federal, state, or local public entity.
SECTION 1. Article 6.95 (commencing with
Section 20209.45) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of
the Public Contract Code, to read:
Article 6.95. Design-Build Contracts for Soundwalls
20209.45. (a) The authority may utilize the design-build
procurement method for the construction of soundwalls along any
freeway or expressway that is located within the jurisdiction of the
authority, so long as that construction comports with existing
department design standards.
(b) For purposes of this article:
(1) "Authority" means the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
(2) "Department" means the Department of Transportation.
(3) "Design-build" means a procurement process in which both the
design and construction of a project are procured from a design-build
entity.
(4) "Design-build entity" means a partnership, corporation, or
other legal entity that is able to provide appropriately licensed
contracting, architectural, and engineering services as needed
pursuant to a design-build contract.
(5) "Soundwall" means a wall constructed of concrete panels,
masonry blocks, wood boards or panels, or other materials, that
serves as a noise attenuation barrier, as that term is used in
Section 215.5 of the Streets and Highways Code.
SEC. 2. Section 215.5 of the Streets and
Highways Code is amended to read:
215.5. (a) The department shall develop and implement a system of
priorities for ranking the need for installation of noise
attenuation barriers along freeways in the California freeway and
expressway system. In establishing a priority system, the department
shall give the highest consideration to residential areas which were
developed prior to the opening of the freeway. If alterations have
been made to the freeway since its original opening which result in a
significant and measurable increase in ambient noise levels, the
opening date for that segment of the freeway, for the purposes of
determining priorities under this section, is the completion date of
that alteration project. Other criteria for determining priorities
shall include the existing and future intensity of sound generated by
the freeway, the increase in traffic flow since the original
construction of the freeway, the cost of building the soundwall in
relation to the expected noise reduction, the number of persons
living in close proximity to the freeway, and whether a majority of
the occupants in close proximity to the freeway resided there prior
to the time the freeway routing was adopted by the commission. The
city or county in which the residential area is located shall be
responsible for providing documentation to the department on the
percentage of original occupants still residing along the freeway.
The actual cost of construction shall be used in determining the
relative priority ranking of projects funded and constructed pursuant
to subdivision (d).
(b) When all freeways have been ranked in priority order, the
department shall, consistent with available funding, include in its
proposed state transportation improvement program, a program of
construction of noise attenuation barriers beginning with the highest
priority.
In preparing the annual priority list, the department shall not
add any new project to the list ahead of a project that has been
funded by a city or county, or by any other public agency using
public funds, and is awaiting state reimbursement pursuant to
subdivision (d).
(c) The commission shall include in the estimate adopted pursuant
to Section 14525 of the Government Code an annual and five-year
estimate of funds estimated to be available for noise attenuation
barriers along freeways. If any city or county constructs a noise
attenuation barrier along a freeway pursuant to subdivision (d), the
commission shall allocate funds for the project in the fiscal year
the project would have been eligible for funding based on the
department's priority list and the commission's fund estimate at the
time of approval of the project pursuant to subdivision (d).
(d) If any city, county, or public agency constructs a noise
attenuation barrier along a freeway using public funds prior to the
time that the barrier reaches a high enough priority for state
funding, then, when the funding priority is reached, the department
shall reimburse the city, county, or public agency without interest
for the cost of construction, but the reimbursement may not exceed
the cost of the department to construct the barriers. Reimbursement
shall be made only if the city, county, or public agency constructs
the noise attenuation barrier to the standards approved by the
department, follows bidding and contracting procedures approved by
the department or as specified in Section 20209.45 of the Public
Contract Code, and the project is approved by the commission.