BILL NUMBER: AB 427 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Pérez
FEBRUARY 14, 2011
An act to amend Section 8879.59 Sections
8879.57 and 8879.61 of the Government Code, relating to
transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 427, as amended, John A. Pérez. Transportation bond funds:
transit system safety.
Existing law, the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality,
and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, authorizes the issuance of
$19.925 billion of general obligation bonds for specified purposes.
Existing law requires the deposit of $1 billion of the bond proceeds
in the Transit System Safety, Security, and Disaster Response Account
to be used, upon appropriation, for capital projects that provide
increased protection against a security and safety threat, and for
capital expenditures to increase the capacity of transit operators to
develop disaster response transportation systems that can move
people, goods, and emergency personnel and equipment in the aftermath
of a disaster impairing that movement. Existing law designates
the California Emergency Management Agency as the administrative
agency for this account and requires the allocation of
25% of these funds for capital expenditures to regional public
waterborne transit agencies authorized to operate a regional public
water transit system, as specified, and requires the California
Emergency Management Agency to administer a grant application and
award program 60% of the funds in the account for
capital expenditures to transportation planning agencies, county
transportation commissions, and certain other transit-related
agencies, as specified, and 15% of the funds for capital expenditures
to specified intercity passenger rail systems and commuter rail
systems. Existing law provides that operators that receive those
funds for intercity passenger rail systems and commuter rail systems
are not eligible for those funds designated for capital expenditures
of transportation planning agencies, county transp
ortation commissions, and other specified transit-related agencies
.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions. instead authorize operators that receive
funds from the account for intercity passenger rail systems and
commuter rail systems to also be eligible for funds designated for
capital expenditures of transportation planning agencies, county
transportation commissions, and other specified transit-related
agencies. The bill would require an entity eligible to receive
allocations of any of those funds to submit a document within a
specified time to the California Emergency Management Agency that
indicates the intent to use the funds and would, if the document is
not submitted, authorize the California Emergency Management Agency
to reallocate the funds. The bill would require the California
Emergency Management Agency to notify a transportation planning
agency if funds allocated to an entity within the region of the
transportation planning agency are being reallocated and, if the
transportation planning agency provides a document to the California
Emergency Management Agency indicating its intent to distribute the
funds to transit operators or rail operators, would
require the funds to be allocated to the transportation planning
agency. The bill would authorize the California Emergency Management
Agency to allocate the funds on a competitive basis to an eligible
entity in a different region of the state if the transportation
planning agency does not receive an allocation to distribute funds to
transit operators and rail operators, as specified.
The bill would require the California Emergency Management Agency,
by May 1 of each year, to report to specified committees of the
Legislature and to the Legislative Analyst's Office with specified
information regarding projects selected for funding from the account,
including a list of transit entities that have not used those
allocated funds.
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 8879.57 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
8879.57. Funds made available, upon appropriation of the
Legislature, from the Transit System Safety, Security, and Disaster
Response Account, created in subdivision (h) of Section 8879.23,
shall be allocated as follows:
(a) (1) Sixty percent of available funds shall be allocated for
capital expenditures to agencies and transit operators eligible to
receive State Transit Assistance funds pursuant to Sections 99313 and
99314 of the Public Utilities Code. Of these funds, 50 percent shall
be allocated to eligible agencies using the formula in Section 99314
of the Public Utilities Code, and 50 percent shall be allocated to
eligible agencies using the formula in Section 99313 of the Public
Utilities Code, subject to the provisions governing funds allocated
under those sections. Funds allocated to the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission pursuant to Section 99313 of the Public
Utilities Code shall be suballocated to transit operators within its
jurisdiction pursuant to Section 99314 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2) Eligible capital expenditures shall include either of the
following:
(A) A capital project that provides increased protection against a
security or safety threat, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(i) Construction or renovation projects that are designed to
enhance the security of public transit stations, tunnels, guideways,
elevated structures, or other transit facilities and equipment.
(ii) Explosive device mitigation and remediation equipment.
(iii) Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear explosives
search, rescue, or response equipment.
(iv) Interoperable communications equipment.
(v) Physical security enhancement equipment.
(vi) The installation of fencing, barriers, gates, or related
security enhancements that are designed to improve the physical
security of transit stations, tunnels, guideways, elevated
structures, or other transit facilities and equipment.
(vii) Other security-related projects approved by the California
Emergency Management Agency.
(B) Capital expenditures to increase the capacity of transit
operators to develop disaster response transportation systems that
can move people, goods, and emergency personnel and equipment in the
aftermath of a disaster impairing the mobility of goods, people, and
equipment.
(b) (1) Twenty-five percent of available funds shall be allocated
for capital expenditures to regional public waterborne transit
agencies authorized to operate a regional public water transit
system, including the operation of water transit vessels, terminals,
and feeder buses, and not otherwise eligible to receive State Transit
Assistance funds as of the effective date of this article. Funds
shall be allocated for eligible capital expenditures that enhance the
capacity of regional public waterborne transit agencies to provide
disaster response transportation systems that can move people, goods,
and emergency personnel and equipment in the aftermath of a disaster
or emergency.
(2) Eligible capital expenditures include, but are not limited to,
the construction or acquisition of new vessels, the capital
improvement or construction of docks, terminals, or other waterborne
transit facilities, the purchase of related equipment, and the
construction of fueling facilities. A project shall (A) provide
capital facilities and equipment to a regional public waterborne
transit system that enhances the ability of the system to respond to
a regional emergency, (B) be included in a regional plan, including,
but not limited to, a regional plan for waterborne transit expansion
or disaster response preparedness, and (C) provide maximum
flexibility in responding to disasters or emergencies.
(c) (1) Fifteen percent of available funds shall be made available
for capital expenditures to the intercity passenger rail system
described in Section 14035 and to the commuter rail systems operated
by the entities specified in Section 14072 and in Section 99314.1 of
the Public Utilities Code. Operators who receive funding
pursuant to this subdivision shall not be eligible to receive funding
pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) Eligible capital expenditures shall include either of the
following:
(A) A capital project that provides increased protection against a
security or safety threat, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(i) Construction or renovation projects that are designed to
enhance the security of public transit stations, tunnels, guideways,
elevated structures, or other transit facilities and equipment.
(ii) Explosive device mitigation and remediation equipment.
(iii) Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear explosives
search, rescue, or response equipment.
(iv) Interoperable communications equipment.
(v) Physical security enhancement equipment.
(vi) The installation of fencing, barriers, gates, or related
security enhancements that are designed to improve the physical
security of transit stations, tunnels, guideways, elevated
structures, or other transit facilities and equipment.
(vii) Other security-related projects approved by the California
Emergency Management Agency.
(B) Capital expenditures to increase the capacity of transit
operators to develop disaster response transportation systems that
can move people, goods, and emergency personnel and equipment in the
aftermath of a disaster impairing the mobility of goods, people, and
equipment.
(d) (1) An entity that is eligible to receive funds pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (c) shall, within 45 days of the date the
Controller makes public the list of eligible recipients pursuant to
Section 8879.58, provide a document to the California Emergency
Management Agency that indicates the intent to use those funds. If
the entity does not submit the document required under this
paragraph, the funds allocated to the entity pursuant to subdivision
(a) or (c) shall be reallocated by the California Emergency
Management Agency in accordance with paragraph (2). This paragraph
also applies to transit operators receiving a suballocation from a
transportation planning agency, in which case the operator rather
than the transportation planning agency is required to provide the
document.
(2) The California Emergency Management Agency shall notify the
transportation planning agency if funds allocated to an entity within
the region of the transportation planning agency are being
reallocated pursuant to paragraph (1). The transportation planning
agency shall have 30 days to provide a document to the California
Emergency Management Agency indicating its intent to distribute those
funds to transit operators or rail operators for purposes authorized
under subdivision (a) or (c). An agency providing that document
shall receive an allocation of the funds. If the transportation
planning agency does not provide the document within 30 days, the
California Emergency Management Agency may allocate the funds on a
competitive basis to an entity in a different region of the state
that is an eligible entity under subdivision (a) or (c). An eligible
entity that is notified that it will be awarded these funds shall, as
a condition of receiving the funds, satisfy the requirements of
paragraph (1) within 45 days of being advised of the reallocation. As
used in this subdivision, "transportation planning agency" includes
the county transportation commission in counties that have such a
commission.
SEC. 2. Section 8879.61 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
8879.61. (a) Entities described in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c)
of Section 8879.57 receiving an allocation of funds pursuant to this
article shall expend those funds within three fiscal years of the
fiscal year in which the funds were allocated. Funds remaining
unexpended thereafter shall revert to the California Emergency
Management Agency, as applicable, for reallocation in subsequent
fiscal years.
(b) Entities that receive grant awards from funds allocated
pursuant to subdivisions (b) or (c)
subdivision (b) of Section 8879.57 are not eligible to receive
awards from the funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 8879.57.
(c) Funds appropriated for the program established by this article
in the Budget Act of 2007 shall be allocated consistent with the
allocation schedule established in Section 8879.57.
(d) On or before May 1 of each year, the California Emergency
Management Agency shall report to the Senate Committee on Budget and
Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate Committee
on Transportation and Housing, the Assembly Committee on
Transportation, and the Legislative Analyst's Office on its
activities under this article. The report shall include a summary of
the projects selected for funding during the fiscal year in which
awards were made, the status of projects selected for funding in
prior fiscal years, and a list of all transit entities that have not
used funds allocated to the transit entities pursuant to Section
8879.57.
SECTION 1. Section 8879.59 of the Government
Code is amended to read:
8879.59. (a) For funds appropriated from the Transit System
Safety, Security, and Disaster Response Account for allocation to
transit agencies eligible to receive funds pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 8879.57, the California Emergency Management Agency
shall administer a grant application and award program for those
transit agencies.
(b) Funds awarded to transit agencies pursuant to this section
shall be for eligible capital expenditures as described in
subdivision (b) of Section 8879.57.
(c) Prior to allocating funds to projects pursuant to this
section, the agency shall adopt guidelines to establish the criteria
and process for the distribution of funds described in this section.
Prior to adopting the guidelines, the agency shall hold a public
hearing on the proposed guidelines.
(d) For each fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for the
purposes of this section, the agency shall issue a notice of funding
availability no later than October 1.
(e) No later than December 1 of each fiscal year in which the
notice in subdivision (d) is issued, eligible transit agencies may
submit project nominations for funding to the agency for its review
and consideration. Project nominations shall include all of the
following:
(1) A description of the project, which shall illustrate the
physical components of the project and the security or emergency
response benefit to be achieved by the completion of the project.
(2) Identification of all nonbond sources of funding committed to
the project.
(3) An estimate of the project's full cost and the proposed
schedule for the project's completion.
(f) No later than February 1, the agency shall select eligible
projects to receive grants under this section and shall provide the
Controller with a list of the projects and the sponsoring agencies
eligible to receive an allocation from the account. Upon receipt of
this information, the Controller's office shall commence any
necessary actions to allocate funds to those agencies, including, but
not limited to, seeking the issuance of bonds for that purpose.
Grants awarded to eligible transit agencies pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 8879.57 shall be for eligible capital expenditures, as
described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of that section.