BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 441
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 441 (Monning)
As Amended June 4, 2012
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: | |(January 26, |SENATE: |23-14|(August 22, |
| | |2012) | | |2012) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Transportation Commission
(CTC) to attach to its guidelines for preparing regional
transportation plans a summary of policies, practices, or
projects that promote health that metropolitan planning
organizations can use in regional transportation plans.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Require the CTC to include in an attachment to the next
revision of its regional transportation plan guidelines, a
summary of the policies, practices, or projects that have been
employed by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) that
promote health and health equity.
2)Provide that the summary attachment may include, but is not
limited to, projects that implement any Safe Routes to Schools
program, as specified, multiuse recreational trails,
pedestrian and bicyclist pathways, and programs that serve
transportation needs in rural communities.
3)Declare the Legislature's intent to share in the voluntary
state guidance on regional transportation planning the
projects, programs, and practices that promote health and
health equity, as specified.
EXISTING LAW requires the CTC to adopt guidelines to govern the
regional transportation plans that the state-designed regional
transportation planning agencies and the federally-designated
MPOs prepare.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
AB 441
Page 2
1)Required the California Transportation Commission, in
consultation with appropriate state agencies and departments,
to include, at the next revision, voluntary health and health
equity factors, strategies, goals, and objectives in the
regional transportation plan guidelines.
2)Makes findings and declarations regarding the need to have
voluntary health guidelines in all policies.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, decisions about land use and
transportation have enormous influence on our health. The
Institute of Medicine argue that improving health in the 21st
century will require new approaches, including strategies to
deal with unhealthy buildings, urban congestion, poor housing,
poor nutrition, and environmentally-related stress. Research
shows that transportation and neighborhood design can directly
impact the likelihood of developing certain preventable health
conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, depression,
unintended injuries, and some cancers. Transportation policy is
directly linked to our health through its effects on physical
activity, air quality, and the risk of injury. Recent studies
have found that when public transportation is accessible, people
tend to walk or ride a bike to and from train stations and bus
stops, which increases their physical activity. Additionally
for every hour walked each day, a person's risk of obesity
decreases by 5%. The author believes that current regional
transportation plan (RTP) guidelines do not adequately address
how land use and transportation policies impact the health of
our state's residents.
The assumption underlying this bill is that there is a link
between the "built environment," such as streets, patterns of
both residential and commercial development, transit systems,
location of parks, and other features of human habitation, and
health issues such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, and traffic
fatalities. Because of this linkage, it is necessary, in the
opinion of the sponsors, to widen the scope of health planning.
To this end, the RTP guidelines provide a means to bring these
AB 441
Page 3
concerns to the attention of the transportation planning
community by appending examples of transportation programs and
projects that rely less on auto transportation and more on
walking, bicycling, and using public transit.
This bill requires the CTC to attach to its guidelines for
preparing regional transportation plans a summary of policies,
practices, or projects that promote health that MPOs can use in
RTPs.
Support arguments: According to the author, some regional
transportation planning agencies and MPOs are taking steps to
incorporate walking, bicycling, Safe Streets to School, and
other related activities that reduce author dependency and
encourage walking and related forms of mobility into their RTP.
Opposition arguments: The Placer County Transportation Planning
Agency states in opposition, "While the Board understands that
improving public health is an important issue, the Placer County
Transportation Planning Agency feels that the goals of AB 441
are already addressed in the method in which transit and
transportation projects are currently processed and therefore
has taken a position of oppose to AB 441."
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN:
0004299