BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1770 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1770 (Bonnie Lowenthal) As Introduced February 17, 2012 Majority vote TRANSPORTATION 14-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Bradford, Charles | | |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |Galgiani, Logue, Miller, | |Mitchell, Norby, Solorio | | |Norby, Portantino, | | | | |Solorio | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | | | |Nielsen, Wagner | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Clarifies that the California Transportation Financing Authority (CTFA) may approve rail projects that are, or include, rolling stock; also provides that a project may be eligible for financing under CTFA if it is owned or operated (rather than owned and operated) by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) or other project sponsor. EXISTING LAW : 1)Establishes CTFA within the Office of the Treasurer to assist transportation agencies in obtaining financing to construct transportation projects; specifies the membership of CTFA, as follows: a) The Treasurer, who shall serve as the Chair of CTFA; b) The Director of Finance; c) The State Controller; d) The Director of Transportation; e) The Executive Director of the California Transportation AB 1770 Page 2 Commission (CTC); f) A local agency representative appointed by the Senate Rules Committee; and, g) A local agency representative appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. 1)Sets forth the objective of CTFA, which is to increase the construction of new capacity or improvements for the state transportation system in a manner that is consistent with and will help meet the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals, air quality improvement goals, and natural resource conservation goals, through the issuance of, or the approval of the issuance of, bonds that are backed, in whole or in part, by specified transportation-related revenues. 2)For purposes of identifying projects that are eligible for consideration by CTFA, defines "project" to include all or a portion of planning, design, development, finance, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, acquisition, lease, operation, or maintenance of a highway, public street, rail, or related facility. 3)Defines "project sponsor" to include Caltrans, a regional transportation planning agency, a county transportation commission, any other local or regional transportation entity designated in statute as a regional transportation agency, a joint exercise of powers authority, or an agency designated to provide the county transportation plan in the Bay Area region. 4)Specifies the requirements that a project must meet to be considered for financing or refinancing through CTFA, including: a) The project must comply with all relevant statutes applicable to the planning, programming, and construction of transportation projects; b) The project must be contained in the constrained portion of a conforming regional transportation plan that is consistent with the greenhouse gas reduction targets assigned by the Air Resources Board; AB 1770 Page 3 c) For highway projects, the project sponsor must have secured the support of Caltrans and the project must be consistent with the needs and requirements of the state's highway system; d) The project must be financially and technically feasible; e) The project must meet or exceed environmental requirements and must have all necessary permits approved; f) The project must have performance measures to monitor its progress; g) The project must have community support, as demonstrated through a public review and comment process; and, h) For highway projects, the project sponsor must submit to CTC a plan that demonstrates how transit service or alternative modes of transportation will be enhanced in the corridor concurrent with the operator of a toll facility. 1)Requires CTFA to determine that the revenues and other moneys available for a project will be sufficient to pay debt service on the bonds as well as operation and maintenance costs for the project over the life of the bonds. 2)Allows CTFA to authorize a project sponsor to impose and collect tolls as one source of funding, if the project meets prescribed requirements. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor fiscal impact. According to the Governor's 2012-13 budget proposal, the CFTA is not expected to be operable before June 30, 2013. Nevertheless, the minor changes proposed in this bill would not significantly increase the CTFA's workload in the future. COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is intended to facilitate CTFA's ability to finance, or assist in financing, transportation projects. To this end, the bill provides clarification that rolling stock may be considered a rail AB 1770 Page 4 project or part of a rail project. This bill also provides that a project sponsor may be either an owner or an operator to seek financing through CTFA and need not be both the owner and operator. According to the author, this change is not intended to alter the original scope of authority granted to CTFA in its enabling statutes but, instead, to allow for greater flexibility for a project sponsor that is considering applying to CTFA for toll or bond issuance authority. Transportation projects are complex and may involve multiple entities. This change would provide flexibility in how the project sponsor may partner with other entities to build, operate and maintain a toll project. Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0003311