BILL NUMBER: AB 1779 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Olsen )
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
An act to amend Sections 14031.8 and ,
14070.2 , and 14070.6 of, and to repeal and add
Article 5.4 (commencing with Section 14074) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code, relating to
transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1779, as amended, Galgiani. Intercity rail agreements.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to
contract with Amtrak for intercity rail passenger services and
provides funding for these services from the Public Transportation
Account. Existing law, until December 31, 1996, authorized the
department, subject to approval of the Secretary of Business,
Transportation and Housing, to enter into an interagency transfer
agreement under which a joint powers board assumes responsibility for
administering the state-funded intercity rail service in a
particular corridor. Existing law, with respect to a transferred
corridor, requires the board to demonstrate the ability to meet
performance standards established by the secretary.
This bill would authorize the department, with the approval of the
secretary, to enter into an additional interagency transfer
agreement with respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, as defined, if a
joint powers authority and governing board is
are created and organized. In that regard, the bill would
provide for the creation of the San Joaquin Corridor Joint Powers
Authority, to be governed by a board of not more than 11 members. The
bill would provide that the board shall be organized when at least 6
of the 11 agencies elect to appoint members. The bill would provide
for the authority to be created when the member-agencies
member agencies enter into a joint powers
agreement, as specified. Only those agencies that appoint members by
December 31, 2013, would be member-agencies
member agencies of the authority. The bill would provide
for future appointments of additional members if the service
boundaries of the San Joaquin Corridor are expanded.
Existing law provides for the allocation of state funds by the
secretary to a joint powers board under an interagency transfer
agreement based on the annual business plan for the intercity rail
corridor and subsequent appropriation of state funds.
This bill, with respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, would provide
that specified resources for transit purposes shall not be available
to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction, or
reclassification of state resources for operating intercity rail
services.
This bill would authorize the secretary to adopt new performance
standards by December 31, 2014, for intercity rail services. The
bill would make other related changes.
Existing law authorizes the department and any entity that assumes
administrative responsibility for passenger rail services through an
interagency transfer agreement to contract with specified entities
for the use of tracks and other facilities and for the provision of
passenger rail services.
This bill would require a contractor under an agreement described
above to agree that its labor relations shall be governed by a
specified federal act relating to labor relations on railroads.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Intercity Passenger Rail Act of 2012 for the San Joaquin Corridor.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) An intercity rail passenger system, linking major urban
centers and complemented by feeder bus services that provide access
to outlying areas and destinations, is an important element of the
state's transportation system, and shall remain a state-funded
program.
(2) The state has a continuing interest in the provision of
cost-effective intercity rail passenger services and has a
responsibility to coordinate intercity rail passenger services
statewide.
(3) Since 1976, the state has invested over one billion eight
hundred million dollars ($1,800,000,000) in capital improvements and
operating support for intercity rail passenger service and must
ensure the protection of that investment.
(4) Intercity rail service and ridership increases will result in
more jobs, improve air quality, and help promote sustainable
development.
(b) The Legislature, through the enactment of this act, intends
all of the following:
(1) The Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing shall be
responsible for the overall planning, coordination, and budgeting of
the intercity passenger rail service.
(2) If the secretary determines that transferring responsibility
for intercity rail service in a particular corridor or corridors to a
statutorily created joint powers agency would result in
administrative or operating cost reductions, the secretary may
authorize the Department of Transportation to enter into an
interagency transfer agreement to effect a transfer of those
administrative functions.
(3) Any intercity rail corridor for which administrative
responsibility has been transferred to a joint powers board through
an interagency transfer agreement shall remain as a component of the
statewide system of intercity rail corridors.
(4) The public interest requires expansion of the state intercity
rail program in order to keep pace with the needs of an expanding
population.
(5) For not less than a five-year period, the level of state
funding for intercity rail service in each corridor should be
maintained at a level equal to at least the current level of service
in the corridor, thus providing fiscal stability that will allow
appropriate planning and operation of these services.
SEC. 3. Section 14031.8 of the Government Code is amended to read:
14031.8. (a) The Secretary of Business, Transportation and
Housing shall establish, through an annual budget process, the level
of state funding available for the operation of intercity passenger
rail service in each corridor.
(b) Where applicable, operating funds shall be allocated by the
secretary to the joint powers board in accordance with an interagency
transfer agreement that includes mutually agreed-upon rail services.
Funds for the administration and marketing of services, as
appropriate, shall also be transferred by the secretary to the joint
powers board, subject to the terms of the interagency transfer
agreement.
(c) The joint powers board or local or regional entities may, but
shall not be required to, augment state-provided resources to expand
intercity passenger rail services, or to address funding shortfalls
in achieving agreed-upon performance standards. However,
notwithstanding Section 99233.4 or 99260.5 of, or subdivision (b) of
Section 99400 of, the Public Utilities Code, or any other provision
of law, the joint powers board or local or regional agencies relative
to the San Joaquin Corridor shall not use existing sources of
transit funding for this purpose, including, but not limited to,
funds made available under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, commonly
known as the Transportation Development Act (Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10, of the Public
Utilities Code), or under the State Transportation Assistance Program
pursuant to Sections 99313 and 99314 of the Public Utilities Code.
The joint powers board or local or regional agencies with regard to
the San Joaquin Corridor may identify and secure new supplemental
sources of funding for the purpose of expanding or maintaining
intercity rail passenger service levels, which may include state and
federal intercity rail resources.
(d) The department may provide any support services as may be
mutually agreed upon by the joint powers board and the department.
(e) Operating costs shall be controlled by dealing with, at a
minimum, the current Amtrak cost allocation formula, which, beginning
in federal fiscal year 2013-14, will be subject to Section 209 of
the federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, and the
ability to contract out to Amtrak or other rail operators as a part
of federal legislation dealing with Amtrak reauthorization.
(f) Not later than December 31, 1997, the secretary shall
establish a set of uniform performance standards for all corridors
and operators to control cost and improve efficiency. To the extent
necessary, as determined by the secretary, performance standards may
be modified not later than December 31, 2014, relative to including
the San Joaquin Corridor among the corridors subject to an
interagency transfer agreement.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, with
regard to the San Joaquin Corridor, local resources described in
subdivision (c) shall not be available for expenditure to offset any
redirection, elimination, reduction, or reclassification of state
resources for operating intercity rail services.
SEC. 4. Section 14070.2 of the Government Code is amended to read:
14070.2. (a) If authorized by the secretary, the department may,
through an interagency transfer agreement, transfer to a joint powers
board, and the board may assume, all responsibility for
administering intercity passenger rail service in the corridor. Upon
the date specified in the agreement, the board shall succeed to the
department's powers and duties relative to that service, except that
the department shall retain responsibility for developing budget
requests for the service through the state budget process, which
shall be developed in consultation with the board, and for
coordinating service in the corridor with other intercity passenger
rail services in the state.
(b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), the
interagency transfer agreement shall be executed on or before
December 31, 1996.
(2) With respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, the interagency
transfer agreement shall be executed on or before December 31, 2013.
(c) The secretary shall require the board to demonstrate the
ability to meet the performance standards established by the
secretary pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 14031.8.
SEC. 5. Section 14070.6 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
14070.6. The department and any entity that assumes
administrative responsibility for intercity passenger rail
services through an interagency transfer agreement, may, through a
competitive solicitation process, contract with the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) or with organizations not precluded
by state or federal law to provide intercity passenger
rail services, and may contract with rail corporations and other rail
operators for the use of tracks and other facilities and for the
provision of intercity passenger services on
terms and conditions as the parties may agree. The department is
deemed to be a third-party beneficiary of the contract, and the
contract shall not contain any provision or condition that would
negatively impact on or conflict with any other contracts the
department has regarding intercity passenger rail
services. Any entity that succeeds the department as sponsor of
state-supported intercity passenger rail services through
an interagency transfer agreement , is deemed an
agency of the state for all purposes related to intercity
passenger rail services, including Section 1614
5311 of Title 49 of the United States Code. If the
intercity passenger rail service is operated by a contractor, the
contractor shall, as a condition of entering into an operating
agreement with the entity, agree that its labor relations shall be
governed by the federal Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et
seq.).
SEC. 5. SEC. 6. Article 5.4
(commencing with Section 14074) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 6. SEC. 7. Article 5.4
(commencing with Section 14074) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 5 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
Article 5.4. San Joaquin Corridor
14074. As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Authority" or "San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority" means a
joint exercise of powers agency formed under Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 for purposes of assuming
administrative responsibility for the San Joaquin corridor
Corridor under an interagency transfer agreement
pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 14070).
(b) "Board" means the governing board of the San Joaquin Joint
Powers Authority established under Section 14074.2.
(c) "San Joaquin Corridor" or "corridor" means the Los
Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento-Oakland
Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento -San
Francisco Bay Area intercity passenger rail corridor.
14074.2. (a) There is hereby created the San Joaquin Joint Powers
Board, subject to being organized pursuant to subdivision (b).
The Except as otherwise provided in
subdivision (b), the board shall be composed of not more than
11 members, as follows:
(1) One member of the board of directors of the Sacramento
Regional Transit District, appointed by that board.
(2) One member of the board of directors of the San Joaquin
Regional Rail Commission, appointed by that board , who shall be
a resident of San Joaquin County .
(3) One member of the board of directors of the Stanislaus Council
of Governments, appointed by that board.
(4) One member of the board of directors of the Merced County
Association of Governments, appointed by that board.
(5) One member of the board of directors of the Madera County
Transportation Commission, appointed by that board.
(6) One member of the board of directors of the Fresno Council of
Governments, appointed by that board.
(7) One member of the board of directors of the Kings County
Association of Governments, appointed by that board.
(8) One member of the board of directors of the Tulare County
Association of Governments, appointed by that board.
(9) One member of the board of directors of the Kern Council of
Governments, appointed by that board.
(10) One member of the board of directors of a regional
transportation agency or rail transit operator that serves Contra
Costa County, appointed by ____, who shall be a resident of the
county.
(11) One member of a regional transportation agency or rail
transit operator that serves Alameda County, appointed by ____, who
shall be a resident of the county.
(b) The board shall be organized when at least six of the agencies
described in paragraphs (1) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (a)
elect to appoint a member to serve on the board. Only those agencies
that appoint members to serve on the board prior to December 31,
2013, shall be member-agencies member
agencies of the authority and be represented on the board.
However, if the rail service boundaries of the San Joaquin Corridor
are extended, an additional member from each additional county
receiving rail service may be added to the board through a decision
of the board.
14074.4. This authority shall be created only if the agencies
that would be represented on the board enter into a joint exercise of
powers agreement to form the agency.
14074.6. The board shall make its decisions in accordance with
the votes of its members, with a majority vote required for all
matters with the exception of the approval of the business plan
and , revisions to that plan, and
the addition of new members pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
14074.2, which shall require a two-thirds vote of the members.
14074.8. The Steering Committee of the Caltrans Rail Task Force
shall remain in existence. If a joint powers authority is formed
pursuant to this article and an interagency transfer agreement is
executed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14070.2, the Steering
Committee of the Caltrans Rail Task Force shall become the Steering
Committee of the San Joaquin Joint Powers Agency
Authority for the purpose of advising the joint powers
board.