BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 468
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Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 468 (Kehoe) - As Amended: August 15, 2011
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:9-2
Natural Resources 5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a coordinated effort between Caltrans, the
California Coastal Commission, and the San Diego Association of
Governments (SANDAG) to develop a public works plan for the
North Coast Corridor Project (NCCP)-a 27-mile long series of
projects within the coastal zone in San Diego County, including
improvements to a segment of I-5 and the Los Angeles-San
Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) rail corridor. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires that the public works plan approved for the NCCP
within the coastal zone include all of the applicable elements
of the NCCP to be carried out by Caltrans or SANDAG, including
coastal access, highway, transit, multimodal transportation,
community enhancement, and environmental restoration and
mitigation.
2)Provides that once the public works plan for the NCCP has been
approved and certified by the commission, subsequent
commission review for specific projects will be limited to
imposing conditions necessary to ensure consistency with the
public works plan.
3)Requires that the public works plan include a process to
obtain coastal development permits, identify specific project
elements, and establish mitigation measures and a process by
which mitigation measures can be applied to subsequent project
phases.
4)Requires Caltrans and SANDAG, for all elements of the NCCP in
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the coastal zone, to meet specified requirements, including
concurrent construction of both rail and highway bridges that
cross lagoons and of highway, multimodal, and mitigation
projects within each phase of the public works plan, and
development of a safe routes to transit program integrating
the regional bike plan with transit.
5)Authorizes SANDAG to conduct, administer, and operate a value
pricing and transit development program on the I-5 corridor,
and to reimburse Caltrans and the CHP for work associated with
the establishment and implementation of this program.
6)Directs SANDAG, the North County Transit District, and
Caltrans to cooperatively develop a single transit improvement
plan for the I-5 corridor.
FISCAL EFFECT
The bill will likely result in the need for additional upfront
resources at Caltrans (likely exceeding $150,000) for
coordination activities related to completion of the public
works plan. Caltrans would also incur costs of around $100,000
to support development of the mandated safe routes to transit
program. To the extent the framework and processes established
in this bill help to expedite individual projects over the life
of the NCCP, the state should realize significant administrative
and capital outlay cost savings.
Any costs to the commission should be absorbable.
COMMENTS
Background and Purpose . The NCCP is a 27-mile long series of
projects between the City of San Diego and the City of Oceanside
that includes improvements to a segment of I-5 and the LOSSAN
rail corridor, which is the second most frequently traveled rail
segment in the country. According to the author, the project is
estimated to take up to 40 years to complete and cost between
$3.4 billion and $4.5 billion.
Caltrans is working with the federal government and SANDAG to
develop a plan to accommodate increased capacity within the
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North Coast Corridor that includes heavy rail, bus rapid
transit, bikeways, and other transit options, in addition to
freeway expansion, the use of managed lanes, and other highway
improvements.
Coastal development permits issued by the commission are
required for projects within the coastal zone. SB 468 will allow
for an integrated regulatory review of the NCCP by the
commission, rather than project-by-project approval, thus
providing an expedited process that describes, evaluates, and
establishes mitigation for highway, transit, multimodal,
community enhancement, and environmental mitigation projects
within the North Coast Corridor.
Once the public works plan prepared by SANDAG and Caltrans is
approved by the commission, projects will only be reviewed by
the commission for consistency with the plan prior to issuance
of a coastal development permit.
According to the author, this bill ensures that Caltrans and
SANDAG work together to identify, fund, and complete multimodal
transit solutions in coordination with constructing managed
lanes or other freeway improvements. This is intended to ensures
that those living and working within the North Coast Corridor
will have viable and convenient transit options during the
40-year period that freeway improvements are underway.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081