BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 468|
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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 468
          Author:   Kehoe (D)
          Amended:  8/31/11 
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE NATURAL RES. AND WATER COMMITTEE  :  5-3, 4/12/11
          AYES:  Pavley, Evans, Kehoe, Padilla, Wolk
          NOES:  La Malfa, Cannella, Fuller
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Simitian

           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  6-2, 5/3/11
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio, 
            Simitian
          NOES:  Gaines, Harman
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Huff

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-2, 5/26/11
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Runner
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Emmerson

           SENATE FLOOR  :  24-15, 6/1/11
          AYES:  Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, 
            Evans, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, Liu, 
            Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, 
            Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, Wolk, Wright, Yee
          NOES:  Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cannella, Correa, 
            Dutton, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Huff, La Malfa, 
            Strickland, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Not available
                                                           CONTINUED





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            SUBJECT  :    Department of Transportation:  
                      capacity-increasing state highway projects:  
                      coastal zone

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill sets forth comprehensive requirements 
          and accompanying authority for development of the North 
          Coast Corridor Project (NCCP) in and near the Interstate 5 
          corridor in San Diego County.

           Assembly Amendments  (1) clarify that collaboration between 
          agencies include the public works plan and the San Diego 
          Association of Governments (SANDAG) recommend a freeway 
          width alternative no wider the "8+4" lanes to Caltrans, (2) 
          clarify the role of the Coastal Commission regarding it 
          review of rail projects within the North Coast Corridor, 
          (3) define an additional requirement for the development of 
          a public works plan, (4) define the NCCP and how the 
          agreement between agencies is recognized by the 
          Legislature, and (5) delete the requirement that the 
          SANDAG, the North County Transit District, and the 
          California Department of Transportation cooperatively 
          develop a single transit improvement plan for the State 
          Highway Route 5 corridor.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law:

          1. Provides that the Department of Transportation 
             (Caltrans) has full possession and control of the state 
             highway system. 

          2. Imposes various requirements for the development and 
             implementation of transportation projects.

          3. Authorizes SANDAG to conduct, administer, and operate a 
             value pricing high-occupancy toll lane program on two 
             corridors included in the high-occupancy vehicle lane 
             system in San Diego County.

          This bill: 







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          1. Makes findings and declarations regarding issues related 
             to development of the NCCP in the coastal zone. 

          2. Defines key terms, including: 

             A.    "8+4 Buffer Alternative" to mean the addition of a 
                multimodal managed lane facility consisting of two 
                lanes on either side of Interstate 5 (I-5) within the 
                North Coast Corridor, separated from general purpose 
                lanes and, to the maximum extent feasible, built 
                within existing rights-of-way owned by the Caltrans.  
                High-occupancy vehicles (HOVs), vanpools, and one or 
                more bus rapid transit routes will have priority in 
                the managed lanes.  Furthermore, value pricing 
                techniques will allow single-occupant vehicles to use 
                the facility by paying a toll, as long as 
                single-occupant vehicle use does not negatively 
                impact the transit uses of the managed lanes; the 8+4 
                buffer alternative is one of the five different 
                alternatives identified in the draft environmental 
                impact report/draft environmental impact statement 
                for the expansion of vehicle capacity on I-5; and, 

             B.    "Public works plan" to mean a plan that allows for 
                an integrated regulatory review by the California 
                Coastal Commission (Commission) rather than a 
                project-by-project approval approach. 

          3. Provides that a public works plan approved for the NCCP 
             within the coastal zone must include all of the elements 
             of the project to be carried out by Caltrans or the 
             SANDAG, including projects related to coastal access, 
             highway, transit, multimodal transportation, community 
             enhancement, and environmental restoration and 
             mitigation; sets forth specific conditions that the 
             public works plan must satisfy. 

          4. Provides that once the public works plan for the NCCP 
             has been approved and certified by the Commission, 
             subsequent review by the Commission for specific 
             projects will be limited to imposing conditions 
             necessary to ensure consistency with the public works 
             plan. 







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          5. Sets forth comprehensive requirements that the public 
             works plan must satisfy, including providing a process 
             for obtaining coastal development permits, identifying 
             specific project elements, and establishing mitigation 
             measures to be undertaken by SANDAG and Caltrans. 

          6. Requires Caltrans and SANDAG, for all elements of the 
             NCCP that are in the coastal zone, to comply with 
             specific requirements, including: 

             A.    Collaborate with stakeholders; 

             B.    Establish a safe routes to transit program; 

             C.    Recommend an alternative no larger than the 8+4 
                buffer alternative as the preferred alternative for 
                I-5 improvements; 

             D.    Plan and construct concurrent lagoon crossings, 
                unless construction in phases will result in 
                environmentally superior alternative to concurrent 
                construction; 

             E.    Construct concurrent highway and transit projects; 
                and, 

             F.    Use revenue from the voter-approved transaction 
                and use tax, commonly referred to as TransNet, to 
                fund improvements on the Los Angeles-San Diego-San 
                Luis Obispo rail corridor. 

          7. Directs the Commission, Caltrans, and SANDAG to work 
             cooperatively toward completing all design reviews, 
             determinations, and permitting for the NCCP. 

          8. Makes legislative findings that the Commission's role in 
             this project is to apply a regional or statewide 
             perspective and authorizes a streamlined process related 
             to local coastal programs. 

          9. Sets forth other parameters to guide the project through 
             the environmental process. 








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          10.Requires Caltrans to suspend any notice of determination 
             issued this calendar year until the project's 
             environmental documents are deemed consistent with 
             provisions of this bill. 

          11.Provides that this bill's provisions are not to be 
             construed to supersede or in any way lessen the effect 
             or application of the California Coastal Act or to 
             narrow the authority of the Commission to resolve policy 
             conflicts. 

          12.Authorizes SANDAG to conduct, administer, and operate a 
             value pricing and transit development program in the I-5 
             corridor; directs any excess revenue to be used directly 
             in the I-5 corridor exclusively for the improvement of 
             transit service and for HOV facilities.
           
          Background
           
          Caltrans is responsible for the development, operations, 
          maintenance, and reconstruction of state highways, and it 
          also plans and operates through contracts with Amtrak, 
          California's intercity passenger rail service.  When 
          Caltrans develops capacity increasing projects, it usually 
          carries out this activity in concert with the regional 
          transportation planning agency for the area in which the 
          project is located.

          SANDAG is the regional transportation planning agency for 
          the County of San Diego, a single county planning region.  
          SANDAG is responsible for long-term, multi-modal 
          transportation planning, the prioritization transportation 
          projects, and developing fundable transportation capital 
          outlay program.  SANDAG also oversees the operation of 
          public transportation services in the county. 

          The Commission, established by voter initiative in 1972 
          (Proposition 20) and later made permanent when the 
          Legislature adopted the California Coastal Act of 1976, is 
          a 12 member, independent, quasi-judicial state agency with 
          regulatory responsibility for permitting projects 
          constructed in the coastal zone.  It oversees the 
          implementation of various policies that address issues such 
          as shoreline public access and recreation, lower cost 







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          visitor accommodations, terrestrial and marine habitat 
          protection, visual resources, landform alteration, 
          agricultural lands, commercial fisheries, industrial uses, 
          water quality, offshore oil and gas development, 
          transportation investments, development design, power 
          plants, ports, and public works.  The Coastal Act 
          establishes a band along the state's coastline that varies 
          in width from several hundred feet in urban areas to as 
          much as five miles inland in rural areas of the state, 
          which constitutes the jurisdiction of the Commission.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  Yes

          According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this 
          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.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/30/11)

          Associated General Contractors 
          California Coastal Commission
          California State Council of Laborers
          Move San Diego
          Planning and Conservation League
          San Diego Association of Governments 
          San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author introduced this bill in 
          response to the proposed widening of I-5 in San Diego 
          County.  This bill applies to the entire coastal zone, but 
          the most significant highway project is the San Diego 
          project.  In November 2010, the Senate Transportation and 
          Housing Committee held an informational hearing on the 







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          project, which over 200 people attended, in Solana Beach, a 
          city in the NCCP area.  Caltrans, SANDAG, and the chair of 
          the Air Resources Board participated. 

          In comments to Caltrans on the I-5 draft environmental 
          impact report (DEIR), the author wrote: "Simply proposing 
          to construct wider freeways to get us through the next 40 
          years will not do when the level of service would not be 
          improved to a significant level.  The public clearly wants 
          realistic transit options and is committed to reducing 
          greenhouse gas emissions, as evidence by the strong vote in 
          November, 2010, rejecting Proposition 23 that would have 
          suspended implementation of AB 32 in California".

          The initiation and development of highway projects is a 
          joint effort between Caltrans and the local regional 
          transportation planning agency, SANDAG in the case of 
          improvements to I-5 in San Diego.  I-5 is an important 
          interregional and intracounty highway.  Currently, about 
          200,000 vehicles use the highway on a daily basis, and 
          SANDAG forecasts in 2030 that usage will increase to 
          300,000 vehicles, a 50 percent increase.  Caltrans and 
          SANDAG initiated defining various freeway improvement 
          options in late 1997, with Caltrans approving the actual 
          project alternatives in January, 2000.  The environmental 
          analysis of the project alternatives began in 2004.  Today, 
          the travel time during commute hours from end-to-end of the 
          27 mile corridor is 38 minutes.  If no improvements are 
          made, SANDAG forecasts the travel time to be 70 minutes in 
          2030.  On the other hand, if a 14-lane freeway (10 
          conventional lanes and for managed lanes) is constructed, 
          the travel time will be 37 minutes, while constructing a 
          twelve lane freeway, travel time will increase to 45 
          minutes.  The passenger rail service is expected to offer 
          32 minute service.


          CTW:kc  9/7/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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