BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: sb 739
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  lowenthal
                                                         VERSION: 2/18/11
          Analysis by:  Jennifer Gress                   FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  April 5, 2011



          SUBJECT:

          Seaports:  infrastructure and air quality improvement plans

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill requires the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and 
          Oakland, by July 1, 2012, to assess their infrastructure and air 
          quality improvement needs, including assessing the total cost 
          for these projects and identifying potential sources of funding 
          for them.

          ANALYSIS:

          Ports are local government agencies governed by port commissions 
          that are responsible for developing, maintaining, and overseeing 
          the operation of shoreside facilities for the intermodal 
          transfer of cargo between ships, trucks, and railroads.  Some 
          ports have jurisdiction over affiliated airports (e.g., 
          Oakland), build and maintain terminals for the passenger cruise 
          ship industry, or manage marinas and other public facilities.  

          Existing law establishes 11 ports in the state:  Hueneme, 
          Humboldt Bay, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Redwood City, 
          Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Stockton.   
          Under current law, each port may establish a general plan and 
          port system improvements and prescribe the specifications for 
          such improvements.
          
           This bill  requires the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and 
          Oakland, by July 1, 2012, to assess their infrastructure and air 
          quality improvement needs, including assessing the total cost 
          for these projects and identifying potential sources of funding 
          for them.
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  . There have been several plans establishing lists of 




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            projects for goods movement infrastructure and for reducing 
            emissions from goods movement-related sources.  These plans, 
            however, are several years old and most do not identify the 
            sources of funding necessary to complete the projects.  

            The Goods Movement Emission Reduction Plan produced by the Air 
            Resources Board in 2006 estimated the costs to reduce 
            emissions associated with goods movement to be between $6 and 
            $10 billion.  The Goods Movement Action Plan, completed by the 
            Business, Transportation and Housing Agency in January 2007, 
            estimated goods movement infrastructure costs to exceed $20 
            billion over the following decade.  

            Proposition 1B, approved by voters in 2006, authorized the 
            sale of general obligation bonds for transportation purposes, 
            including $2 billion for trade infrastructure and $1 billion 
            for air quality mitigation.  These funds have been fully 
            programmed, leaving a gap of $23 to $27 billion in unmet need. 
             This bill, therefore, seeks to update the infrastructure and 
            air quality needs of the regions surrounding the state's 
            largest ports and to identify the sources funding necessary to 
            fill that gap.  
          
            The author argues that ensuring the completion of 
            infrastructure and air quality improvements in California is 
            especially important in light of increased competition from 
            ports on the East Coast and in the Southern United States, 
            noting that a project to widen the Panama Canal to allow for 
            more shipping between Asia and other parts of the U.S. is 
            expected to be completed in 2014.  

           2.Related legislation  .  This bill is nearly identical to SB 632 
            (Lowenthal), which this committee passed in 2009 on a 10 to 1 
            vote.  That bill was ultimately amended to deal with a 
            different subject matter.

           3.Double-referral  .  This bill is double-referred to this 
            committee and the Committee on Environmental Quality.  If this 
            committee passes the bill, it will then be referred to the 
            Environmental Quality Committee.

          
           POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on 
                     Wednesday,
                       March 30, 2011)





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               SUPPORT:  South Coast Air Quality Management District

          
               OPPOSED:  None received.