BILL NUMBER: SB 1225 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 29, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
(Coauthor: Senator Correa)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Davis, Galgiani, and Williams)
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Sections 14031.9, 14070.3, 14070.5, and 14070.7 to,
and to repeal and add Article 5.2 (commencing with Section 14072) of
Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code,
relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1225, as amended, Padilla. Intercity rail agreements.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to
contract with Amtrak for intercity passenger rail 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 the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency, 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 LOSSAN Corridor, defined to mean the
intercity passenger rail corridor between San Diego, Los Angeles, and
San Luis Obispo, if the LOSSAN Agency, an existing joint powers
agency, is reconstituted through an amended joint powers agreement
approved by the governing boards of its members to enable that agency
to enter into an interagency transfer agreement with the secretary
relative to the LOSSAN Corridor.
This bill would require an interagency transfer agreement
for the LOSSAN Corridor to cover the initial 3-year period after the
transfer. The bill would require a transfer agreement, as
provided above, to be entered into by no
later than June 30, 2014 2015 ,
subject to negotiation and approval by the state and the LOSSAN
Corridor Joint Powers Agency. The bill would require the
agreement to cover the initial 3-year period after the transfer. If
an agreement is not entered into by that date, the bill would require
the secretary to report to the Governor and the Legislature by June
30, 2016, as specified.
Existing law requires the level of service to be funded by the
state pursuant to a transfer agreement to not be less than the
current number of intercity round trips operated in a corridor and
serving the same endpoints.
This bill would require the service funded by the state in the
LOSSAN Corridor to be at an appropriate level as determined
in the interagency transfer agreement, and would require the level of
funding provided by the state for intercity passenger rail service
in the corridor to be maintained at a level at least equal to the
current level of service provided in the corridor as of January 1,
2014, for not less than a 3-year period remain the
same during the first 3 years following the effective date of the
transfer agreement, and would require the LOSSAN Corridor Joint
Powers Agency to provide that level of service. The bill would
prohibit termination of feeder bus services except for specified
reasons .
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. Existing law
states that the interagency transfer agreement may provide that any
additional funds required to operate the passenger rail service
during a fiscal year shall be provided by the joint powers board from
jurisdictions that receive service.
This bill, with respect to the LOSSAN Corridor, would
instead provide that those funds may be provided by the board. The
bill, with regard to that corridor, would provide that local
resources shall not be available to offset any redirection,
elimination, reduction, or reclassification by the state of state
resources for operating intercity rail services. In addition, with
regard to that corridor, the bill would require the passenger rail
equipment used for intercity passenger rail services to be the same
type of equipment used on other state-funded intercity passenger rail
services. The bill would prohibit termination of feeder bus services
connecting the LOSSAN and San Joaquin Corridors except for specified
reasons. , if local resources are made
available for operating the intercity rail services, require a vote
of the local agency providing the resources, and would require the
concurrence of the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency in that
regard.
This bill would authorize the secretary to adopt new performance
standards by December 31, 2014, for intercity rail
services in the LOSSAN Corridor .
This bill would repeal now-obsolete provisions authorizing the
Southern California Regional Rail Authority to be a party to an
interagency transfer agreement for intercity rail services in
specified counties.
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.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) An intercity passenger rail 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 passenger rail services and has a
responsibility to coordinate intercity passenger rail services
statewide. Some state function needs to be sustained even if
the responsibility for the current operations on intercity passenger
rail routes is transferred.
(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 passenger rail 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
to shall be responsible for the overall
planning, coordination, and budgeting of the intercity passenger rail
service consistent with this act .
(2) If the secretary determines that transferring responsibility
for intercity passenger 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, consistent with this act.
(3) Any intercity passenger rail corridor for which administrative
responsibility has been transferred to a joint powers board through
an interagency transfer agreement to shall
remain a component of the statewide system of intercity
passenger rail corridors.
(4) The public interest requires expansion of the state intercity
passenger rail program in order to keep pace with the needs of an
expanding population.
(5) For not less than a three-year period following the
effective date of the interagency transfer agreement , the
level of state funding for intercity rail service in each corridor
should shall be maintained at a level
equal to at least the current level of service
funded by the state in the corridor as of the
effective date of the interagency transfer agreement , thus
providing fiscal stability that will allow appropriate planning and
operation of these services.
(6) It is in the public interest to ensure fiscal accountability
that the intercity passenger rail service operating in the LOSSAN
Corridor maintain a ratio of fare revenue to operating cost of no
less than 58 percent.
(7) It is in the public interest that the LOSSAN Corridor Joint
Powers Agency retain an individual to manage the contract with the
state who has previous experience operating or managing intercity or
commuter passenger rail services.
SEC. 3. Section 14031.9 is added to the Government Code, to read:
14031.9. (a) (1) This section shall apply only to the San
Diego-Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Corridor, and only if that
corridor is the subject of an interagency transfer agreement.
Section 14031.8 shall not apply to that corridor except as
specifically provided.
(2) 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 , including associated feeder bus service,
in the LOSSAN Corridor.
(b) Where applicable, operating funds shall be allocated by the
secretary to the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency in accordance
with the 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 LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency, subject to the
terms of the interagency transfer agreement.
(c) The LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency or local or
regional agencies may, but shall not be required to, augment
state-provided resources to expand intercity passenger rail services
using local resources, or to address funding shortfalls in achieving
agreed-upon performance standards. The LOSSAN Corridor Joint
Powers Agency or local or regional agencies may identify and secure
new supplemental sources of funding for the purpose of expanding or
maintaining intercity rail passenger rail service levels, which may
include state and federal intercity rail resources. Local resources
may be available to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction,
or reclassification by the state of state resources for operating
intercity rail services identified in subdivision (b) only if the
resources are dedicated by a vote of the local agency providing the
funds, with the concurrence of the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers
Agency.
(d) The department may provide any support services as may be
mutually agreed upon by the board LOSSAN
Corridor Joint Powers Agency and the department.
(e) Operating costs shall be controlled by dealing with, at a
minimum, the Amtrak cost allocation formula and the ability to
contract out to Amtrak or other rail operators as a part of federal
legislation dealing with Amtrak reauthorization.
(f) The performance standards adopted pursuant to
subdivision (f) of Section 14031.8 shall apply to the LOSSAN Corridor
to the extent it is among the corridors subject to an interagency
transfer agreement. To (1) Not
later than June 30, 2014, the secretary shall establish a set of
uniform performance standards for all corridors and
operators to control cost and improve efficiency.
(2) To the extent necessary, as
determined by the secretary, performance standards may be modified
not later than December 31, 2014, relative to the LOSSAN
Corridor to the extent it is among the corridors subject to an
July 30, 2015, or the effective date of the
interagency transfer agreement , whichever comes first .
(3) Feeder bus services that provide connections for intercity
rail passenger service shall not be terminated unless the bus
services fail to meet the cost-effectiveness standard described in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14035.2.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, local
resources described in subdivision (c) shall not be available for
expenditure to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction, or
reclassification by the state of state resources for operating
intercity passenger rail services as identified in subdivision (b).
SEC. 4. Section 14070.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:
14070.3. (a) If authorized by the secretary, the department may,
through an interagency transfer agreement, transfer to the LOSSAN
Corridor Joint Powers Agency, and that agency may assume, all
responsibility for administering state-funded intercity passenger
rail service , including associated feeder bus service, in
the San Diego-Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Corridor. Upon
the date specified in the agreement, the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers
Agency 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 ,
consistent with the annual business plan as approved by
the secretary for the service, through the state budget
process, which shall be developed in consultation with that agency,
and for coordinating service in the corridor with other intercity
passenger rail services in the state.
(b) With respect to the LOSSAN Corridor, an interagency transfer
agreement pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
may be entered into on or before June 30, 2014, but not
later than June 30, 2015, subject to negotiation and approval
by the state and the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency. The
interagency transfer agreement between the department and the LOSSAN
Corridor Joint Powers Agency shall cover the initial three-year
period after the transfer, but may be extended thereafter by mutual
agreement. If an interagency agreement is not entered into on or
before June 30, 2015, the secretary shall provide a report to the
Governor and the Legislature on or before June 30, 2016, explaining
why an acceptable agreement has not been developed, with specific
recommendations for developing an acceptable interagency agreement.
(c) The secretary shall require the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers
Agency to demonstrate the ability to meet the performance standards
established by the secretary pursuant to subdivision (f) of
Section 14031.8 or subdivision (f) of Section 14031.9
, whichever is applicable .
(d) Section 14070.2 shall not apply to the LOSSAN Corridor.
SEC. 5. Section 14070.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:
14070.5. (a) An interagency transfer agreement between the
department and the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency, when approved
by the secretary, shall do all of the following:
(1) Specify the date and conditions for the transfer of
responsibilities and identify the annual level of funding for
the initial three years following the transfer and ensure that
the level of funding is consistent with and sufficient for the
planned service improvements within the LOSSAN Corridor. The
interagency transfer agreement shall cover the initial three-year
period after the transfer, but may be extended thereafter by mutual
agreement.
(2) Identify, for the initial year and subsequent years, the funds
to be transferred to the agency including state operating subsidies
made available for intercity rail services in the corridor, and funds
currently used by the department for administration and marketing of
the corridor, with the amounts adjusted annually for inflation and
in accordance with the business plan.
(3) Specify the level of service to be provided, the respective
responsibilities of the agency and the department, the methods that
the department will use to ensure the coordination of services with
other rail passenger and feeder bus services in the state,
and the methods that the department will use for the annual review
of the business plan and annual proposals on funding and
appropriations.
(4) Describe the terms for transferring to
of use by the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency of
car and locomotive train sets, and other equipment and property
owned by the department and required for intercity passenger rail
service in the LOSSAN Corridor, including, but not limited to, the
number of units to be provided, liability coverage, maintenance and
warranty responsibilities, and indemnification issues.
(5) Describe auditing responsibilities and process requirements,
reimbursement and billing procedures, the responsibility for funding
shortfalls, if any, during the course of each fiscal year, an
operating contract oversight review process, performance standards
and reporting procedures, the level of rail infrastructure
maintenance, and other relevant monitoring procedures. The
description shall contain an evaluation of the impact of any transfer
of equipment on other intercity corridors. The agreement shall
endeavor to minimize the impact and maximize the efficient use of the
equipment, including continued joint use of equipment that is
currently shared by one or more corridors.
(b) Use of the annual state funding allocation, as set forth in
the interagency transfer agreement, shall be described in an annual
business plan submitted by the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency to
the secretary for review and recommendation by April 1 of each year.
The business plan, when approved by the secretary, shall be deemed
accepted by the state. The budget proposal developed by the
department for the subsequent year shall be based upon the business
plan approved by the secretary. The business plan shall be consistent
with the interagency transfer agreement, and shall include a report
on the recent as well as historical performance of the corridor
service, an overall operating plan including proposed service
enhancements to increase ridership and provide for increased traveler
demands in the corridor for the upcoming year, short-term and
long-term capital improvement programs, funding requirements for the
upcoming fiscal year, and an action plan with specific performance
goals and objectives. The business plan shall document service
improvements to provide the planned level of service, inclusion of
operating plans to serve peak period work trips, and consideration of
other service expansions and enhancements. The initial business plan
shall be consistent with the immediately previous State Rail Plan
developed by the department pursuant to Section 14036 and the
January 2014 business plan developed by the High-Speed Rail Authority
pursuant to Section 185033 of the Public Utilities Code. Subsequent
business plans shall be consistent with the immediately previous
plans developed by the department and the authority . The
business plan shall clearly delineate how funding and accounting for
state-sponsored intercity passenger rail services shall be separate
from locally sponsored services in the corridor. Proposals to expand
or modify intercity passenger rail services shall be accompanied by
the identification of all associated costs and ridership projections.
The business plan shall establish, among other things: fares,
operating strategies, capital improvements needed, and marketing and
operational strategies designed to meet performance standards
established in the interagency transfer agreement.
(c) Based on the annual business plan and the subsequent
appropriation by the Legislature the secretary shall allocate state
funds on an annual basis to the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency.
As provided in the interagency transfer agreement, any additional
funds that are needed to operate the passenger rail service during a
fiscal year may shall be provided by
the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency from jurisdictions that
receive service. In addition, the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency
may use any cost savings or farebox revenues to provide service
improvements related to intercity service. In any event, the agency
shall report the fiscal results of the previous year's operations as
part of the annual business plan.
(d) (1) The level of service funded by the state in the LOSSAN
Corridor shall be at an appropriate level as determined in the
interagency transfer agreement.
(2) For not less than a three-year period, the level of state
funding for intercity passenger rail service in the LOSSAN Corridor
shall be maintained at a level equal to at least the current level of
service provided in the corridor as of January 1, 2014.
(3) Subject to Section 14035.2, the level of funding provided by
the state in the LOSSAN Corridor shall also include funding at the
same level provided as of January 1, 2013, for feeder bus service
that is operated in conjunction with the trains. However, the
interagency transfer agreement shall not prohibit the LOSSAN Corridor
Joint Powers Agency from reducing the number of feeder bus route
miles if it determines that a feeder bus route is not cost effective
as provided in Section 14035.2.
(e)
Feeder bus services that provide connections for intercity rail
passengers from the LOSSAN Corridor to the state-supported San
Joaquin passenger rail service shall not be terminated unless the bus
services fail to meet the cost-effectiveness standard described in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14035.2.
(d) The level of service funded by the state during the first
three years following the effective date of the transfer agreement
shall in no case be less than the number of intercity round trips
operated in a corridor and serving the end points currently served by
the intercity rail corridor as of the effective date of the
interagency transfer agreement. Subject to Section 14035.2, the level
of service funded by the state shall also include feeder bus service
with substantially the same number of route miles as the current
feeder system, to be operated in conjunction with the trains. For
that same three-year period, the LOSSAN Corridor Joint Powers Agency
shall continue to provide at least the same level of intercity rail
and feeder bus services as were in operation on the effective date of
the interagency transfer agreement, except that the interagency
transfer agreement shall not prohibit the agency from reducing the
number of feeder bus route miles if the agency determines that a
feeder bus route is not cost effective as provided in Section
14035.2.
(f)
(e) Nothing in this article shall be construed to
preclude expansion of state-approved intercity passenger rail
service.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, local
resources described in subdivision (c) shall not be available for
expenditure to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction, or
reclassification by the state of state resources for operating
intercity passenger rail services.
(h) The passenger rail equipment regularly used for intercity
passenger rail service on the LOSSAN Corridor shall be the same type
of equipment regularly used on other intercity corridors funded by
the state. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that there is
a statewide pool of common intercity passenger rail equipment for
purposes of interoperability among the state-funded corridors and for
vehicle fleet management.
(f) Local resources may be available to offset any redirection,
elimination, reduction, or reclassification by the state of state
resources for operating intercity rail services identified in
subdivision (b) only if the local resources are dedicated by a vote
of the local agency providing the funds, with the concurrence of the
LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency.
(i)
(g) Section 14070.4 shall not apply to the LOSSAN
Corridor.
SEC. 6. Section 14070.7 is added to the Government Code, to read:
14070.7. The department and the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, to
the extent the agency assumes administrative responsibility for
intercity passenger rail services on the LOSSAN Corridor through an
interagency transfer agreement, may, through a competitive
solicitation process, contract with Amtrak or with organizations
authorized 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 the tracks and other facilities and for the
provision of intercity passenger rail 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. The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency,
if it succeeds the department as sponsor of state-supported intercity
passenger rail services on the LOSSAN Corridor through an
interagency transfer agreement, is deemed to be an agency of the
state for all purposes related to intercity passenger rail services,
including Section 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 LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, agree that its labor
relations shall be governed by the federal Railway Labor Act (45
U.S.C. Sec. 151 and following).
Section 14070.6 shall not apply to the LOSSAN Corridor.
SEC. 7. Article 5.2 (commencing with Section 14072) of Chapter 1
of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Article 5.2 (commencing with Section 14072) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
to read:
Article 5.2. LOSSAN Corridor
14072. (a) The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, also known as the
LOSSAN Agency, is an existing joint powers authority established to
provide an organization capable of implementing the recommendations
contained in the State Rail Corridor Study Group's June 1987 report
entitled "Los Angeles-San Diego State Rail Corridor Study" and
undertaking related efforts to improve intercity services and
facilities in the corridor and to coordinate subcorridor commuter
rail services with intercity services. The LOSSAN Agency is composed
of voting members, as specified in the joint powers agreement.
(b) "LOSSAN Corridor" or "LOSSAN Rail Corridor" means the San
Diego-Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo intercity passenger rail corridor.
14072.2. This article shall be applicable only if the members of
the LOSSAN Agency enter into an amended joint powers agreement to
expand the authority of the agency to permit the administration of
state-funded intercity passenger rail services on the LOSSAN
Corridor, and the LOSSAN Agency thereafter elects to become a party
to an interagency transfer agreement pursuant to Article 5
(commencing with Section 14070). The amended joint powers agreement
shall establish the terms and conditions for the joint powers agency
and is subject to the approval of the governing board of each member
agency of the LOSSAN Agency. Only the LOSSAN Agency operating under
the amended joint powers agreement, and not the LOSSAN Agency
existing on January 1, 2013, may exercise jurisdiction over intercity
rail services on the LOSSAN Corridor under an interagency transfer
agreement.