BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 155 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 155 (Alejo) As Amended August 12, 2014 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: | |(May 30, 2013 ) |SENATE: |25-10|(August 18, | | | | | | |2014) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- (vote not relevant) Original Committee Reference: L. & E. SUMMARY : Allows the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (Agency) to use design-build contracting to construct a pipeline or tunnel that will connect two reservoirs that the Agency owns and operates. The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and instead: 1)Allow the Agency, upon approval by its Board of Directors (Board) to use the design-build (DB) process authorized under current law for counties to assign contracts for the design and construction of a project that will connect Lake San Antonio, located in Monterey County, and Lake Nacimiento, located in San Luis Obispo County (the lakes). 2)Specify that the project will connect the lakes with an underground tunnel or pipeline for the purpose of maximizing water storage, supply, and groundwater recharge at the lakes, and within the Salinas River Groundwater Basin (Basin) and the Salinas Valley (Valley) proper. 3)Require the Agency to ensure that the DB entity selected for the project enters into a project labor agreement (PLA) that will bind all of the contractors performing work on the project. 4)Provide that the Agency may utilize a DB process solely to award contracts for the project specified in this bill and for no other purpose. 5)Provide definitions for the authority granted under this bill and make a number of findings and declarations regarding the AB 155 Page 2 Valley, its economic benefits to the state, the impacts of drought conditions on the economic viability and agricultural production of the Valley, the role the lakes play in the Basin, prior Agency projects to improve water storage and groundwater recharge in the Basin, and the expected benefits of using DB in the Agency's proposal to connect the lakes. 6)Declare that a special law is necessary because of the unique circumstances of the Agency. 7)Provide chaptering language that allows the Agency to use instead the DB procedure for local agencies as established in SB 785 (Wolk) of the current legislative session, if that bill is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2015. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill provided that a current or former employee has a right to receive a copy of their payroll records. FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : 1)Monterey County Water Resources Agency. The Agency is a special act special district created as a flood control and water agency in Monterey County. The Agency manages Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio, two reservoirs that provide flood control, water supply and recreation in the Salinas Valley. Lake Nacimiento's watershed fills the Lake Nacimiento reservoir nearly three times faster than Lake San Antonio's watershed fills that reservoir. The Agency often releases water from Lake Nacimiento because it reaches its capacity, even when Lake San Antonio still has excess storage available. Agency officials have proposed building a tunnel or pipeline between Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio to redirect water from Lake Nacimiento that would otherwise be released out to sea and, instead, use it to fill excess capacity in Lake San Antonio. 2)Author's statement. According to the author, "AB 155 will authorize the Monterey County Water Resource Agency to award a design-build contract for the combined design and construction of a project to connect Lake San Antonio and Lake Nacimiento with an underground pipeline for the purpose of maximizing water storage, supply, and groundwater recharge. AB 155 Page 3 "The Salinas Valley contains some of the most fertile land in the world and is one of the largest agricultural production areas in the state. Due to the expansive economic impact of the areas agricultural production, a consistent and adequate water supply is needed to ensure the general economic well-being of the local economy and its contributions to the state. "The project considered under this bill will maximize overall water storage at the lakes by allowing the conveyance of water to Lake San Antonio for storage that may otherwise overflow from Lake Nacimiento. This will improve the benefits provided by the lakes and the Salinas Valley Water Project to the basin and the valley. It will mitigate the impact of the drought, and improve the economic viability of the valley, the environmental sustainability of the region, and agricultural production." 3)Design-build and public works projects. State law generally requires public agencies to invite bids for construction projects and then award contracts to the lowest responsible bidder. This design-bid-build method is the traditional approach to public works construction. Under the DB method, a single contract covers the design and construction of a project with a single company or consortium that acts as both the project designer and builder. The DB entity arranges all architectural, engineering, and construction services, and is responsible for delivering the project at a guaranteed price and schedule based upon performance criteria set by the public agency. The DB method can be set by the public agency. The DB method can be faster and, therefore, cheaper, than the design-bid-build method, but it requires a higher level of management sophistication since design and construction may occur simultaneously. Advocates for the DB method of contracting for public works contend that project schedule savings can be realized because only a single request for proposals is needed to select the project's designer and builder. The more traditional design-bid-build project approach requires the separate selection of the design consultant or contractor, completion of design, and then advertising for bids and selection of the construction contractor. Proponents add that DB allows the AB 155 Page 4 overlap of design and construction activities, resulting in additional time savings and lower project costs. By avoiding the delays and change orders that result from the traditional design-bid-build method of contracting, proponents argue that DB can deliver public works faster and cheaper. Detractors of DB contend that it eliminates competitive bidding, allows the private contractor or consortium to inspect and sign off on their own work, and increases project delivery costs. All counties can use the DB method to construct buildings and related improvements and wastewater treatment facilities that cost more than $2.5 million. Similarly, all cities can use DB to construct buildings and related improvements worth more than $1 million. A pilot program also permits cities, counties, and special districts to use DB to construct a total of 20 local wastewater treatment facilities, local solid waste facilities, or local water recycling facilities. The Legislature also has passed a number of bills authorizing some special districts to construct projects using DB. 4)LAO reports and recommendations on design-build. The LAO issued a report to the Legislature on February 3, 2005, titled Design-Build: An Alternative Construction System, which reported on all DB authorities granted to various types of government entities. After analyzing the claims of proponents and opponents and reviewing the experience of local agencies that were authorized to use DB at the time, the LAO recommended that "the Legislature grant design-build authority only to buildings and directly related infrastructure. There are more complex issues associated with other public works projects such as transportation, public transit, and water resources facilities. Evaluation of design-build as a construction delivery option for these other infrastructure facilities is beyond the scope of this report." In January of 2010 the LAO issued a second report, this time updating the Legislature on the use of DB by counties in California, based on data received from counties that utilized this methodology. In the report, LAO states that "although it was difficult to draw conclusions from the reports received about the effectiveness of design-build compared to other project delivery methods, we do not think that the reports provide any evidence that would discourage the Legislature AB 155 Page 5 from granting design-build authority to local agencies on an ongoing basis. In doing so, however, we recommend the Legislature consider some changes such as creating a uniform design-build statute, eliminating cost limitations, and requiring project cost to be a larger factor in awarding the design-build contract." 5)PLA. A PLA is a pre-hire agreement that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project. They are completed before any workers are hired to determine the wage rates and benefits of all employees working on the project and to agree to prevent any strikes, lockouts, or other work stoppages for the duration of the project. The terms of the agreement apply to all contractors and subcontractors who successfully bid on the project, union or non-union, and supersede any existing collective bargaining agreements. PLAs are used on both public and private projects, and their specific provisions are tailored by the contracting parties to meet the needs of a particular project. By governing and establishing work rules, pay rates, and dispute resolution processes for every worker on the project, PLAs can maximize project stability, efficiency and productivity. PLAs can also help minimize the risks and inconvenience to the public that can accompany public work projects, helping ensure that projects are completed on time and on or under budget. According to a 2001 California Research Bureau report, "PLAs are arguably the most important change in labor management relations in the construction industry in recent years. They have become a fairly common part of the organization of major construction projects in California? Construction of Shasta Dam, which ran from 1938 to 1944, was the first project involving a PLA in California. It was a remarkable success, at least in the sense that the project was completed without a labor strike, at a time when other projects in the western states were plagued with strikes and other labor disturbances. Other notable PLA projects in California include the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), San Francisco's Yerba Buena Project, Los Angeles' Blue Line, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the San Joaquin Hills Corridor toll road, the Eastside Reservoir Project (the reservoir now known as Diamond Valley), the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Labs, San Francisco International Airport's newest terminals, AB 155 Page 6 construction for several large school districts, and others. "Perhaps surprisingly, private construction projects in California are much more likely to use PLAs than are public projects? nearly three-quarters (of the projects reviewed for the report) were private sector agreements. In addition, 22 out of 23 private cogeneration electricity plants recently built or under construction in California used PLAs. "The legality of PLAs has been extensively tested in both federal and state courts, and with respect to both private and public construction projects. Their validity has been upheld in both federal and state cases? "PLAs involve some controversy, which fits within a 200 year-old tradition of dispute about the role of trade unions in America. In this case, the dispute comes especially from non-union contractors, who object to PLA requirements that they get their labor force from a union hiring hall and who argue that PLAs increase construction costs. Construction firms and owners who use PLAs judge that the cost savings from avoidance of labor disputes and strikes during a construction project outweigh any costs of complying with the PLA. They also value a PLA's role in resolving disputes between the many kinds of unions involved in a complex project over which union members should be doing particular tasks. Dispute also occurs between construction firms that use and value PLAs and those that do not." On February 6, 2009, United States President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order requiring the use of PLAs on Federal projects of $25 million or more. According to the order, PLAs promote efficient and timely completion of large-scale construction projects and prevent many of the problems inherent in such construction. PLAs are not mandated under California law. 6)Related legislation. SB 268 (Gaines), Chapter 18, Statutes of 2014, allows the Last Frontier Health Care District to use the design-build process when contracting for the construction of a building and improvements directly related to a hospital or health facility building at the Modoc Medical Center. SB 785, repeals existing law authorizing the Department of AB 155 Page 7 General Services (DGS), the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), and local agencies to use the design-build (DB) procurement process, and enacts uniform provisions authorizing DGS, CDCR, and local agencies to utilize the DB procurement process for specified public works projects. SB 785 is pending in the Assembly. SB 1433 (Hill) of the current legislative session, repeals the sunset date on transit operators' authority to use DB for transit projects, expands the number of entities eligible to exercise this authority, eliminates minimum cost thresholds, and deletes reporting requirements. SB 1433 is pending in the Assembly. 7)Prior legislation. SB 829 (Rubio), Chapter 11, Statutes of 2012, prohibited the use of state funds for any charter city public works projects if the charter city has banned the consideration of the use of PLAs. SB 922 (Steinberg), Chapter 431, Statutes of 2011, required PLAs for public works projects to include specified provisions, and prohibited the use of state funds for public works projects of charter cities that have ordinances banning the use of PLAs, beginning January 1, 2015. 8)Arguments in support. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors, in support, writes, "?capturing high Nacimiento River flows and diverting those flows to San Antonio Reservoir increases the overall storage capacity and effectiveness of the reservoir system. AB 155 provides the opportunity for expedited construction in the wake of the California drought. The drought has resulted in low reservoir levels, thus lowering drilling and construction costs since these activities will not be conducted underwater." 9)Arguments in opposition. The Western Electrical Contractors Association, the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association of California, the Associated Builders and Contractors - San Diego Chapter, and the Air Conditioning Trade Association, in opposition, state, "Unfortunately, (this bill includes) a mandate 'that the design-build entity selected for the project enters into a project labor agreement that will bind all of the contractors performing work on the project'? PLAs are very controversial in the construction industry. For the first time, (this) bill mandates that a AB 155 Page 8 local agency insist upon a PLA for a local construction project - a decision heretofore left to the local agency to decide." 10)Substantially amended. The subject matter of this bill has not been heard in any Assembly policy committee this legislative session. Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN: 0004660