BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 466
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 466 (Quirk-Silva)
As Amended August 29, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-0 |(May 9, 2013) |SENATE: |38-0 |(September 3, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Directs the apportionment of federal Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program funds.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Updates references to federal law to reflect the newly enacted
federal transportation legislation known as the Moving Ahead
for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
2)Directs the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
apportion the CMAQ funds to metropolitan planning
organizations according to weighted factors that are virtually
identical to factors that were previously specified in federal
law.
3)Deletes obsolete references.
The Senate amendments clarify that the distribution of CMAQ
funds is to take into consideration federal requirements related
to particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM
2.5); make other, technical amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Directs all CMAQ funds to metropolitan planning organizations
and transportation planning agencies that are responsible for
air quality conformity determinations in federally designated
air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas within the
state.
2)Provides federal CMAQ funding to reduce congestion and improve
air quality for areas that do not meet the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, or
particulate matter and for former nonattainment areas that are
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now in compliance.
3)Directs CMAQ funds to be apportioned to counties as prescribed
under now-obsolete federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The purpose of the CMAQ program is to fund
transportation projects or programs that will contribute to
attainment or maintenance of the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for ozone and carbon monoxide. Typical highway
improvements that are eligible for CMAQ funds include traffic
signal control systems, incident management programs, high
occupancy vehicle lanes, and truck climbing lanes that do not
add capacity. Projects that are capacity increasing or highway
expansion typically are not eligible for CMAQ funding because
they tend to lead to increased vehicle emissions. Similarly,
rehabilitation and maintenance activities generally show no
potential to reduce vehicle emissions and are not eligible.
Beginning with the enactment of MAP-21 last year, the federal
CMAQ program no longer includes a statutory distribution formula
for CMAQ funds. Instead, states receive their CMAQ funds in a
lump sum.
This bill maintains the long-standing formula for distribution
of CMAQ funds to regional and local transportation authorities,
with an increased focus on addressing PM 2.5, as required by
MAP-21. (PM 2.5 are inhalable coarse particles typically found
near roadways and dusty industries that, when inhaled, can
affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects.)
During MAP-21's two-year funding cycle, California expects to
receive $445 million in CMAQ funding. For the 2012-13 Fiscal
Year, CMAQ funds were administratively distributed to the
metropolitan planning organizations as though the previous
statutorily prescribed distribution factors were still in place.
This administrative action was necessary to distribute the
funds during the transition from the previous federal
legislation to MAP-21 so that already-programmed projects would
not be jeopardized. However, given that existing state law
specifically requires these funds to be distributed based on
formulas that no longer exist, it is necessary to provide some
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other direction to govern the distribution of these funds.
Codifying the previous federal distribution factors seems
prudent.
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0002069