BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 481
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Lowenthal
VERSION: 4/1/13
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 11, 2013
SUBJECT:
High-speed rail rights-of-way management
DESCRIPTION:
This bill grants the High-Speed Rail Authority similar property
management authority as that granted to the California
Department of Transportation.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law grants the California Department of General
Services (DGS) broad real estate acquisition and management
authority for state-owned property. For example, the DGS
Director may acquire easements deemed necessary for the proper
utilization of state-owned real estate, as well as grant
easements across state-owned property. Further, the DGS
Director can negotiate the lease of access to state-owned
property, for example, for telecommunication companies to run
buried cable. DGS' property management authority does not
generally include highway rights-of-way, which are instead
managed by the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans).
In managing state highway rights-of-way, existing law provides
Caltrans a number of options related to the use or disposal of
excess property. For example, Caltrans can lease to public
agencies or private entities the airspace above or ground below
highway rights-of-way as long as the lease does not impact road
safety. In addition, Caltrans can classify portions of highway
rights-of-way as non-operating and can lease those areas to
local governments for public purposes such as for parks or other
recreational facilities. Finally, Caltrans can sell excess
rights-of-way through a competitive process, or without seeking
competitive bids under the following conditions:
To adjacent landowners if not doing so would deprive the
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landowner of an existing right of access, or if the parcel
is less valuable as a separate sale than it would be in
conjunction with the neighboring parcel;
To local governments at their request; or
To a former owner or long-time residential tenant who
continues to reside on the parcel.
Caltrans deposits all revenues from managing the highway
rights-of-way in the state highway account.
Existing law created the California High-Speed Rail Authority
(HSRA) in 1996 to direct development and implementation of
intercity high-speed rail service that is fully coordinated with
other public transportation services. In 2008, voters approved
Proposition 1A (Prop 1A) authorizing $9.95 billion in general
obligation bonds for the high-speed rail project. Prop 1A
authorizes HSRA to use bond funds for, among other things,
acquisition of interests in real property and rights-of-way.
Prop 1A also authorizes HSRA to either contract with Caltrans
for right-of-way activities or otherwise use DGS processes for
right-of-way acquisition pursuant to the state's public
acquisition law.
This bill grants HSRA similar property management authority as
that granted to Caltrans. Specifically, this bill:
Excludes high-speed rail rights-of-way from DGS'
property management authority and instead provides for HSRA
to manage the property;
Enables the Executive Director of HSRA to lease to
public agencies or private entities the airspace above or
area below high-speed rail rights-of-way as long as these
leases do not impact safety;
Allows HSRA to sell excess high-speed rail rights-of-way
through a competitive process, or without seeking
competitive bids under the same conditions as Caltrans;
Requires HSRA to deposit revenues from the lease or sale
of high-speed rail rights-of-way into the High-Speed Rail
Property Fund; and
Restricts the use of these revenues to the development,
improvement, and maintenance of the high-speed rail system,
upon appropriation by the Legislature.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill allows HSRA to
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address the high-speed rail project's short and long-term
needs by granting HSRA authority to manage property related to
the project. This bill mirrors provisions of existing law,
regulation, and policy governing Caltrans' authority to manage
its properties and to sell its excess land. The author
contends that this bill will enable HSRA to more effectively
manage property acquired for the high-speed rail project by
allowing it to negotiate with impacted landowners for
continued access, exchange property between adjoining
landowners to help mitigate impacts to existing uses, sell
excess property no longer required for the project, and lease
property to interested parties as a means of creating
additional revenue sources for the project.
2.Why exempt HSRA rights-of-way from DGS management ? Generally,
it is more efficient to consolidate property management
responsibilities in one state department than to let every
department manage its own properties. There are a couple of
good reasons, however, for why the Legislature exempted
Caltrans from DGS' property management authority and granted
Caltrans its own managing abilities. DGS manages much of the
state's real estate, including mostly "vertical" properties
like office buildings and the surrounding grounds. These
properties provide different challenges and opportunities than
the "horizontal" rights-of-way managed by Caltrans, and
presumably require different skillsets to manage. For
example, purchasing or selling portions of numerous contiguous
parcels adjacent to miles of highway is a very different task
than negotiating the purchase or sale of one full parcel
occupied by an existing building or other structure. In
addition, Caltrans has the ability to deal with disputed deals
in a public forum at regularly-scheduled meetings of the
California Transportation Commission and therefore does not
need to go through the typical state acquisition process
involving the California Public Works Board.
HSRA will experience similar challenges and opportunities as
Caltrans with the high-speed rail rights-of-way. Caltrans has
indicated that it does not have the capacity to manage HSRA's
properties, and, because DGS doesn't deal with many
rights-of-way, DGS is not well-suited for the management of
horizontal properties. In addition, HSRA has the similar
ability as Caltrans to deal with land disputes in a public
forum at the HSRA board meetings. Therefore, it seems
reasonable for HSRA to have the same property management
authority granted Caltrans. Finally, given the need to be as
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efficient as possible and to find additional funding for the
project, HSRA indicates that it intends to manage the project
rights-of-way to maximize revenues. For example, HSRA could
pursue leasing rights-of-way easements to utilities and
telecommunications companies in order to generate revenues to
help fund the overall project.
3.Technical amendments .
On page 10, line 22, after "The" insert "Chief Executive
Officer of the"
On page 10, line 25, strike out "authority" and insert
"Chief Executive Officer of the High-Speed Rail Authority"
On page 10, line 27, strike out "authority" and insert
"Chief Executive Officer of the High-Speed Rail Authority"
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 51-21
Appr: 12-5
A and AR: 9-2
Trans: 11-5
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 5,
2013.)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.