BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 528
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 528 ( Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
SUBJECT : State Rail Plan and High-Speed Rail Business Plan
SUMMARY : Deletes, recasts, and modifies the requirements of the
State Rail Plan (rail plan) and clarifies requirements of the
California High-Speed Rail Business Plan (business plan).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations recognizing the federal
Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA)
requirements for states to develop rail plans in order to be
eligible for federal rail capital grants.
2)Establishes that the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) is responsible for the preparation of the rail plan
and is designated as the responsible agency for the
development of the federally required rail plan.
3)Requires Caltrans to prepare the rail plan and, pursuant to
PRIIA, designates it as the state rail transportation
authority to prepare, maintain, coordinate, and administer the
rail plan.
4)Specifies the requirements for the passenger rail element to
include the following:
a) A statement of compliance with PRIIA;
b) Plans for a comprehensive and integrated statewide
passenger rail system, including high-speed rail,
conventional intercity and commuter rail, and connections
to urban rail systems;
c) A review of all high-speed rail routes, the rail freight
system, conventional intercity and commuter rail systems,
and urban rail system connections to high-speed rail and
conventional intercity and commuter rail systems, including
a statement of the state's passenger rail objectives for
routes in the state;
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d) An identification of the improvements that have utility
to both rail freight and passenger rail services in the
state, performed in consultation with the freight railroad
industry; and,
e) An inventory of the existing rail transportation system
and rail services and facilities in the state, and an
analysis of the role of rail transportation within the
state's overall transportation system.
1)Requires the freight rail element to discuss all of the
following:
a) Environmental impacts that include air quality, land
use, and community impacts;
b) Financing issues that include the planned means to
obtain federal and state funding;
c) Rail issues that include regional, intrastate, and
interstate issues;
d) Intermodal connections that include seaports and
intermodal terminals;
e) A statement of current system deficiencies;
f) Service objectives that improve efficiency,
accessibility, and safety;
g) New technology that includes logistics and process
improvement; and,
h) Light density rail line analyses that include
traffic density, track characteristics, project selection
criteria, and benefit-cost criteria.
1)Requires the final rail plan to be submitted to the
Transportation Agency for approval and requires the approved
plan be submitted, on or before March 1, 2017, to the
Legislature, the Governor, the Public Utilities Commission,
the California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), and the
California Transportation Commission.
2)Requires the rail plan to be updated every five years
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thereafter, at a minimum.
3)Deletes requirements for obsolete elements of the rail plan
relative to decrepit rail passenger stations and special
amenities for service on the San Joaquin intercity rail
passenger service.
4)Revises, for clarification and elimination of redundancies,
the elements of the HSRA business plan.
5)Requires the business plan to be submitted to the Legislature
May 1, 2014, and every two years thereafter.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires Caltrans to prepare a ten-year rail plan to be
updated biennially. The report is required to be submitted by
March 31 of every even-numbered year. (Note: With the advent
of new federal requirements for state rail plans, Caltrans
notified legislative policy committees that the 2012 report
would be delayed so that new federal state rail plan
requirements could be incorporated. That new plan has been
developed and is being circulated for review and comment.)
2)Under the federal PRIIA, establishes a federal policy for
intercity passenger rail that includes a federal capital grant
program and new requirements for state rail plans. Conditions
submittal of federal capital grant applications upon completed
state rail plans. Requires state rail plans to be updated
every five years.
3)Enacts the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century (High-Speed Rail Bond Act). The
High-Speed Rail Bond Act, approved as Proposition 1A in
November 2008, provides $9.95 billion in general obligation
bond authority to fund the planning and construction of a
high-speed passenger train system and complementary
improvements to other specified rail systems in the state.
4)Requires Caltrans to identify in the rail plan the three most
decrepit intercity rail passenger stations in the state used
by trains operated by the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation (Amtrak).
5)Requires Caltrans to consider and estimate the cost of service
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improvements to the San Joaquin Amtrak intercity rail
passenger route relative to baggage check-in, custom class
service, and dining service, and report its findings in the
rail passenger development plan submitted in 1991.
6)Requires HSRA to prepare a business plan by January 1, 2012,
that includes the types of services it expects to develop, a
description of the system's benefits, a patronage forecast,
the sources of funds to construct and operate the project, the
chronology for construction of the corridors in which it will
operate, the risk associated with construction, technology,
financing and other aspects of the project, and the HSRA's
strategy for managing risks.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Successful rail development depends on the
integration of various modes of transportation-including
intercity, commuter and urban rail transit, as well as the state
and local roadway network. According to the author, the rail
plan prepared by Caltrans and the business plan prepared by HSRA
are in need of revision to reflect new requirements as proposed
by federal law, as well to modify them to be more streamlined
and efficient.
State Rail Plan: Since 1995, Caltrans has prepared a 10-year
intercity rail transportation plan, which it updates biennially.
Caltrans submits the plan to the California Transportation
Commission for its "advice and consent" and then forwards it the
Governor, Legislature, and the California Public Utilities
Commission.
The federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of
2008 (PRIIA) establishes requirements for state rail
plans, including the requirement for updates every five years.
PRIIA also conditions submittal of federal capital grant
applications upon completed state rail plans.
This bill would align the policies and schedules for the state
plan with the federal requirements. Additionally, obsolete rail
plan reporting requirements are to be deleted in reference to
decrepit rail stations and extra amenities for the San Joaquin
Amtrak intercity rail passenger services.
HSRA Business Plan: Under current law, HSRA is required to
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prepare and submit their business plan to the Legislature by
January 1, 2012. Further, the law specifies the required
elements of the business plan, several of which are redundant
and overlapping. This bill establishes a reporting deadline of
May 1, 2014 for the biennial submission of the business plan and
also cleans up some of its reporting elements to eliminate
redundancies.
Related bills: SB 1117 (DeSaulnier), of 2012, would have
modified the requirements of the rail plan. That bill was
vetoed by the governor who indicated that the Transportation
Agency will take the lead in planning a comprehensive state rail
system.
SB 783 (Ashburn) Chapter 618, Statutes of 2009, modified the
requirements and schedule for the HSRA business plan.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Union Pacific Railroad
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093