BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 528
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 528 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:14-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill modifies requirements of the State Rail Plan and
streamlines requirements of the California High-Speed Rail
Business Plan. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires Caltrans to prepare the rail plan pursuant to the
federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008
(PRIIA), and specifies the requirements of passenger rail
element and of the freight rail element of the plan.
2)Requires the final plan to be submitted to the Transportation
Agency for approval by March 1, 2017, and upon approval to the
Legislature, the Governor, the Public Utilities Commission,
the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), and the California
Transportation Commission.
3)Requires the plan to be updated at least every five years.
4)Revises elements of the HSRA business plan to provide
clarification and eliminate redundancies, and requires
submittal to the Legislature by May 1, 2014 and every two
years thereafter.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Absorbable costs to Caltans, which indicates the bill is
consistent with its current efforts to meet the planning
requirements of the PRIIA.
2)The bill is also consistent with current requirements of the
HSRA's business plan.
AB 528
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, the rail plan prepared by
Caltrans and the business plan prepared by HSRA need revision
to reflect new requirements proposed by federal law, as well
to modify them to be more streamlined and efficient.
The federal PRIIA establishes requirements for state rail
plans, and conditions submittal of federal capital grant
applications upon completed state rail plans. This bill aligns
the policies and schedules for the state plan with the federal
requirements.
Current law requires HSRA to submit their business plan to the
Legislature by January 1, 2012, and further specifies the
required elements of the plan, several of which are redundant
and overlapping. This bill streamlines the plan elements to
eliminate redundancies and establishes a reporting deadline of
May 1, 2014 for the next iteration of the plan, with biennial
submission thereafter.
2)Prior Legislation . In 20012, SB 1117 (DeSaulnier), which
modified the requirements of the rail plan, was vetoed. The
governor indicated that the newly established Transportation
Agency would be taking the lead in planning a comprehensive
state rail system.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081