BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 528 Page 1 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 Page 2 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