BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 528
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: lowenthal
VERSION: 6/4/13
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 11, 2013
SUBJECT:
State rail planning
DESCRIPTION:
This bill makes several changes to the required contents of and
timelines for the state rail plan and the high-speed rail
business plan.
ANALYSIS:
California State Rail Plan
Since 2008, federal law has required states to adopt
comprehensive rail plans in order to be eligible for new federal
rail capital grants.
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) must
submit biennially a 10-year state rail plan to the Legislature,
governor, California Public Utility Commission, and California
Transportation Commission (CTC). Existing law requires Caltrans
to submit the plan to the CTC for its advice and consent six
months prior to submission to the other recipients.
The rail plan consists of a passenger and a freight element and
existing law is very prescriptive as to the plan's contents.
Specifically, the passenger element of the plan must, among
other things, include:
Actual capital and operating expenditures and revenues
by source for the prior two years;
Proposed capital and operating expenditures for the next
ten years;
Identification and cost of capital facilities necessary
to enhance the state intercity rail program's
competitiveness;
A discussion of fare policies and practices, including
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proposals that would maximize ridership and revenues;
A performance evaluation of all intercity rail services
over the prior two years;
A map showing all existing and proposed intercity and
commuter rail routes and services;
An evaluation of reports by regional planning agencies
on commuter service alternatives; and
A report on overall marketing strategy and marketing
activity expenditures.
Existing law requires CTC to include capital investments in the
intercity passenger rail plan and in regional and urban rail
transit programs in the State Transportation Improvement Program
(STIP), the state's five-year transportation capital outlay
program. The CTC updates and adopts the STIP every two years.
High-Speed Rail Business Plan
The Legislature created the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to
direct the development and implementation of a fully integrated
intercity high-speed rail service in the state. In 2009, the
Legislature passed and the governor signed into law SB 783
(Ashburn), Chapter 618, requiring HSRA to submit to the
Legislature a business plan by January 1, 2012, and every two
years thereafter.
Specifically, existing law requires the high-speed rail business
plan to include:
Identification of the type of service HSRA plans to
develop;
A description of primary benefits the service will
provide;
A forecast of anticipated ridership, as well as capital,
operating, and maintenance costs;
An estimate and description of total anticipated
federal, state, local, and other funds intended to fund the
construction and operation of the system;
The proposed construction timeline for all eligible
corridors statewide;
A discussion of all reasonably foreseeable risks,
including financial, ridership, right-of-way acquisition,
environmental clearances, construction, equipment, and
technology; and
The authority's strategies or processes to manage those
risks identified.
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This bill makes several changes to required contents of and
timelines for the state rail plan and the high-speed rail
business plan, as follows:
1.Related to the state rail plan, this bill:
Designates Caltrans as the state rail transportation
authority pursuant to federal law;
Requires the plan to be updated, at a minimum, every
five years instead of every two years;
Requires the Secretary of the Transportation Agency to
approve the plan before submittal; and
Requires the passenger rail element to include:
o A statement of compliance with federal law;
o Plans for a comprehensive and integrated
statewide passenger rail system, including a
discussion of the performance of and recommendations
for the intercity passenger rail program;
o A review of all high-speed rail routes, the
rail freight system, conventional intercity and
commuter rail systems; and
o A freight rail element discussing various
financial and service issues.
1.Related to the high-speed rail business plan, this bill:
Moves the deadline for the plan from January 1 to May 1
of every even year; and
More clearly describes the required elements of the
plan.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, statutes describing the
Caltrans rail plan and HSRA's business plan are in need of
revision to reflect new federal requirements, as well as to
make the development of the plans more streamlined and
efficient. Successful rail development depends on the
integration of various modes of transportation, and these
plans are critical to the state's integration efforts of these
modes.
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2.Changes to state rail plan should improve it . The Legislature
added many of the requirements in existing law for the state
rail plan in the mid-1990's, so they are focused on specific
issues Caltrans faced then relating to the intercity rail
program that Caltrans has since addressed. For example,
existing law requires Caltrans to include in its biennial rail
plan a discussion of the impacts of adding checked baggage and
dining service to the intercity rail service through the
Central Valley. Caltrans has extensively studied the issue,
and it is no longer necessary to include it in the rail plan.
In addition, the federal government now includes requirements
for all state rail plans that are not included in existing
state law. This bill removes many of the unnecessary state
rail plan requirements and better aligns state law with
federal requirements.
3.Good reasons to move HSRA business plan due date . This bill
moves the due date for HSRA's business plan from January 1 to
May 1 every other year. This move is a good solution to
multiple problems. First, receiving the plan on or before May
1 better aligns with the Legislative calendar, creating better
opportunities for legislative oversight and discussion.
Second, preparing the plan takes months, and in order to meet
the January 1 deadline HSRA staff and consultants had to
accomplish much of the plan development concurrently with
development of HSRA's annual budget plan. This creates higher
costs and difficulty, and shifting the timeline even a few
months can lead to more efficiency and a better work product.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 53-20
Appr: 13-4
Trans: 14-2
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 5,
2013.)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.
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