BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 1081
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: medina
VERSION: 5/24/13
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: July 2, 2013
SUBJECT:
Governor's five-year infrastructure plan: goods movement
DESCRIPTION:
This bill adds requirements relating to goods movement to the
governor's five-year infrastructure plan.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires the governor to submit annually a proposed
five-year infrastructure plan to the Legislature in conjunction
with the Governor's proposed budget. Statute requires the plan
to:
Identify new, rehabilitated, modernized, improved, or
renovated infrastructure requested by state agencies, as well
as the estimated funding needed to provide that
infrastructure.
Identify aggregate funding for transportation as identified in
the state Department of Transportation's (Caltrans') State
Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
Identify infrastructure needs for kindergarten through grade
12 public schools, University of California, California State
University, and California Community Colleges.
Include a funding proposal that lists the criteria and
priorities used to identify and select the infrastructure
needs included in the plan; identifies funding sources;
evaluates the impact of new state debt on the state's overall
debt position, if the plan proposes to issue new debt; and
recommends the projects, or type and amount of infrastructure,
that meets the plan's objectives.
Existing law also provides that any capital outlay or local
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assistance appropriations intended to fund infrastructure
included in the Governor's proposed budget shall derive from,
and be included in, the funding proposal included in the
five-year infrastructure plan.
This bill requires the governor's five-year infrastructure plan
to also:
Identify new, rehabilitated, modernized, improved, or
renovated infrastructure identified by state or federal
agencies, or by regional transportation agencies, not
otherwise identified in the STIP, that directly relates to
enhancing goods movement.
Recommend private sector financing for goods movement-related
infrastructure that includes, but is not limited to, public
pension fund investors, private sector investors, and
commercial and industrial users that would benefit from the
enhanced logistical network.
This bill also requires the state to submit eligible goods
movement-related infrastructure projects to infrastructure
financing exchanges, including the West Coast Infrastructure
Exchange.
This bill defines goods movement-related infrastructure as air,
water, land, and sea port of entry facilities, roads, rail, and
other facilities and infrastructure projects that move goods,
energy, and information.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author states that the tremendous growth in
California's goods distribution industry has resulted in
transportation breakdowns and congestion that can idle entire
global production networks. Congested seaports, truck idling
and delays, and impeded truck access to and from international
airports in turn lead to significant economic losses, job
losses, and air quality problems for the people living in the
surrounding communities. The author states that in order to
improve the state's goods movement system, California needs to
get beyond a piecemeal system by developing a plan that
includes both a national and international approach to how the
state moves goods.
2.Freight plan . In June, this committee passed AB 14
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(Lowenthal), which requires the state's Transportation Agency
to prepare a state freight plan and establish a freight
advisory committee. Caltrans is currently updating the Goods
Movement Action Plan (GMAP), which was originally issued by
the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency and the
California Environmental Protection Agency in two phases in
2005 and 2007. The new plan, known as the Freight Mobility
Plan, will expand beyond the GMAP to address additional issues
such as greenhouse gas emissions goals, as well as to meet the
parameters outlined in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the
21st Century Act (MAP-21), the federal funding authorization
bill passed by Congress last year. AB 14 requires the
Transportation Agency to submit the state freight plan to the
Legislature, Governor, California Transportation Commission,
Public Utilities Commission, and State Air Resources Board by
December 31, 2014, and every five years thereafter. Given
that Caltrans is already working on a specific goods
movement-related plan, the committee may wish to consider
whether adding goods movement to the governor's five-year
infrastructure plan is necessary. The author states while the
state freight plan focuses on obtaining federal funding, this
bill aims to identify "public and private sector financing."
The committee may wish to consider adding a provision to this
bill directing the governor to reference the goals and
objectives of the state freight plan in the infrastructure
plan.
3.Governor's infrastructure plan . The governor's office has not
published a five-year infrastructure plan since 2008. Given
that the current administration has not published an
infrastructure plan, the committee may wish to consider
whether imposing more requirements on the plan is an effective
strategy.
4.Infrastructure exchanges . This bill requires the state to
submit eligible goods movement projects to the West Coast
Infrastructure Exchange (WCX) and other infrastructure
exchanges. WCX is a partnership launched last year by
California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to "help
connect public entities with private capital" to invest in
infrastructure projects including energy transmission and
efficiency, water storage and capacity, municipal water
systems, and wastewater management. WCX has received initial
funding of $750,000 in grants from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The author notes that testimony in oversight hearings held
last year centered on the importance of modern logistical
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networks capable of linking manufacturers and businesses to
global and domestic supply chains that could ultimately link
to the worldwide consumer base. Financing these more complex
infrastructure networks, however, requires greater
coordination and collaboration among public and private
stakeholders.
SBX2 4 (Cogdill), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, authorizes
Caltrans to enter into public-private partnerships for
transportation projects until 2017 through a specified process
that includes soliciting multiple bids and submitting final
lease agreements to the Legislature and the Public
Infrastructure Advisory Commission for review. The committee
may wish to consider amending this provision of the bill to:
authorize, rather than require, the state to submit projects
to infrastructure exchanges such as WCX; clarify that Caltrans
would be the state agency submitting those projects; and
clarify that this shall only occur within the parameters of
existing law.
5.Technical amendments :
On page 4, move lines 33-37 to page 5, line 3.
1.Related legislation . AB 716 (Quirk-Silva) is currently
pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 716 would
add several requirements to the governor's infrastructure
plan, including providing for "coordination of investment,"
adding "housing" to the definition of infrastructure, and
directing the Strategic Growth Council to hold a public
hearing on the plan before the governor releases it. Should
this bill move forward, the author will need to address
chaptering conflicts with AB 716.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 78-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 15-0
JED&E: 8-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 26,
2013.)
SUPPORT: Riverside County Transportation Commission
OPPOSED: None received.
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