BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1290
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Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1290 (John A. Perez) - As Amended: April 23, 2013
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:11-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill expands the membership of the California
Transportation Commission (CTC), and enhances oversight
regarding implementation of sustainable communities strategies
(SCSs). Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the CTC from 13 to 18 members by (a) increasing from
one to two the voting members appointed by the Assembly
Speaker and Senate Rules Committee, respectively, and (b) by
adding, as non-voting members, the Secretary of the
Transportation Agency, the Chair of the Air Resources Board
and the Director of Housing and Community Development.
2)Requires the CTC's Committee on Planning to also monitor
outcomes from land development and transportation investment
in accordance with SCSs.
3)Requires the CTC, by October 15, 2014, and every two years
thereafter, to receive from metropolitan planning
organizations (MPOs) that prepare SCS reports (discussed
below), reports describing progress in implementing their
respective SCSs and in attaining greenhouse gas reductions.
The CTC is authorized, after receiving the second round of
reports (in 2016), to prepare guidelines to ensure consistency
in future submitted reports.
4)Expands the CTC's annual report to include a summary
assessment of the state's progress toward achieving greenhouse
gas emission reductions, based on land development and
transportation investments.
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5)Requires the MPOs that prepare SCSs to submit biennial reports
to the CTC describing the region's progress in implementing
its SCS and any challenges being faced with implementation.
6)Requires the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) to identify
activities, programs, and local assistance funding of its
member agencies having a significant effect on implementing
SCSs and notify the agencies of such.
7)Requires each member agency of the SGC to report annually to
the Council and to the CTC on steps it has taken to ensure its
policies, activities, programs, and local assistance funding
help reduce greenhouse gases, and to explain, in the context
of their respective missions, any statutory constraints
preventing the agency from pursing policies, activities,
programs, and local assistance funding that would help attain
greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Ongoing special fund costs to the CTC of about $175,000, for
one position plus the costs associated with additional
commission members. [State Highway Account]
2)State-reimbursable costs for 18 MPOs to prepare biennial
progress reports. Assuming $20,000 to $50,000 per MPO,
statewide costs would range between $360,000 and $900,000
every two years.
3)Minor one-time cost of about $30,000 per agency for the SGC
member agencies (Natural Resources, Environmental Protection,
Business, Transportation and Housing, and Health and Human
Services) to provide the initial report to the SGC and the
CTC. Costs should be absorbable thereafter.
COMMENTS
Purpose . According to the author, AB 1290 modifies the CTC
organizational structure and composition to improve its capacity
to analyze and integrate connections between transportation and
land use into its administrative programs and review processes.
The author notes that, since 2006, several actions have altered
the course of transportation policy in California, including
approval of $20 billion in transportation infrastructure bonds,
enactment of AB 32 (Nunez) to set limits on greenhouse gas
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emissions and SB 375 (Steinberg) to require development of SCSs,
and the Governor's reorganization plan to increased coordination
and integration of housing and transportation policies.
The author contends that, in light of these significant policy
shifts, it is critical that the CTC's statutorily described
mission is updated to support the statewide goals related to
greenhouse gas emission reductions, SCSs, and coordinated
housing and transportation policies.
In addition to restructuring the CTC, AB 1290 imposes reporting
requirements on state and regional agencies directed at
providing ongoing assessments of the progress being made toward
meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081