BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1290|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1290
Author: John A. Pérez (D)
Amended: 9/3/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-3, 7/9/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Beall, Galgiani, Hueso, Liu, Pavley, Roth
NOES: Gaines, Cannella, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lara
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-25, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California Transportation Commission and Strategic
Growth Council: duties
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill increases the membership and duties of the
California Transportation Commission (CTC), requires regional
transportation planning agencies (RTPAs) to submit specified
information to the CTC, expands the duties of the Strategic
Growth Council (SGC), and requires the SGC to annually report to
the CTC.
ANALYSIS :
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I. California Transportation Commission
The Legislature established the CTC in statute in 1978 to
help achieve a single, unified state transportation policy.
The Governor appoints nine members to the CTC, while the
Senate Rules Committee and Assembly Speaker each appoint one
member. In addition to these 11 voting members, two ex
officio, non-voting members sit on the CTC; typically, these
individuals are the chairs of the respective transportation
policy committees in each house of the Legislature. Existing
law requires the CTC to organize itself into at least four
committees: aeronautics, streets and highways, mass
transportation, and planning.
The CTC is responsible for:
Adopting the biennial five-year State Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP) and approving the biennial
four-year State Highway Operation and Protection Program
(SHOPP), as well as adopting the biennial five-year fund
estimate of state and federal funds for each.
Allocating state funds for capital projects consistent
with the STIP, SHOPP, Traffic Congestion Relief Program,
Proposition 116 (Clean Air and Transportation Improvement
Act of 1990), Proposition 1A (Safe, Reliable High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century of 2008),
and Proposition 1B (Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air
Quality and Port Security Bond Act of 2006).
Allocating state funds for capital grants from the
Aeronautics Account and the Environmental Enhancement and
Mitigation Program Fund.
Adopting guidelines for the development of
CTC-administered programs and regional transportation
plans.
Approving project proposals for public-private
partnership agreements and authorizing projects for
procurement utilizing the Design-Build Demonstration
Program.
Determining eligibility of projects for High Occupancy
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Toll lane implementation.
Approving right-of-way matters such as new public road
connections, resolutions of necessity, relinquishments,
specified deeds, and airspace leases.
II. Strategic Growth Council
SB 732 (Steinberg, Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008) established
the SGC. The SGC is comprised of the Secretary of
Environmental Protection; the Secretary of Transportation;
the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Director of
the Governor's Office of Planning and Research; and one
member of the public appointed by the Governor. The public
member shall have a background in land use planning, local
government, resource protection and management, or community
development or revitalization.
The SGC is responsible for:
Identifying and reviewing activities and funding
programs of member state agencies that may be coordinated
to improve air and water quality, improve natural resource
protection, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of AB 32
(Nuñez and Pavley, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, encourage
sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban and
community centers in a sustainable manner.
Reviewing and commenting on the Governor's five-year
infrastructure plan.
Reviewing and commenting on the State Environmental
Goals and Policy Report.
Recommending policies and investment strategies and
priorities to the Governor, Legislature, and appropriate
state agencies to encourage the development of sustainable
communities.
Providing, funding, and distributing data and
information to local governments and regional agencies to
assist in developing and planning sustainable communities.
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Managing and awarding grants and loans to support the
planning and development of sustainable communities.
III. MPOs and RTPAs
Federal law requires states to establish metropolitan
planning organizations (MPOs). California's MPOs provide
transportation planning for each urbanized area with a
population of over 50,000. These organizations are typically
the same as an urban region's RTPA; for example, the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission is both the MPO and
RTPA for the San Francisco Bay Area. MPOs outline their
transportation priorities in 20-year regional transportation
plans. Every county with at least one urbanized area is also
served by an MPO.
Local governments create RTPAs pursuant to state statute.
RTPAs are responsible for adopting a regional transportation
improvement program (RTIP), which is then incorporated into
the STIP adopted by the CTC. Every county in California is
served by an RTPA. RTPAs are local transportation
commissions, county transportation commissions, councils of
government, and associations.
IV. SB 375
In 2006, the Legislature enacted AB 32 which requires the Air
Resources Board (ARB) to establish a statewide greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions limit to help California reduce its GHG
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Two years later, the
Legislature enacted SB 375 (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes
of 2008) to help implement AB 32. SB 375 requires the ARB to
provide each major region of the state with GHG emission
reduction targets for the automobile and light truck sector.
Each MPO must then prepare a "sustainable communities
strategy" (SCS) that demonstrates how the region will meet
its GHG emission reduction target through integrated land
use, housing, and transportation planning. Once adopted by
the MPO, the region incorporates the SCS into its regional
transportation plan. The ARB must review each final SCS to
determine whether it would, if implemented, achieve the
target for its region. If the ARB deems that an SCS will not
meet the designated target, the MPO must prepare a separate
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"alternative planning strategy" to meet the target.
This bill:
1. Expands the membership of the CTC as follows:
A. Adds two voting members: one appointed by the
Assembly Speaker and one appointed by the Senate Rules
Committee.
B. Adds as an ex-officio, non-voting member, the
Chairperson of the ARB.
1. Requires the Governor, Senate Rules Committee, and Assembly
Speaker to make every effort to ensure that transportation
expertise, with a particular emphasis on stakeholders
involved in efforts to make the state's transportation system
more sustainable, is reflected in his/her CTC appointments.
2. Expands the duties of the CTC's planning committee by
requiring it to monitor outcomes from sustainable communities
strategies.
3. Requires, within two years of adopting a regional
transportation plan, a transportation planning agency provide
the CTC with a copy of the strategy and a brief report
describing the progress the agency has made in reducing GHG,
as specified.
4. Requires the CTC's annual report to include a summary by the
CTC's planning committee on its actions in monitoring the
implementation and outcomes from the adoption of sustainable
communities strategies or alternative planning strategies.
5. Allows the CTC's annual report to include a discussion of
any significant upcoming transportation issues anticipated to
be of concern to the public and to the Legislature.
6. Requires each RTPA that prepares an SCS or alternative
planning strategy to submit a brief report to CTC describing
the region's progress in implementing its SCS or alternative
planning strategy.
7. Requires each RTPA located in a region that is required to
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adopt an SCS or alternative planning strategy to include in
its RTIP a discussion of how the RTIP relates to the region's
SCS.
8. Requires the SGC, in addition to its other statutory duties,
to identify activities, programs, and local assistance
funding of member agencies that have a significant effect on
SCS implementation and to notify member agencies of this
information.
Prior Legislation
SB 1266 (Perata, Chapter 25, Statutes of 2006) authorized the
sale of $19.925 billion in general obligation bonds for a
variety of transportation related projects, upon voter approval
at the November 2006 election. State voters ultimately approved
the bill in the form of Proposition 1B, the Highway Safety,
Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of
2006.
AB 32 (Nuñez and Pavley, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the
ARB to establish a statewide GHG emissions limit to help
California reduce its GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
SB 375 (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008) requires the
ARB to provide each major region of the state with GHG emission
reduction targets for the automobile and light truck sector. It
also requires each regional transportation plan to include an
SCS, including a regional land use plan, designed to achieve the
targets for GHG emission reduction. And it requires the CTC to
maintain guidelines for travel demand models.
SB 732 (Steinberg, Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008) establishes
the SGC and requires it to coordinate member state agencies to
improve air and water quality, protect natural resources and
agriculture lands, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve infrastructure systems, promote public health,
and assist state and local entities in the planning of
sustainable communities and meeting AB 32 goals.
The Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 2 (GRP 2) of 2012
institutes a number of executive branch changes, effective July
1, 2013, including creating a new Transportation Agency
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comprised of the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the
Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of
Motor Vehicles, the High-Speed Rail Authority, the Board of
Pilot Commissioners, and the CTC.
SB 1039 (Steinberg, Chapter 147, Statutes of 2012) makes several
modifications to the reorganization plan, including requiring
HCD, Caltrans, and the CTC to coordinate state housing and
transportation policies and programs to help achieve state and
regional planning priorities and to maximize co-benefits of
infrastructure investments.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Annual costs of up to $150,000 to the CTC for one additional
Transportation Planner staff position, the reporting of
additional information in the annual report, and costs
associated with additional CTC members (State Highway
Account).
Estimated costs of up to $100,000 to ARB related to the
appointment of the Chairperson to the CTC, and associated
duties (Motor Vehicle Account).
Minor costs of approximately $30,000 to Caltrans for staff
time related to reviewing additional reports submitted to the
CTC by RTPAs (State Highway Account).
Unknown potentially reimbursable state-mandated costs for
specified RTPAs to prepare and submit brief progress reports
to the CTC on progress in achieving GHG emissions and
implementing an SCS. These costs are expected to be
relatively minor for each of the 18 affected agencies.
(General Fund)
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/3/13)
Breathe California
California League of Conservation Voters
California WALKS
Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton
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Coalition for Clean Air
Coalition for Sustainable Transportation
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Sacramento Housing Alliance
The Nature Conservancy
Transform
WALK San Diego
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/3/13)
Orange County Transportation Authority
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states that it is
critical to update the CTC's statutory mission to recognize
significant legislative policy changes enacted since 2006 that
have advanced a stronger focus on the nexus between
transportation, air quality, and land use. These changes
include Proposition 1B, AB 32, SB 375, the GRP 2 of 2012, and SB
1039. The author's office asserts that given these recent
initiatives and the emerging framework for the linkage between
transportation and land use policy, it is imperative to ensure
that the CTC is better structured to address these policy
shifts. The author's office notes that because it is the only
state transportation body that holds regular public hearings on
transportation investments, and because it is empowered to
implement policy initiatives and make policy changes, the CTC
can play a powerful role in advancing transportation policy.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Orange County Transportation
Authority (OCTA) opposed the April 23, 2013 version of this bill
unless amended to more clearly exempt land use decisions from
MPO and RTPA reporting requirements; clarify that MPO and RTPA
reports are not binding on future plans or funding decisions and
shall not constitute an alternative under, or foundation for,
future California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis;
recognize the unique role of county transportation commissions
within the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
region; and restrict the SGC to analyzing only state sources of
funding. The author amended this bill on July 2, 2013 to
address the unique SCAG situation and the CEQA concern, and is
working with OCTA regarding its other concerns.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-25, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Buchanan, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy
JA:k 9/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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