BILL NUMBER: AB 2389 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Campos
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 2333.5 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to transportation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2389, as introduced, Campos. Safe routes to school.
Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in
consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to
establish and administer a safe routes to school program for
construction of bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic calming
projects. These provisions become inoperative on July 1, 2014, and
are repealed on January 1, 2015.
Existing law also creates the Active Transportation Program in the
Department of Transportation to fund various transportation projects
and programs relating to biking, walking, and other nonmotorized
activities, with funds allocated by the California Transportation
Commission, as specified. Existing law provides that safe routes to
school projects are to be included among the types of projects
eligible for funding under the Active Transportation Program.
This bill would extend the date that the specific provisions
governing the safe routes to school program become inoperative, to
July 1, 2015, and the date that these provisions are repealed, to
January 1, 2016.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2333.5 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
2333.5. (a) The department, in consultation with the Department
of the California Highway Patrol, shall establish and administer a
"Safe Routes to School" construction program for construction of
bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects.
(b) The department shall award grants to local governmental
agencies under the program based on the results of a statewide
competition that requires submission of proposals for funding and
rates those proposals on all of the following factors:
(1) Demonstrated needs of the applicant.
(2) Potential of the proposal for reducing child injuries and
fatalities.
(3) Potential of the proposal for encouraging increased walking
and bicycling among students.
(4) Identification of safety hazards.
(5) Identification of current and potential walking and bicycling
routes to school.
(6) Use of a public participation process, including, but not
limited to, a public meeting that satisfies all of the following:
(A) Involves the public, schools, parents, teachers, local
agencies, the business community, key professionals, and others.
(B) Identifies community priorities and gathers community input to
guide the development of projects included in the proposal.
(C) Ensures that community priorities are reflected in the
proposal.
(D) Secures support for the proposal by relevant stakeholders.
(7) Benefit to a low-income school, defined for purposes of this
section to mean a school where at least 75 percent of students are
eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals under the National
School Lunch Program.
(c) Any annual budget allocation to fund grants described in
subdivision (b) shall be in addition to any federal funding received
by the state that is designated for "Safe Routes to School" projects
pursuant to Section 1404 of SAFETEA-LU or any similar program funded
through a subsequent transportation act.
(d) Any federal funding received by the state that is designated
for "Safe Routes to School" projects shall be distributed by the
department under the competitive grant process, consistent with all
applicable federal requirements.
(e) Prior to the award of any construction grant or the department'
s use of those funds for a "Safe Routes to School" construction
project encompassing a freeway, state highway, or county road, the
department shall consult with, and obtain approval from, the
Department of the California Highway Patrol, ensuring that the "Safe
Routes to School" proposal complements the California Highway Patrol'
s Pedestrian Corridor Safety Program and is consistent with its
statewide pedestrian safety statistical analysis.
(f) The department is encouraged to coordinate with law
enforcement agencies' community policing efforts in establishing and
maintaining the "Safe Routes to School" construction program.
(g) In the development of guidelines and procedures governing this
program, the department shall fully consider the needs of low-income
schools.
(h) Up to 10 percent of program funds may be used to assist
eligible recipients in making infrastructure improvements, other than
schoolbus shelters, that create safe routes to schoolbus stops that
are located outside the vicinity of schools.
(i) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2014
2015 , and, as of January 1, 2015
2016 , is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2015
2016 , deletes or extends the dates on which it
becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to extend the operation of the "Safe Routes to School"
Program as quickly as possible, it is necessary that this act take
effect immediately.