BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB
110
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR:
desaulnier
VERSION:
8/8/13
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: August 22, 2013 URGENCY: YES
SUBJECT:
Bay Bridge Safety Review Task force
DESCRIPTION:
This bill establishes the East Span, San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge Safety Review Task Force to assess the anticipated
seismic structural performance of the new East Span of the Bay
Bridge.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law generally provides that a public employee is not
liable for an injury resulting from his act or omission where
the act or omission resulted from the exercise of the discretion
vested in him or her. In addition, existing law provides that
if an employee or former employee of a public entity makes a
timely request that the relevant public entity defend any claim
or action against him or her for an injury that arises out of an
act or omission occurring within the scope of his or her
employment with the public entity, then the public entity shall
defend that claim or action. If the employee or former employee
reasonably cooperates in good faith in the defense of claim or
action, then the public entity shall pay any judgment, or pay
any compromise or settlement amount to that the public entity
has agreed.
The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Bagley-Keene) requires
designated state government bodies, boards, and commissions to
publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public
testimony, and conduct their meetings in public unless
specifically authorized otherwise. In addition, the Public
Records Act (PRA) requires that all records of a state or local
agency be open to inspection or duplication by members of the
SB 110 (DESAULNIER) Page 2
public.
Finally, existing law creates the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA)
to administer all toll revenues for the seven state-owned Bay
Area toll bridges, including the San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge.
This urgency bill :
Establishes the East Span, San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge Safety Review Task Force (task force) in state
government to consist of seven members. The Legislative
Analyst's Office (LAO) will designate each member to a
one-year term as officers of the state and select the
members based on qualifications related to expertise and
independence.
Directs the task force to assess the anticipated seismic
structural performance of the East Span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Assigns the LAO with the responsibility to provide
administrative support for the task force.
Provides compensation to task force members, as well as
provides that members are entitled to reimbursement for
expenses paid for by the State Highway Account.
Appropriates $149,000 from the State Highway Account for
expenses related to the task force and requires BATA to
reimburse these expenses.
Subjects the task force to the requirements of
Bagley-Keene and subjects the records of the task force to
disclosure under the PRA.
Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to cooperate fully with the task force, and
provides that the task force may request that Caltrans run
models of the bridge and the bridge foundation using
various assumptions.
Requires the task force to submit a final written report
to the Legislature and the governor setting forth the
results of its review.
SB 110 (DESAULNIER) Page 3
Clarifies that existing government immunity provisions
cover task force members, who can request that Caltrans, as
the responsible public entity, defend them against any
claim or action based on the task force member's acts or
omissions in the scope of their work on the task force.
BATA shall reimburse Caltrans for any related expenses,
including any judgments.
Makes the bill's provisions inoperative as of July 1,
2014, and repeals these provisions on January 1, 2015.
Is an urgency measure.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill is necessary to
alleviate task force members' concerns regarding liability and
court costs they may face related to any conclusions they
reach about the work done on the Bay Bridge. If the task
force determines that those designing or construction the new
east span of the Bay Bridge made serious mistakes, the
findings could lead to significant additional costs accrued by
contractors to remediate problems or compensate the state for
those mistakes. Task force members have suggested that, while
it is unlikely a court would find them liable for any
wrongdoing in their investigation, costs to defend themselves
against any accusations could be substantial. Therefore, the
members of the task force will not do their work without the
protections this bill provides.
2.Background . Media reports over the last year have raised
questions about the structural soundness of the new east span
of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which is currently
under construction and will replace the older east span of the
bridge because of damage sustained during the Loma Prieta
earthquake in 1989. Press reports last year raised questions
specifically about the soundness of the bridge's main tower
foundation. Subsequently, Caltrans reported that its own
Seismic Peer Review Panel reviewed pertinent data and
confirmed the new span would be safe. That report, however,
did not assuage skeptics. They challenged the panel's
independence and judgment, arguing that panel members had a
vested interest in finding that the bridge was safe given that
they had participated in the bridge's design. Critics,
therefore, concluded that the panel could not be trusted.
SB 110 (DESAULNIER) Page 4
In response to media reports, the author requested that the
LAO review Caltrans' and others' foundation reviews and
evaluations and confirm that Caltrans had resolved the
problems identified by the media. The LAO determined that it
did not have the expertise to review the highly technical
reviews of the bridge and decided to establish a task force of
independent experts to review the reviews originally conducted
by the Caltrans and others.
The LAO convened the task force earlier this year. Since the
initial task force meeting, the media has uncovered additional
concerns about the bridge's construction, including the
inappropriate use of high-strength, galvanized fasteners. The
author has asked the task force to expand the scope of its
work to consider these additional issues.
Unfortunately, while attempting to negotiate final contracts
with members of the task force, the LAO encountered challenges
from members who were concerned about the legal liability of
findings they may reach in the course of their work. As a
result, the work of the task force has stalled until
resolution of the liability issue can be remedied. This bill
is the author's attempt to resolve the liability concerns and
resume the task forces' work.
3.The bridge is opening, why have a task force ? Officials have
announced their intention to open the new span of the bridge
over Labor Day Weekend. They believe that, even with its
problems, the new bridge is safer than the existing bridge and
therefore it is imperative to move traffic to it as soon as
possible. The author generally agrees and has stated that it
is the administration's responsibility to determine whether
the bridge is safe and when to open it to the public.
The author's intention for this task force is two-fold.
First, he hopes to reassure the public with an accurate,
unbiased assessment of the safety of the new span. Second, he
hopes to identify lessons learned in the development of the
project in order to improve the state's delivery of future
projects of this size. Regardless of when the bridge was to
be opened, the author expects significant benefits from the
conclusion of the task force's work, and plans to have a
hearing this fall to discuss the findings and develop plans
for future reform and improvement.
4.Senate Rule 29.10 . When this bill passed the Senate in April,
SB 110 (DESAULNIER) Page 5
it related to regulatory procedures for the California
Transportation Commission. The author gutted and amended this
bill in the Assembly Transportation Committee to change
authors from Senator Steinberg to Senator DeSaulnier and to
include the current provisions. Because of these amendments,
the Senate Rules Committee referred this bill back to this
committee for a hearing under Senate Rule 29.10. At the
hearing, the committee may not amend the bill further and may
only, with a majority vote, (1) hold the bill, or (2) return
the bill as approved by the committee to the Senate Floor.
SB 110 (DESAULNIER) Page 6
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 76-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 13-0
Jud: 10-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, August
21, 2013.)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.