BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 486
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Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 486 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: August 4, 2014
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:14-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill modifies Caltrans' process for developing
transportation programs and the California Transportation
Commission's (CTC's) review of those programs. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Authorizes the CTC, in consultation with Caltrans, to develop
and adopt specific goals for the department.
2)Requires the CTC, in consultation with Caltrans, to identify
performance measures for the above goals and to evaluate the
department's progress toward meeting the goals in the
commission's annual report to the Legislature.
3)Authorizes the CTC, in cooperation with Caltrans, and when
updating the California Transportation Plan (CTP) as required
by December 31, 2020, to prescribe study areas for department
analysis and evaluation and establish guidelines for preparing
CTP updates.
4)Requires Caltrans, by October 2015, to submit to the CTC for
approval, an interregional transportation strategic plan
(ITSP), as specified.
5)Requires the CTC to hold at least one hearing in northern
California and one hearing in southern California each
odd-numbered year to receive feedback to the draft
interregional transportation improvement program (ITIP), and
requires Caltrans to consider input from the hearings in
developing the final ITIP for submittal, and include in the
plan a summary of major comments received and responses to
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those comments.
6)Requires the CTC, in cooperation with Caltrans, to establish
guidelines, as specified, for the department to follow in
developing and selecting projects for the state highway
operation and protection program (SHOPP). The guidelines are
to be a complete statement of policy, standards, and criteria
that the CTC intends to use in reviewing and adopting the
SHOPP.
7)Requires all SHOPP projects to include project initiation
documents (PIDs).
8)Authorizes the CTC to decline to adopt the SHOPP upon
determining it is not sufficiently consistent with the
guidelines.
9)Requires the CTC, in its annual report, to include a
discussion of Caltrans' support costs and expenditures.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)The CTC will need two senior staff positions, at an ongoing
special fund cost of $400,000 to develop performance measures
and goals for Caltrans, establish CTP and SHOPP guidelines,
review and approve the ITSP, conduct hearings on the ITIP,
increase oversight of SHOPP program review and approval, and
track and analyze Caltrans project costs for annual reporting
purposes. Presumably this additional oversight will lead to
more efficient use of state transportation resources.
2)Caltrans will incur one-time costs of around $100,000 to
update guidelines and standards in its Project Development
Procedures Manual for PIDs and for SHOPP development. The
department may also incur IT costs to update the database and
software used to manage the SHOPP.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill follows a recent report, issued by the
State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI), which was
commissioned by the California State Transportation Agency
(CalSTA) to assess Caltrans' performance and to make
recommendations for improvements. In short, the SSTI report
found that Caltrans is "significantly out of step" with best
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practices in the transportation field and with many of the
state's policy expectations. SSTI asserted that the state
would be better served by a stronger state transportation
department that is better aligned with California's
overarching policy goals, particularly those related to
sustainability.
SB 486 intends better align state priorities with Caltrans'
planning processes and to ensure the department's investments
reflect these priorities. SB 486 relies on CTC to provide
greater, independent oversight of the department's efforts.
Under this bill, CTC will have greater responsibilities to:
a) Develop specific goals and performance measures for
Caltrans.
b) Provide guidance in the development of the CTP (and in
the near-term, the ITSP) ultimately to inform the projects
that Caltrans selects for inclusion in the ITIP.
c) Establish guidelines for the SHOPP.
d) Publically vet the ITIP and the SHOPP.
2)Since Caltrans is already developing the CTP that is due
December 2015, the bill directs the CTC to provide guidance
for the subsequent CTP due in December 2020. In the interim,
SB 486 directs CTC to provide oversight in development of the
2016 and 2018 ITSP.
3)Regarding the SHOPP, SB 486 reinforces CTC's role in the
process by specifically requiring the commission to develop
guidelines for Caltrans to follow in developing the SHOPP and
by authorizing CTC to evaluate the program for, among other
things, consistency with CTC's guidelines.
4)Related Legislation . SB 151 (DeSaulnier), also on today's
committee agenda, requires SHOPP projects to have capital and
support costs allocated by CTC.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081