BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 788
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: t. & H.
com.
VERSION: 4/18/13
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 30, 2013
SUBJECT:
Transportation omnibus bill
DESCRIPTION:
This bill makes non-controversial changes to sections of law
relating to transportation.
ANALYSIS:
According to the Legislative Analyst, the cost of producing a
bill in 2001-02 was $17,890. By combining multiple matters into
one bill, the Legislature can make minor changes to law in the
most cost-effective manner.
This bill includes the following provisions:
CEQA clarification: increase in transit service (Section 1).
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) includes
statutory and categorical exemptions from requirements to
evaluate the environmental effects of a project. One
exemption covers an increase in transit service on an existing
highway right-of-way. Sacramento Regional Transit is
concerned that as written, statute does not necessarily cover
certain rights-of-way in its purview. This bill clarifies the
exemption by conforming the CEQA definition of "highway" to
the Vehicle Code. [Submitted by Assemblymember Dickinson]
Gas tax swap cleanup (Section 2). ABX8 6 (Committee on
Budget), Chapter 11, Statutes of 2009-10 Eighth Extraordinary
Session, enacted what is now known as the "gas tax swap." The
swap lowered certain taxes and increased others to provide
funding for transportation, transit, and General Fund relief
in a revenue-neutral fashion. In November 2010, voters
approved Proposition 26, which amended the state constitution
to require a two-thirds vote for such measures. Accordingly,
SB 788 (T. & H. COM.) Page 2
AB 105 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 6, Statutes of 2011,
re-enacted the gas tax swap with a two-thirds vote.
Subsequently, AB 2679 (Committee on Transportation), Chapter
769, Statutes of 2012, aligned the adjustment dates of the
gasoline and diesel fuel sales tax prepayment rates with the
excise tax rate adjustments for both gasoline and diesel fuel
enacted in AB 105. This bill corrects a drafting error by
conforming section 6480.1(h) of the Revenue and Taxation Code
to sections 6480.1(g) and 6480.1(i). [Submitted by the Board
of Equalization]
Route 25 relinquishment (Section 3). Current law relinquishes
numerous portions of the state highway system to cities and
counties. This bill allows the California Transportation
Commission (CTC) to relinquish to the City of Hollister a
portion of State Highway Route 25. This bill also specifies
that this must be done at no cost to the state unless the CTC
makes a finding of need. The relinquishment was previously
contained in SB 314 (Cannella). [Submitted by the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
Route 68 relinquishment (Section 4). Current law relinquishes
numerous portions of the state highway system to cities and
counties. This bill allows the CTC to relinquish to the City
of Pacific Grove or the County of Monterey a portion of Route
68. This bill also specifies that this must be done at no
cost to the state, unless the CTC makes a finding of need.
[Submitted by Monterey County]
Route 74 relinquishment (Section 5). Current law relinquishes
numerous portions of the state highway system to cities and
counties. This bill allows the CTC to relinquish to the City
of Hemet a portion of State Highway Route 74. This bill also
specifies that this must be done at no cost to the state
unless the CTC makes a finding of need. The relinquishment
was previously contained in SB 337 (Emmerson). [Submitted by
the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
Route 86 relinquishment (Section 6). Current law relinquishes
numerous portions of the state highway system to cities and
counties. This bill allows the CTC to relinquish to the
Cities of Brawley, El Centro, and Imperial and the County of
Imperial portions of State Highway Route 86. This bill also
specifies that this must be done at no cost to the state
unless the CTC makes a finding of need. The relinquishment
was previously contained in
SB 788 (T. & H. COM.) Page 3
SB 444 (Hueso). [Submitted by the Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee]
Bicycle Transportation Act (Section 7). State law relating to
design criteria for bikeways is inconsistent with federal
bikeway design criteria and needs clarification to ensure
statewide consistency in bikeway design. This bill aligns the
definition of Class I bikeways with federal criteria and
cleans up language relating to Class I and Class III bikeways.
[Submitted by the State Department of Transportation]
Technical correction to Vehicle Code (Sections 8-11).
Division I of the Vehicle Code provides various definitions.
This bill moves two of these definitions, for "logging dolly"
and "logging vehicle," into alphabetical order. [Submitted by
the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
Delete obsolete references relating to 1984 Olympic license
plate (Sections 12, 14, and 15). AB 2139 (Goggin), Chapter
1289, Statutes of 1983 established the commemorative 1984
Olympic license plate. The Department of Motor Vehicles no
longer issues this plate. This bill removes statutory
language related to the 1984 Olympic license plate.
[Submitted by the Department of Motor Vehicles]
Eliminate issuance of Olympic Training Center license plate
(Section 13). SB 1403 (Campbell), Chapter 1182, Statutes of
1989 established the Olympic Training Center license plate to
help build and pay for the California Olympic Training Center
(OTC) in San Diego. The original $15 million loan was issued
in 1989, to be repaid in full within 20 years.
SB 856 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 719, Statutes of 2010
included a provision forgiving the outstanding loan amount and
requiring that the revenues be transferred instead to the
General Fund. Thus, the original intent of the OTC plate as a
fundraising device for the OTC no longer exists. This bill
eliminates issuance of the OTC license plate effective January
1, 2014. [Submitted by the Department of Motor Vehicles]
Driver's Licenses (Section 16). AB 2188 (B. Lowenthal),
Chapter 670, Statutes of 2012 made conforming changes to the
state's driver license program to ensure continued compliance
with federal law in light of recent changes in federal
regulations. This bill corrects the effective date to match
the date specified in federal regulations. [Submitted by the
Department of Motor Vehicles]
SB 788 (T. & H. COM.) Page 4
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose of the bill . The Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee is authoring this bill as a means of
combining multiple, non-controversial changes to statutes
into one bill so that the Legislature can make minor
amendments in a cost-effective manner. There is no known
opposition to any item in the bill, and if concerns arise
that cannot be resolved, the committee will delete the
provision of concern from the bill.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 24,
2013.)
SUPPORT: City of Hemet (Section 5)
Council of San Benito County Governments (Section
3)
Riverside County Transportation Commission
(Section 5)
Sacramento Regional Transit (Section 1)
OPPOSED: None received.