BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 788
Author: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
Amended: 4/18/13
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/30/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Transportation omnibus bill
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes non-controversial changes to sections
of law relating to transportation.
ANALYSIS : This bill includes the following provisions:
1.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]
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2.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,
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]
3.State Highway Route (SR) 25 relinquishment (Section 3).
Existing 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 SR 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]
4.SR 68 relinquishment (Section 4). Existing 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 SR 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]
5.SR 74 relinquishment (Section 5). Existing 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 SR 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
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contained in SB 337 (Emmerson). [Submitted by the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
6.SR 86 relinquishment (Section 6). Existing 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 SR 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 444 (Hueso). [Submitted by the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
7.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]
8.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]
9.Deletes 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]
10.Eliminates 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
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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]
11.Driver's Licenses (Section 16). AB 2188 (B. Lowenthal,
Chapter 670, Statutes of 2012), made conforming changes to
the state's driver's 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]
Comments
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/13/13)
City of Hemet
Council of San Benito County Governments
Monterey County
Riverside County Transportation Commission
Sacramento Regional Transit
JA:ej 5/14/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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