BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 788
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:  August 12, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
             SB 788 (Transportation and Housing Committee) - As Amended:   
                                    June 10, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :  37-0
           
          SUBJECT  :  Transportation

           SUMMARY  :  Defines the term "highway" for purposes of an existing  
          California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption, and makes  
          various other non-substantive changes to transportation-related  
          statutes.  

           EXISTING LAW  , CEQA, requires lead agencies with the principal  
          responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed project  
          to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative  
          declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this  
          action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA.  CEQA includes  
          various statutory exemptions, including for a project for the  
          institution or increase of passenger or commuter services on  
          rail or highway rights-of-way already in use, including  
          modernization of existing stations and parking facilities.

           THIS BILL  :

          1)Provides that the term "highway" for purposes of the transit  
            service exemption in CEQA has the same meaning as defined in  
            Section 360 of the Vehicle Code, which defines "highway" as "a  
            way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open  
            to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.   
            Highway includes street."

          2)Makes various other non-substantive changes to provisions  
            related to transportation.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS  :

          The purpose of this transportation omnibus bill is to combine  
          multiple, non-controversial changes to statutes into one bill so  








                                                                  SB 788
                                                                  Page 2

          that the Legislature can make these minor amendments in a  
          cost-effective manner.  The omnibus bill contains a variety  
          technical clean-up provisions that were reviewed and approved by  
          the Transportation Committee.  The bill was double-referred to  
          this committee because it makes a transportation-related  
          amendment to CEQA (Section 1 of the bill).  One of the existing  
          statutory exemptions in CEQA is for a project to increase  
          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 established definition in the Vehicle Code.   


           Double referral.   This bill was approved by the Assembly  
          Transportation Committee on June 17 by a vote of 15-0.
           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          Council of San Benito County Governments
          Monterey County Board of Supervisors
          Riverside County Transportation Commission
          Sacramento Regional Transit
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file


           Analysis Prepared by  :  Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092