BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 788
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          Date of Hearing:   August 21, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

             SB 788 (Transportation and Housing Committee) - As Amended:   
                                  August 14, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:15-0 (Consent)
                       Natural Resources                        9-0  
          (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This omnibus bill makes numerous changes to  
          transportation-related provisions, including:

             1)   Updating statutory descriptions of nine state highways  
               to reflect that portions of these routes have been  
               relinquished by Caltrans to local agencies or otherwise  
               superseded or changed.

             2)   Authorizes the California Transportation Commission  
               (CTC) to relinquish the following sections of state  
               highway:

             a)   A specified portion of State Route (SR) 25 within the  
               City of Hollister, to that city.
             b)   A portion of SR 68 to the City of Pacific Grove or to  
               the County of Monterey.
             c)   A portion of SR 74 to the City of Hemet.
             d)   Portions of SR 86 to Imperial County, to the City of El  
               Centro, and to the City of Brawley.

             3)   Deletes obsolete provisions related to the 1984 Olympics  
               license plate and eliminates issuance of the Olympic  
               Training Center license plates.

             4)   Numerous other technical and clarifying provisions.

           FISCAL EFFECT  








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          1)Potentially moderate one-time costs (State Highway Account  
            [SHA]), potentially in the hundreds of thousands to millions  
            of dollars, depending on the outcome of negotiations between  
            Caltrans and the various jurisdictions and a determination by  
            Caltrans that the relinquishments are in the best interest of  
            the state. The proposed relinquishments total over 20 miles of  
            state highway routes. (See Comment #2)

          2)Long-term maintenance and repair savings to Caltrans, if the  
            CTC exercises its authority to relinquish these highway  
            segments.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This is the Senate Transportation and Housing  
            Committee's omnibus transportation bill, which combines  
            various, technical or non-controversial changes to statutes.  
            For a brief discussion of each of these changes, see the  
            Assembly Transportation Committee analysis of this bill.

           2)Relinquishments  .  Legislation is required before any segment  
            of state highway can be relinquished to another governmental  
            entity.  Relinquishment provides the recipient agency with  
            more control over a local transportation project and relieves  
            Caltrans of any further responsibility to improve, maintain,  
            or repair infrastructure related to the relinquished segment  
            of state highway.

            According to Caltrans, in recent years the initial cost of  
            relinquishments has ranged from $0 to over $1 million per  
            centerline mile.  These costs are driven by a number of  
            factors, including roadway condition, projected maintenance  
            costs and any planned capital projects.

            The actual cost of a particular relinquishment is negotiated  
            directly with the local agency, but must be based on a  
            cost-benefit analysis using a 10-year analysis period.  Prior  
            to this analysis, the baseline cost is assumed to be $0.  All  
            proposed costs beyond the baseline are subject to review and  
            approval by the Department's Relinquishment Advisory Committee  
            to ensure statewide consistency in application of the  
            established evaluation criteria.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 








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