BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 788 Page 1 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highways to reflect that portions of these routes have been relinquished by Caltrans to local agencies or otherwise superseded or changed. 2) Authorizes the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to relinquish the following sections of state highway: a) A specified portion of State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 SB 788 Page 2 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 SB 788 Page 3