Amended in Assembly August 19, 2013

Amended in Assembly August 5, 2013

Amended in Assembly June 24, 2013

Amended in Senate May 28, 2013

Amended in Senate May 6, 2013

Amended in Senate April 3, 2013

Senate Bill No. 811

Introduced by Senator Lara

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 103.1 to the Streets and Highways Code, relating to transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 811, as amended, Lara. State Highway Route 710.

Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of the state highway system. Existing law imposes various requirements for the development and implementation of transportation projects.

This bill would impose various additional requirements on the department, or on another agency, if that agency agrees to assume responsibility as the lead agency begin insert , end insert with respect to the I-710 corridor project in the County of Los Angeles from State Highway Route 60 in East Los Angeles to Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. The bill would require the lead agency, in consultation with all interested community organizations, to include, within the environmental review process for the project, alternatives to address the air quality, public health, and mobility impacts the project will have on neighboring communities, including, in its entirety, Community Alternative 7, as defined, as a complete project alternative. The bill would require the final environmental document approved by the lead agency to include an investment in identified mitigation measures and community benefits for the affected communities and the Los Angeles River. The bill would require the lead agency to submit a report in that regard to the begin delete Legislature end delete begin insert project committee end insert at least 90 days prior to approving the final environmental document for the project. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 103.1 is added to the Streets and
Highways Code, to read:

103.1.  

(a) As used in this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(1) “I-710 corridor project” means the proposed program of
improvements to the State Highway Route 710 Corridor in the
County of Los Angeles within the State Highway Route 710
Corridor project study area, which extends from State Highway
Route 60 in East Los Angeles to Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.
The I-710 corridor project does not include any extension of State
Highway Route 710 through South Pasadena from State Highway
Route 10 to State Highway Route 210.

(2) “Community Alternative 7” means an alternative
infrastructure plan developed by a coalition of community partners,
and submitted for consideration to the I-710 corridor project’s lead
agency in response to the first draft environmental review
document, and voted on by the I-710 EIR/EIS Project Committee
to be included in the recirculated draft EIR/Supplemental EIS
document.

(3) “Lead agency” means the department, unless another agency
agrees to assume responsibility as the lead agency for the I-710
corridor project under the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public
Resources Code), in which case “lead agency” means that other
agency.

(4) “Los Angeles River” or “river” means the Los Angeles River
within the State Highway Route 710 Corridor project study area,
including the adjacent tributaries of Compton Creek and Rio
Hondo.

(5) “Project committee” means the committee facilitated by the
project’s lead agency as a part of the I-710 corridor project
community participation framework, and is comprised of elected
officials from I-710 corridor project corridor communities and
funding partner representatives who make recommendations to
the funding partners and the department on key assumptions and
decisions in the environmental review process. The funding
partners include the department, the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Gateway Cities Council
of Governments, the Southern California Association of
Governments, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the
Interstate 5 Joint Powers Authority.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The proposed I-710 corridor project is a project of national
significance that is intended to expand capacity on State Highway
Route 710 in the County of Los Angeles to accommodate the
movement of freight from and to the Ports of Los Angeles and
Long Beach, thereby providing economic benefits in the region
and beyond. However, the I-710 corridor project, as proposed,
may have adverse public health, air quality, and quality-of-life
impacts on residents residing near the corridor from East Los
Angeles to Long Beach.

(2) The proposed I-710 corridor project is a “goods movement”
project that should be aligned with the principles laid out in the
2007 Goods Movement Action Plan, prepared by the California
Environmental Protection Agency and the Business, Transportation
and Housing Agency. These principles highlight the importance
of goods movement projects that provide local communities with
benefits and improvements. This supports the goal that one of the
I-710 alternatives should provide improvements to the communities
housing the project. For the I-710 corridor project, these
improvements may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(A)  River improvements including those that contribute to
revitalization of the river and green, active space along the river.

(B) Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure; public transit
infrastructure and operations.

(C) Targeted hiring and job training related to the construction
and operation of the project.

(D) Improvements to conditions at sensitive sites, such as
schools, homes, elderly care facilities, and homeless care facilities.

(3) The proposed I-710 corridor project is a transportation
project that should be consistent with the goals of Assembly Bill
32 (Ch. 488, Stats. 2006) and Senate Bill 375 (Ch. 728, Stats.
2008) of reducing greenhouse gases by reducing vehicle miles
traveled and increasing public transit use and active transportation.

(4) Community Alternative 7 includes these principles, goals,
and improvements. On January 31, 2013, the project committee
for the proposed I-710 corridor project voted to recommend that
the lead agency consider Community Alternative 7 in its entirety
in the draft environmental review document for the project.

(c) The lead agency, in consultation with all interested
community organizations, shall include, within the environmental
review process, alternatives to address the air quality, public health,
and mobility impacts that the I-710 corridor project could have on
neighboring communities. One of these alternatives shall be
Community Alternative 7, studied in its entirety, as a complete
project alternative.

(d) The final environmental document approved by the lead
agency for the I-710 corridor project shall include an investment
in identified mitigation measures where there are impacts to the
affected communities and the Los Angeles River.

(e) At least 90 days prior to approving the final environmental
document for the I-710 corridor project, the lead agency shall
submit a report to the begin delete Legislature end delete begin insert project committee end insert describing
the identified mitigation measures and community benefits that
will be included in the project and providing evidence of meeting
the requirements of this section. begin delete The report shall be submitted
pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code. end delete