BILL NUMBER: ABX1 23 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Eduardo Garcia, Burke, and Chiu
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Roger
Hernández, McCarty, Nazarian, Rendon, Santiago, and Ting)
SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
An act to add Section 14528.2 to the Government Code, and to amend
Section 2381 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to
transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 23, as introduced, Eduardo Garcia. Transportation.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to
prepare a State Highway Operation and Protection Program every other
year for the expenditure of transportation capital improvement funds
for projects that are necessary to preserve and protect the state
highway system, excluding projects that add new traffic lanes.
Existing law provides for the programming of transportation capital
improvement funds for other objectives through the State
Transportation Improvement Program administered by the California
Transportation Commission, which includes projects recommended by
regional transportation planning agencies through adoption of a
regional transportation improvement program and projects recommended
by the department through adoption of an interregional transportation
improvement program, as specified.
This bill, by January 1, 2017, would require the California
Transportation Commission to establish a process whereby the
department and local agencies receiving funding for highway capital
improvements from the State Highway Operation and Protection Program
or the State Transportation Improvement Program prioritize projects
that provide meaningful benefits to the mobility and safety needs of
disadvantaged community residents, as specified.
(2) Existing law creates the Active Transportation Program in the
Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased
use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking,
with specified available funds to be awarded to eligible projects by
the California Transportation Commission and regional transportation
agencies, as specified.
This bill would specifically require $125,000,000 to be
appropriated annually from the State Highway Account to the Active
Transportation Program, with these additional funds to be used for
network grants that prioritize projects in underserved areas, as
specified.
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 14528.2 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
14528.2. (a) On or before January 1, 2017, the commission shall
establish a process whereby the department and local agencies
receiving funding for highway capital improvements from the State
Highway Operation and Protection Program or the State Transportation
Improvement Program prioritize projects that provide meaningful
benefits to the mobility and safety needs of disadvantaged community
residents as identified by the community through strong public
participation. In that regard, the commission shall do all of the
following:
(1) Establish a funding floor where no less than 35 percent of
rehabilitation and reconstruction projects are located in urban and
rural disadvantaged communities and provide meaningful benefits to
community residents in those disadvantaged communities.
(2) Include robust public stakeholder engagement on the
development of guidelines relating to prioritization of projects in
disadvantaged communities.
(3) Prioritize projects that recruit, hire, and train low-income,
formerly incarcerated, or disconnected youth and adults and other
individuals with barriers to employment pursuant to Section 14005 of
the Unemployment Insurance Code, including projects that utilize
community workforce agreements, project labor agreements with
targeted hire commitments, and partnerships with community-based
workforce training entities preparing low-income youth and adults for
employment.
(b) Each project applicant shall provide a description of how a
proposed project located in a disadvantaged community provides
meaningful benefits to the community. The location of a project in a
disadvantaged community by itself does not mean that the project
provides meaningful benefits to that community in the absence of a
well-grounded description. In order for a benefit to be meaningful,
it shall be direct and assured.
(c) As used in this section, "disadvantaged community" means a
community with any of the following characteristics:
(1) An area with median household income less than 80 percent of
the statewide median household income based on the most current
census tract-level data from the American Community Survey.
(2) An area identified as among the most disadvantaged 25 percent
of areas in the state according to the California Environmental
Protection Agency, based on the latest version of the California
Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen)
scores.
(3) An area where at least 75 percent of public school students
are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals under the
National School Lunch Program. To the extent the characteristics of
this paragraph are used to determine that an area is disadvantaged,
the applicants shall either demonstrate how the proposed project
benefits those public school students in the project area or, if the
proposed project does not provide meaningful benefits to those public
school students, demonstrate how the characteristics are applicable
in determining that the larger community is disadvantaged.
SEC. 2. Section 2381 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended
to read:
2381. (a) The Active Transportation Program shall be funded by
state and federal funds from appropriations in the annual Budget Act.
Funds for the program shall be appropriated to the department, for
allocation by the commission. The amount to be appropriated each
year shall include 100 percent of the federal Transportation
Alternative Program funds, except for any federal Recreational Trails
Program funds appropriated to the Department of Parks and
Recreation; twenty-one million dollars ($21,000,000) of federal
Highway Safety Improvement funds or other federal funds; and one
hundred twenty-five million dollars ($125,000,000) of State
Highway Account funds. Future funding may be augmented if state or
federal funds increase, or if other funding sources are identified.
Funds appropriated for the Active Transportation Program shall be
distributed as follows:
(1) Forty percent to metropolitan planning organizations in urban
areas with populations greater than 200,000, in proportion to their
relative share of population. Funds allocated under this paragraph
shall be obligated for eligible projects selected through a
competitive process by the metropolitan planning organizations in
consultation with the department and the commission and in accordance
with guidelines established pursuant to this chapter.
(2) Ten percent to small urban and rural regions with populations
of 200,000 or less, with projects competitively awarded by the
commission to projects in those regions.
(3) Fifty percent to projects competitively awarded by the
commission on a statewide basis.
(b) For the purpose of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the
following shall apply in the region served by the multicounty
designated transportation planning agency described in Section 130004
of the Public Utilities Code:
(1) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency
shall consult with the county transportation commissions created
pursuant to Sections 130050, 130050.1, and 132800 of the Public
Utilities Code, the commission, and the department in the development
of competitive selection criteria to be adopted by the multicounty
designated transportation planning agency, which should include
consideration of geographic equity, consistent with program
objectives.
(2) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency
shall place priority on projects that are consistent with plans
adopted by local and regional governments within the county where the
project is located.
(3) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency
shall obtain concurrence from the county transportation commissions,
adopt the projects selected in a comprehensive program of projects,
and make funds available to selected project recipients.
(c) For each two-year program of projects, network grants shall be
awarded to eligible applicants from the one hundred twenty-five
million dollars ($125,000,000) appropriated annually to the program
from the State Highway Account. Network grants shall be in an amount
of between twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) and fifty
million dollars ($50,000,000), and shall be awarded consistent with
the percentage allocation requirements in paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) of subdivision (a). Network grants shall be available to
applicants that prioritize projects in underserved areas that lack
pedestrian or bicycle facilities, or both, that address the
least-safe intersections and corridors identified through community
input or within the local master plans for pedestrian or bicycle
facilities, trails, or safe routes to school, and that advance the
interests of metropolitan planning organizations to achieve
greenhouse gas reduction goals in sustainable communities strategies
in regional transportation plans adopted pursuant to Section 65080 of
the Government Code. A minimum of one-third of funding available for
network grants shall be used for safe routes to school projects and,
of that amount, a minimum of 10 percent and a maximum of 30 percent
shall be used to fund noninfrastructure programs that support
education, community engagement, evaluation, and traffic enforcement.
The commission shall amend the guidelines adopted pursuant to
Section 2382 in the manner specified in Section 2383 consistent with
the requirements of this subdivision.
(c)
(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the program
described in this chapter constitutes a highway purpose under
Article XIX of the California Constitution and justifies the
expenditure of highway funds therefor, and all expenditures of
Article XIX funds under this program shall be consistent with Article
XIX.