BILL NUMBER: AB 779 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cristina Garcia
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Sections 65088, 65088.1, 65088.4, 65089,
65089.3, and 65089.4 of add Section 53909 to the
Government Code, relating to transportation, and declaring
the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. local
government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 779, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Transportation:
congestion management program. Local government:
financial disclosures.
Existing law requires a local agency, if it is required to report
specified information to the Controller and if it maintains an
Internet Web site, to post, in a conspicuous location on its Internet
Web site, information on the annual compensation of its elected
officials, officers, and employees, as specified.
This bill would require a city, county, city and county, or
special district to post a link on the homepage of its Internet Web
site that contains the names, positions, and total compensation,
including a breakdown of the types of compensation provided, of each
elected official within that entity for the previous fiscal year and
the 10 employees with the greatest total compensation, as specified.
By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires the development, adoption, and updating of a
congestion management program with specified elements for each
county that includes an urbanized area, as defined. The program is
required to contain specified elements and to be submitted to
regional agencies, as defined, for determination of whether the
program is consistent with regional transportation plans. The
regional agency is then directed to monitor the implementation of all
elements of each congestion management program. Existing law defines
"infill opportunity zone" for purposes of the above-described
provisions to mean a specified area designated by a city or county
according to certain provisions and that is within a specified
distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor.
This bill would revise the definition of "infill opportunity zone"
to not require that it be within a specified distance of a major
transit stop or high-quality transit corridor. The bill would revise
the requirements for a congestion management program by removing
traffic level of service standards established for a system of
highways and roadways as a required element and instead requiring
measures of effectiveness for a system of highways and roadways. The
bill would also require the program to analyze the relationship
between local land use decisions and regional transportation systems,
instead of analyzing impacts of the land use decisions on the
transportation systems. The bill would delete existing law's
prohibition on including an estimate of the costs of mitigating the
impacts of interregional travel and the requirement that the program
provide credit for local public and private contributions to
improvements to regional transportation systems. The bill would also
require, to the extent the program identifies capacity enhancements,
the evaluation of the potential for capacity enhancement to induce
additional travel. To the extent this bill would impose additional
duties on local officials relating to the development of a congestion
management program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
Existing law requires a local jurisdiction to prepare a deficiency
plan with specified components when highway or roadway level of
service standards are not maintained on segments or intersections,
including an analysis of the cause of the deficiency, list of
improvements necessary to maintain minimum levels of service, and
estimated costs of the improvements.
This bill would instead require a deficiency plan to be prepared
if the agency determines the county or its cities is not conforming
with the congestion management plan, and would remove the
requirements that a list of improvements necessary and the estimated
costs of the improvements be included in a deficiency plan. The bill
would exempt from the deficiency cause analysis improvements to
facilities for bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation,
traffic generated by a transit priority project, and traffic
generated by a mixed use development located within a transit
priority project area or infill opportunity zone.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65088 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
65088. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Although California's economy is critically dependent upon
transportation, its current transportation system relies primarily
upon a street and highway system designed to accommodate far fewer
vehicles than are currently using the system.
(b) California's transportation system is characterized by
fragmented planning, both among jurisdictions involved and among the
means of available transport.
(c) The lack of an integrated system and the increase in the
number of vehicles are causing traffic congestion that each day
results in 400,000 hours lost in traffic, 200 tons of pollutants
released into the air we breathe, and three million one hundred
thousand dollars ($3,100,000) added costs to the motoring public.
(d) To keep California moving, all methods and means of transport
between major destinations must be coordinated to connect our vital
economic and population centers.
(e) In order to develop the California economy to its full
potential, it is intended that federal, state, and local agencies
join with transit districts, business, private, and environmental
interests to develop and implement comprehensive strategies needed to
develop appropriate responses to transportation needs.
(f) In addition to solving California's traffic congestion crisis,
rebuilding California's cities and suburbs, particularly with
affordable housing and more walkable neighborhoods, is an important
part of accommodating future increases in the state's population
because homeownership is only now available to most Californians who
are on the fringes of metropolitan areas and far from employment
centers.
(g) The Legislature intends to do everything within its power to
remove regulatory barriers around the development of infill housing,
transit-oriented development, and mixed use commercial development to
reduce regional traffic congestion and provide more housing choices
for all Californians.
(h) The removal of regulatory barriers to promote infill housing,
transit-oriented development, or mixed use commercial development
does not preclude a city or county from holding a public hearing nor
from finding that an individual infill project would be adversely
impacted by the surrounding environment or transportation patterns.
(i) The Legislature intends that the provisions of the act that
added this subdivision be carried out in a manner that promotes
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled,
related economic, environmental, and health benefits called for in
the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008
(Chapter 728 of the Statutes of 2008), and the implementation of
complete streets, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 65302.
SEC. 2. Section 65088.1 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
65088.1. As used in this chapter the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) Unless the context requires otherwise, "agency" means the
agency responsible for the preparation and adoption of the congestion
management program.
(b) "Bus rapid transit corridor" means a bus service that includes
at least four of the following attributes:
(1) Coordination with land use planning.
(2) Exclusive right-of-way.
(3) Improved passenger boarding facilities.
(4) Limited stops.
(5) Passenger boarding at the same height as the bus.
(6) Prepaid fares.
(7) Real-time passenger information.
(8) Traffic priority at intersections.
(9) Signal priority.
(10) Unique vehicles.
(c) "Commission" means the California Transportation Commission.
(d) "Department" means the Department of Transportation.
(e) "Infill opportunity zone" means a specific area designated by
a city or county, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65088.4.
(f) "Interregional travel" means any trips that originate outside
the boundary of the agency. A "trip" means a one-direction vehicle
movement. The origin of any trip is the starting point of that trip.
A roundtrip consists of two individual trips.
(g) "Level of service standard" is a threshold that defines a
deficiency on the congestion management program highway and roadway
system which requires the preparation of a deficiency plan. It is the
intent of the Legislature that the agency shall use all elements of
the program to implement strategies and actions that avoid the
creation of deficiencies and to improve multimodal mobility.
(h) "Local jurisdiction" means a city, a county, or a city and
county.
(i) "Multimodal" means the utilization of all available modes of
travel that enhance the movement of people and goods, including, but
not limited to, highway, transit, nonmotorized, and demand management
strategies, including, but not limited to, telecommuting. The
availability and practicality of specific multimodal systems,
projects, and strategies may vary by county and region in accordance
with the size and complexity of different urbanized areas.
(j) (1) "Parking cash-out program" means an employer-funded
program under which an employer offers to provide a cash allowance to
an employee equivalent to the parking subsidy that the employer
would otherwise pay to provide the employee with a parking space.
"Parking subsidy" means the difference between the out-of-pocket
amount paid by an employer on a regular basis in order to secure the
availability of an employee parking space not owned by the employer
and the price, if any, charged to an employee for use of that space.
(2) A parking cash-out program may include a requirement that
employee participants certify that they will comply with guidelines
established by the employer designed to avoid neighborhood parking
problems, with a provision that employees not complying with the
guidelines will no longer be eligible for the parking cash-out
program.
(k) "Performance measure" is an analytical planning tool that is
used to quantitatively evaluate transportation improvements and to
assist in determining effective implementation actions, considering
all modes and strategies. Use of a performance measure as part of the
program does not trigger the requirement for the preparation of
deficiency plans.
( l ) "Urbanized area" has the same meaning as
is defined in the 1990 federal census for urbanized areas of more
than 50,000 population.
(m) Unless the context requires otherwise, "regional agency" means
the agency responsible for preparation of the regional
transportation improvement program.
SEC. 3. Section 65088.4 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
65088.4. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to balance the
need for level of service standards for traffic with the need to
build infill housing and mixed use commercial developments within
walking distance of mass transit facilities, downtowns, and town
centers and to provide greater flexibility to local governments to
balance these sometimes competing needs.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if level of
service standards are used in a congestion management program, those
standards shall not apply to the streets and highways within an
infill opportunity zone.
(c) The city or county may designate an infill opportunity zone by
adopting a resolution after determining that the infill opportunity
zone is consistent with the general plan and any applicable specific
plan, and is a transit priority area within a sustainable communities
strategy or alternative planning strategy adopted by the applicable
metropolitan planning organization.
SEC. 4. Section 65089 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
65089. (a) A congestion management program shall be developed,
adopted, and updated biennially, consistent with the schedule for
adopting and updating the regional transportation improvement
program, for every county that includes an urbanized area, and shall
include every city and the county. The program shall be adopted at a
noticed public hearing of the agency. The program shall be developed
in consultation with, and with the cooperation of, the transportation
planning agency, regional transportation providers, local
governments, the department, and the air pollution control district
or the air quality management district, either by the county
transportation commission, or by another public agency, as designated
by resolutions adopted by the county board of supervisors and the
city councils of a majority of the cities representing a majority of
the population in the incorporated area of the county.
(b) The program shall contain all of the following elements:
(1) Measures of effectiveness established for a system of highways
and roadways designated by the agency. The highway and roadway
system shall include at a minimum all state highways and principal
arterials. No highway or roadway designated as a part of the system
shall be removed from the system. All new state highways and
principal arterials shall be designated as part of the system, except
when it is within an infill opportunity zone.
(2) A performance element that includes performance measures to
evaluate current and future multimodal system performance for the
movement of people and goods. At a minimum, these performance
measures shall incorporate highway and roadway system performance,
and measures established for the frequency and routing of public
transit, and for the coordination of transit service provided by
separate operators. These performance measures shall support
mobility, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, land use,
and economic objectives, and shall be used in the development of the
capital improvement program required pursuant to paragraph (5),
deficiency plans required pursuant to Section 65089.4, and the land
use analysis program required pursuant to paragraph (4).
(3) A travel demand element that promotes alternative
transportation methods, including, but not limited to, carpools,
vanpools, transit, bicycles, and park-and-ride lots; improvements in
the balance between jobs and housing; and other strategies,
including, but not limited to, flexible work hours, telecommuting,
and parking management programs. The agency shall consider parking
cash-out programs during the development and update of the travel
demand element.
(4) A program to analyze the relationship between land use
decisions made by local jurisdictions and regional transportation
systems, as reflected in regional transportation plans. This program
shall measure, to the extent possible, the effectiveness of the
transportation system using the performance measures described in
paragraph (2). The program defined under this section may require
implementation through the requirements and analysis of the
California Environmental Quality Act, in order to avoid duplication.
(5) A seven-year capital improvement program, developed using the
performance measures described in paragraph (2) to determine
effective projects that maintain or improve the performance of the
multimodal system for the movement of people and goods. To the extent
that the program identifies capacity enhancements, the program shall
evaluate the potential for the capacity enhancement to induce
additional travel. The program shall conform to
transportation-related vehicle emission air quality mitigation
measures, and include any project that will increase the capacity of
the multimodal system. It is the intent of the Legislature that, when
roadway projects are identified in the program, consideration be
given for maintaining bicycle access and safety at a level comparable
to that which existed prior to the improvement or alteration. The
capital improvement program may also include safety, maintenance, and
rehabilitation projects that do not enhance the capacity of the
system but are necessary to preserve the investment in existing
facilities.
(c) The agency, in consultation with the regional agency, cities,
and the county, shall develop a uniform data base on transportation
conditions for use in a countywide transportation computer model and
shall approve transportation computer models of specific areas within
the county that will be used by local jurisdictions to determine the
quantitative impacts of development on the circulation system that
are based on the countywide model and standardized modeling
assumptions and conventions. The computer models shall be consistent
with the modeling methodology adopted by the regional planning
agency. The data bases used in the models shall be consistent with
the data bases used by the regional planning agency. Where the
regional agency has jurisdiction over two or more counties, the data
bases used by the agency shall be consistent with the data bases used
by the regional agency.
(d) (1) The city or county in which a commercial development will
implement a parking cash-out program that is included in a congestion
management program pursuant to subdivision (b), or in a deficiency
plan pursuant to Section 65089.4, shall grant to that development an
appropriate reduction in the parking requirements otherwise in effect
for new commercial development.
(2) At the request of an existing commercial development that has
implemented a parking cash-out program, the city or county shall
grant an appropriate reduction in the parking requirements otherwise
applicable based on the demonstrated reduced need for parking, and
the space no longer needed for parking purposes may be used for other
appropriate purposes.
(e) Pursuant to the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991 and regulations adopted pursuant to the act,
the department shall submit a request to the Federal Highway
Administration Division Administrator to accept the congestion
management program in lieu of development of a new congestion
management system otherwise required by the act.
SEC. 5. Section 65089.3 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
65089.3. The agency shall monitor the implementation of all
elements of the congestion management program. The department is
responsible for data collection and analysis on state highways,
unless the agency designates that responsibility to another entity.
The agency may also assign data collection and analysis
responsibilities to other owners and operators of facilities or
services if the responsibilities are specified in its adopted
program. The agency shall consult with the department and other
affected owners and operators in developing data collection and
analysis procedures and schedules before program adoption. At least
biennially, the agency shall determine if the county and cities are
conforming to the congestion management program, including, but not
limited to, all of the following:
(a) Achieving performance standards for the transportation system
as provided in the performance element.
(b) Adoption and implementation of a program to analyze the
relationship between land use decisions and the regional
transportation system.
(c) Adoption and implementation of a deficiency plan pursuant to
Section 65089.4.
SEC. 6. Section 65089.4 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
65089.4. (a) If the agency determines that a county or its cities
is not conforming to the congestion management plan, a local
jurisdiction shall prepare a deficiency plan. The deficiency plan
shall be adopted by the city or county at a noticed public hearing.
(b) The agency shall calculate the impacts subject to exclusion
pursuant to subdivision (f), after consultation with the regional
agency, the department, and the local air quality management district
or air pollution control district. If level of service standards are
used in a congestion management program, and if the calculated
traffic level of service following exclusion of these impacts is
consistent with the level of service standard, the agency shall make
a finding at a publicly noticed meeting that no deficiency plan is
required and shall notify the affected local jurisdiction.
(c) The agency shall be responsible for preparing and adopting
procedures for local deficiency plan development and implementation
responsibilities, consistent with the requirements of this section.
The deficiency plan shall include all of the following:
(1) An analysis of the cause of the deficiency. This analysis
shall include the following:
(A) Identification of the cause of the deficiency.
(B) Identification of the impacts of those local jurisdictions
within the jurisdiction of the agency that contribute to the
deficiency. These impacts shall be identified only if traffic level
of service standards are used in the congestion management program
and if the calculated traffic level of service following exclusion of
impacts pursuant to subdivision (f) indicates that the level of
service standard has not been maintained, and shall be limited to
impacts not subject to exclusion.
(2) A list of improvements, programs, or actions, and estimates of
costs, that will (A) measurably improve multimodal performance,
using measures defined in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b)
of Section 65089, and (B) contribute to significant improvements in
air quality, such as improved public transit service and facilities,
improved nonmotorized transportation facilities, high occupancy
vehicle facilities, parking cash-out programs, and transportation
control measures. The air quality management district or the air
pollution control district shall establish and periodically revise a
list of approved improvements, programs, and actions that meet the
scope of this paragraph. If an improvement, program, or action on the
approved list has not been fully implemented, it shall be deemed to
contribute to significant improvements in air quality. If an
improvement, program, or action is not on the approved list, it shall
not be implemented unless approved by the local air quality
management district or air pollution control district.
(3) An action plan, consistent with the provisions of Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 66000), that shall be implemented,
consisting of improvements, programs, or actions identified in
paragraph (2), that are found by the agency to be in the interest of
the public health, safety, and welfare. The action plan shall include
a specific implementation schedule. The action plan shall include
implementation strategies for those jurisdictions that have
contributed to the cause of the deficiency in accordance with the
agency's deficiency plan procedures. The action plan need not
mitigate the impacts of any exclusions identified in subdivision (f).
Action plan strategies shall identify the most effective
implementation strategies for improving current and future system
performance.
(d) A local jurisdiction shall forward its adopted deficiency plan
to the agency within 12 months of the identification of a
deficiency. The agency shall hold a noticed public hearing within 60
days of receiving the deficiency plan. Following that hearing, the
agency shall either accept or reject the deficiency plan in its
entirety, but the agency may not modify the deficiency plan. If the
agency rejects the plan, it shall notify the local jurisdiction of
the reasons for that rejection, and the local jurisdiction shall
submit a revised plan within 90 days addressing the agency's
concerns. Failure of a local jurisdiction to comply with the schedule
and requirements of this section shall be considered to be
nonconformance for the purposes of Section 65089.5.
(e) The agency shall incorporate into its deficiency plan
procedures, a methodology for determining if deficiency impacts are
caused by more than one local jurisdiction within the boundaries of
the agency.
(1) If, according to the agency's methodology, it is determined
that more than one local jurisdiction is responsible for causing a
deficient segment or intersection, all responsible local
jurisdictions shall participate in the development of a deficiency
plan to be adopted by all participating local jurisdictions.
(2) The local jurisdiction in which the deficiency occurs shall
have lead responsibility for developing the deficiency plan and for
coordinating with other impacting local jurisdictions. If a local
jurisdiction responsible for participating in a multi-jurisdictional
deficiency plan does not adopt the deficiency plan in accordance with
the schedule and requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, that
jurisdiction shall be considered in nonconformance with the program
for purposes of Section 65089.5.
(3) The agency shall establish a conflict resolution process for
addressing conflicts or disputes between local jurisdictions in
meeting the multi-jurisdictional deficiency plan responsibilities of
this section.
(f) The analysis of the cause of the deficiency prepared pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall exclude the following:
(1) Interregional travel.
(2) Construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance of facilities
that impact the system.
(3) Freeway ramp metering.
(4) Traffic signal coordination by the state or
multi-jurisdictional agencies.
(5) Traffic generated by the provision of low-income and very low
income housing.
(6) Traffic generated by any mixed use development located within
a transit priority project area or infill opportunity zone. For
purposes of this paragraph, "mixed use development" means development
that integrates compatible commercial or retail uses, or both, with
residential uses, and that, due to the proximity of job locations,
shopping opportunities, and residences, will discourage new trip
generation.
(7) Traffic generated by any transit priority project, as defined
in Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code.
(8) Improvements to facilities for bicyclists, pedestrians, and
public transportation.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a
local agency to implement improvements to reduce delay at
intersections or roadway segments that the local agency determines
would impede the development of a balanced, multimodal transportation
network that meets the needs of all users of the streets, roads, and
highways for safe and convenient travel in a manner set forth in the
circulation element of the local agency's general plan.
SECTION 1. Section 53909 is added to
the Government Code , to read:
53909. (a) A city, county, city and county, or special district
shall, within six months of the close of the fiscal year, post a link
on the homepage of its Internet Web site that contains the names,
positions, and total compensation, including a breakdown of the types
of compensation provided, of each elected official within that
entity for the previous fiscal year and the 10 employees with the
greatest total compensation, determined pursuant to subdivision (b).
If a city or special district does not have an Internet Web site, it
shall work with the relevant county to post the information on the
county's Internet Web site.
(b) The city, county, city and county, or special district shall
aggregate the total compensation for an employee, including all
positions held by that employee during the fiscal year, to determine
the 10 employees with the greatest total compensation.
(c) For purposes of this section "total
compensation" includes payments for salaries, overtime, unused
vacation time, stipends, pension contributions, retirement
contributions, health premium contributions, automobile allowances,
phone allowances, and technology allowances. Any other type of
compensation that the city, county, city and county, or special
district provides shall also be included and specified. "Total
compensation" does not include reimbursements or payments for
work-related travel expenses.
SEC. 7. SEC. 2. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 8. This act is an urgency statute
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and
shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity
are:
In order to reduce the financial burden and hurdles to development
caused by duplicative transportation and land use planning analyses,
and to give local agencies flexibility to quickly update their plans
to provide for a safe transportation system for all users, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately.