BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2741
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2741
(Salas) - As Amended March 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Long-range transportation planning: California
Transportation Plan
SUMMARY: Requires the California Transportation Plan (CTP) to
be approved by the California Transportation Commission (CTC).
EXISTING LAW:
1)Vests CTC with responsibility to advise and assist the
Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency
(CalSTA) and the Legislature in formulating and evaluating
state policies and plans for California's transportation
programs.
2)Finds and declares that:
a) It is in the best interest of the state to have an
integrated state and regional transportation planning
process;
b) Federal law mandates the development of state and
regional long-range transportation plans as a prerequisite
for receipt of federal transportation funds; and,
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c) The preparation of these plans shall be a cooperative
process involving local and regional government, transit
operators, congestion management agencies, and the goods
movement industry.
3)Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to update the CTP by December 31, 2015, and every
five years thereafter, based on consultation and review and
comments by a host of state agencies and the general public.
4)Requires Caltrans to make a final draft available to the
Legislature and the Governor for review and comment prior to
adopting the plan or update; the Governor must then adopt the
plan and submit it to the Legislature and the Secretary of the
United States Department of Transportation.
5)Requires the CTP to include all of the following elements:
a) A policy element that describes the state's
transportation policies and system performance objectives;
b) A strategic element that is to incorporate the broad
system concepts and strategies synthesized from adopted
regional transportation plans.
c) A recommendation element that includes economic
forecasts and recommendations to the Legislature and the
Governor to achieve the plan's broad system concepts,
strategies, and performance objectives.
6)Requires the CTP to consider all of the following subject
areas for the movement of people and freight:
a) Mobility and accessibility;
b) Integration and connectivity;
c) Efficient system management and operation;
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d) Existing system preservation;
e) Safety and security;
f) Economic development, including productivity and
efficiency; and
g) Environmental protection and quality of life.
7)Requires the CTP to address how the state will achieve maximum
feasible emissions reductions and to identify the statewide
integrated multimodal transportation system needed to achieve
these results.
8)Requires the CTC to review recommendations in the updated CTP
prepared by Caltrans and prepare specific, action-oriented,
and pragmatic recommendations for transportation system
improvements and to include the recommendations in its annual
report to the Legislature and the Governor.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: In 2014, the Legislature passed and the Governor
signed SB 486 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 917, Statutes 2014. SB 486
had a number of provisions related to transportation planning
and programming, chief among them were provisions that sought to
align the state's overarching policy goals with its long-term
transportation planning efforts and then to use these planning
efforts to guide investments. Eventually, this alignment should
ensure that only projects that are consistent with the state's
overarching policy goals, as reflected in the CTP, are funded in
one of a number of different transportation programming
processes.
Given the significance of the CTP, the Legislature charged the
CTC with the responsibility to inform the CTP process.
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Specifically, commencing with the update to the CTP that is
required on or before December 31, 2020, SB 486 authorized the
CTC to prescribe study areas for analysis and evaluation by
Caltrans and to establish guidelines for preparation of the CTP.
SB 486 did not, however, vest the CTC with the responsibility
to approve the CTP.
The role of the CTC in establishing guidelines to govern
transportation programs is not new. The Legislature has
increasingly turned to the CTC to guide and oversee
implementation of transportation programs as they are created,
such as the Active Transportation Program created in 2013 [SB 99
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 359, Statutes
of 2013], the interregional transportation strategic plan,
revised by SB 486 in 2014, and the highway toll program, created
last year [AB 194, (Frazier), Chapter 687, Statutes of 2015].
The author has introduced AB 2741 in response to a "growing
concern over accountability in the transportation-planning
process." The author correctly points out that, while the CTC
has the authority to establish long-term transportation goals,
Caltrans is not required to follow the CTC's policy direction.
AB 2741 requires the CTC to approve the CTP to ensure the plan
aligns with the guidelines and policy expectations set forth by
the CTC and is consistent with the long-standing role the
Legislature has entrusted the CTC with in helping to guide
transportation policy
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
AB 2741
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093