BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2741 Hearing Date: June 14,
2016
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|Author: |Salas |
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|Version: |6/8/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Manny Leon |
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SUBJECT: Long-range transportation planning: California
Transportation Plan
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Transportation Plan
(CTP) to be approved by the California Transportation Commission
(CTC), as specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Vests CTC with the 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
c) The preparation of these plans shall be a cooperative
AB 2741 (Salas) Page 2 of ?
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 a variety of subject areas for
the movement of people and freight.
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
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.
This bill:
AB 2741 (Salas) Page 3 of ?
1)Requires, starting in 2020, Caltrans to submit an updated CTP
to CTC and further requires CTC to approve the updated CTP, as
specified
2)Requires Caltrans to revise the proposed updated CTP in
consultation with CTC if the updated plan is not approved by
CTC
3)Makes technical conforming changes
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author asserts that this bill will "require the
California Transportation Plan to be approved by the CTC to
ensure it aligns with the CTC's established guidelines and
policy expectations. AB 2741 will provide accountability in
the transportation-planning process and ensure Caltrans is
meeting CTC's guidelines."
2)Improving the transportation planning process. In 2014, the
Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 486 (DeSaulnier,
Chapter 917, Statutes 2014) which contained a number of
provisions related to the transportation planning and
programming process. Several of these provisions aimed to
align the state's overarching policy goals with its long-term
transportation planning effort and then to use these planning
efforts to guide investments. Eventually, this alignment
intends to 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 (e.g., State Transportation Improvement
Program, State Highway Operations and Protection Program,
etc.). SB 486 further authorized CTC to establish guidelines
for the preparation of subsequent California Transportation
Plans following the first plan completed in 2015.
3)What is the CTP? The CTP provides a long-range policy
framework to meet California's future mobility needs and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The CTP defines goals,
performance-based policies, and strategies to achieve the
state's collective vision for California's future statewide,
integrated, multimodal transportation system. The CTP
AB 2741 (Salas) Page 4 of ?
envisions a sustainable system that improves mobility and
enhances Californian quality of life. Ultimately, the purpose
of the CTP is to provide a common policy framework that will
guide transportation investments and decisions by all levels
of government, the private sector, and other transportation
stakeholders. Caltrans is to update the CTP every five years.
4)CTC's role. The CTC's role 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).
SB 486 authorized the CTC to prescribe study areas for analysis
and evaluation by Caltrans and to establish guidelines for
preparation of the CTP. However, SB 486 did not provide the CTC
with the responsibility to approve the CTP or future updates.
This bill continues the abovementioned practice by authorizing
the CTC to approve future updated CTPs submitted by Caltrans to
ensure future plans are consistent with the guidelines set forth
by CTC.
Related Legislation:
SB 486 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 917, Statutes 2014) - modified the
state's transportation planning process to improve alignment
with the regional transportation planning process and to add
increased opportunity for public input in the state's
transportation plans.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 79-0
Approps: 19-0
Trans: 16-0
AB 2741 (Salas) Page 5 of ?
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 8, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
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