BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2796
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2796 (Bloom and Low)
As Amended April 4, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Transportation |16-0 |Frazier, Linder, | |
| | |Baker, Bloom, Brown, | |
| | |Chu, Daly, Dodd, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Kim, Mathis, | |
| | |Medina, Melendez, | |
| | |Nazarian, O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
AB 2796
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| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires a minimum amount of funding be set aside for
planning and non- infrastructure activities within the Active
Transportation Program (ATP). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a minimum 5% of funding from the statewide, small
urban and rural, and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
programs within ATP be allocated for planning and community
engagement for active transportation in disadvantaged
communities.
2)Requires a minimum 10% of the total funding available for ATP
be programmed for non-infrastructure activities, including
activities relating to Safe Routes to School.
3)Clarifies that any portion of funding that supports
non-infrastructure activities as part of a combined
infrastructure and non-infrastructure project shall contribute
to meeting the 10% minimum.
4)Allows for any additional funds remaining if applications to
the programs do not meet the minimums required be expended on
other projects.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the ATP to be administered by the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and allocated by the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) for the purpose of
encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation,
AB 2796
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such as biking and walking.
2)Funds the ATP from a combination of federal and state funds.
3)Creates three programs within ATP for distribution of funds:
a) 50% for statewide competitive program awarded by the
CTC;
b) 10% for projects in small urban and rural areas of the
state awarded by the CTC; and,
c) 40% for projects determined by MPO's over 200,000 in
population. The 40% is distributed to MPOs based on their
relative population.
4)Requires that no less than 25% of programs funds benefit
disadvantaged communities.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, based on current program funding levels, this bill
earmarks in statute at least $6 million of total ATP funds for
planning and community engagement and $12 million for
non-infrastructure activities. (CTC's current program
guidelines set aside 2% of funds for planning.
Non-infrastructure projects are eligible for funding in the
three component programs.)
COMMENTS: The ATP was created by SB 99 (Committee on Budget and
Fiscal Review), Chapter 359, Statutes of 2013, and AB 101
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 354, Statues of
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2013, by consolidating existing federal and state programs and
funding, including the federal Transportation Alternatives
Program, the state Bicycle Transportation Account, and the
federal and state Safe Routes to School programs. The purpose
of the ATP is to encourage the use of active transportation
modes including biking and walking. Specifically, ATP has the
goals of increasing the proportion of biking and walking trips;
increasing safety for non-motorized users; increasing mobility
for non-motorized users; advancing the efforts of regional
agencies to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals; enhancing
public health, including the reduction of childhood obesity
through the use of projects eligible for Safe Routes to Schools
Program funding; ensuring disadvantaged communities fully share
in program benefits; and providing a broad spectrum of projects
to benefit many types of active transportation users.
ATP has a wide eligibility for infrastructure projects such as
bikeways, bicycle facilities, sidewalks, trails and crossing
safety improvements, and non-infrastructure projects, such as
educational programs and enforcement activities. Additionally,
ATP funds planning activities, including the development of
local bicycle and pedestrian master plans.
According to the author, this bill would address the competitive
disadvantage of planning and non-infrastructure projects
relative to infrastructure projects in ATP and enable such
projects to compete fairly in the grant process. He states that
the importance of non-infrastructure and planning projects in
educating and encouraging biking and walking has been
overlooked. The author is attempting to reflect the volume of
applications for these activities in the minimum percentage
amounts for non-infrastructure and planning activities.
Further, the author adds that by establishing a specific
set-aside, more communities will be encouraged to apply for
grants.
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The ATP has become extremely popular in the state with high
demand for both the statewide and the regional programs. In
fact, in some areas regional agencies contribute other federal,
state and local funds to their respective programs to try to
meet the demand. ATP is funded at approximately $120 million
per year, and programmed in four year cycles. The bulk of the
funding comes from the federal government through a set-aside
program authorized by the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act. For example, in the second cycle,
awarded in 2015, 617 applications were submitted, requesting
over $1 billion in funds. In the three program components
approximately 207 projects were awarded totaling $359 million.
Of that amount less than 5% was awarded to non-infrastructure
and planning activities.
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Melissa White / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0003165