BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 64 (Liu) - California Transportation Plan
          
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          |Version: May 6, 2015            |Policy Vote: T. & H. 10 - 1     |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: May 18, 2015      |Consultant: Mark McKenzie       |
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          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.







          Bill  
          Summary:  SB 64 would require the California Transportation  
          Commission (CTC) to review each release of the five-year  
          California Transportation Plan (CTP) and make recommendations  
          for transportation system improvements, as specified.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  CTC workload costs in the range of $130,000 every five  
          years to review the CTP and make recommendations, beginning in  
          2016. (State Highway Account)


          Background:  Existing law requires the Department of Transportation  







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          (Caltrans) to update the CTP by December 31, 2015, and every  
          five years thereafter, that describes the integrated multimodal  
          transportation system necessary to meet AB 32 greenhouse gas  
          emission reductions.  The plan must include a policy element  
          that describes state policies and system performance objectives,  
          a strategies element that synthesizes the regional  
          transportation plans' concepts and strategies, and a  
          recommendations element that includes economic forecasts and  
          recommendations to achieve the plan's objectives.  Existing law  
          requires Caltrans to coordinate with CTC, the Strategic Growth  
          Council, and the Air Resources Board, among others, when  
          drafting the CTP.


          Proposed Law:  
            SB 64 would require CTC to review recommendations in the  
          update to the CTP prepared by Caltrans in 2015, and every five  
          years thereafter, and prepare specific action-oriented and  
          pragmatic recommendations for transportation system  
          improvements.  The bill also requires CTC to submit a report of  
          the recommendations to the Legislature and Governor by December  
          31, 2016 and every five years thereafter.


          Related  
          Legislation:  SB 486 (DeSaulnier), Chap 917/2014, streamlined  
          the state transportation planning process, and authorizes CTC to  
          prescribe study areas for analysis and evaluation by Caltrans,  
          and to establish guidelines for preparing CTP updates, in  
          cooperation with Caltrans.


          Staff  
          Comments:  Since the CTP is prepared or updated every five  
          years, SB 64 would require CTC to incur additional expenditures  
          on a five year cycle for workload to review the plan and  
          formulate recommendations.  A report of the recommendations  
          would be submitted as part of the CTC's annual report to the  
          Legislature and Governor.  In addition, the CTC expects to use  
          its recommendations to the adopted plans to formulate updated  
          guidance for subsequent CTPs to ensure that priority areas and  
          recommended actions are addressed in future planning cycles.   
          The CTC was provided with a two-year limited term Supervising  
          Transportation Planner following the passage of SB 486.  This  








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          staff may be sufficient to review and provide recommendations to  
          the 2015 CTP, but moving beyond the 2016 timeframe, it is  
          unlikely that CTC would be able to absorb the workload related  
          to this bill.  Additional resources may be required to provide  
          the direction and guidance in the development of future CTPs to  
          ensure compliance with the statutory requirements of both SB 64  
          and SB 486.  


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