Senate Bill No. 231

Introduced by Senator Gaines

February 13, 2015

An act to amend Sections 75212 and 75230 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Section 99313 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 231, as introduced, Gaines. Transportation programs.

(1) Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the annual proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to various programs including 5% for the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program and 20% for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program.

This bill would include water-borne transit that serves as the key transit trunk line in a region as an eligible project that may be funded under these 2 programs. Because the bill would expand the allowable purposes for which the continuously appropriated funds allocated to the program may be expended, it would thereby make an appropriation.

(2) Existing law requires the transfer of a specified portion of the sales tax on diesel fuel, in addition to various other revenues, to the Public Transportation Account, a trust fund in the State Transportation Fund. Funds in the account are required to be allocated to various public transportation and transportation planning purposes. Specified revenues in the account are allocated by the Controller to local transportation agencies for public transportation purposes, pursuant to a program commonly known as the State Transit Assistance program. These funds are allocated by formulas based 50% on population and 50% on transit operator revenue, and are continuously appropriated for purposes of the program.

This bill would provide that for the purposes of the population-based formula, the population of the area under the jurisdiction of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency shall be deemed to be 145,000 for each fiscal year beginning with 2015-16. The bill would identify certain special fund revenues in the Public Transportation Account that are to be used to comply with this provision. Because the bill would require a change to the allocation of funds that are continuously appropriated, it would make an appropriation.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 75212 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

75212.  

Projects eligible for funding pursuant to the program
include any of the following:

(a) Intermodal, affordable housing projects that support infill
and compact development.

(b) Transit capital projects and programs supporting transit
begin delete ridership. end delete begin insert ridership, including water-borne transit that serves as
the key trunk line within a region. end insert

(c) Active transportation capital projects that qualify under the
Active Transportation Program, including pedestrian and bicycle
facilities and supportive infrastructure, including connectivity to
transit stations.

(d) Noninfrastructure-related active transportation projects that
qualify under the Active Transportation Program, including
activities that encourage active transportation goals conducted in
conjunction with infrastructure improvement projects.

(e) Transit-oriented development projects, including affordable
housing and infrastructure at or near transit stations or connecting
those developments to transit stations.

(f) Capital projects that implement local complete streets
programs.

(g) Other projects or programs designed to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and other criteria air pollutants by reducing
automobile trips and vehicle miles traveled within a community.

(h) Acquisition of easements or other approaches or tools that
protect agricultural lands that are under pressure of being converted
to nonagricultural uses, particularly those adjacent to areas most
at risk of urban or suburban sprawl or those of special
environmental significance.

(i) Planning to support implementation of a sustainable
communities strategy, including implementation of local plans
supporting greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts and
promoting infill and compact development.

SEC. 2.  

Section 75230 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

75230.  

(a) The Low Carbon Transit Operations Program is
hereby created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit
agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility,
with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities.

(b) Funding for the program is continuously appropriated
pursuant to Section 39719 of the Health and Safety Code from the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section
16428.8 of the Government Code.

(c) Funding shall be allocated by the Controller consistent with
the requirements of this part and with Section 39719 of the Health
and Safety Code, upon a determination by the Department of
Transportation that the expenditures proposed by a transit agency
meet the requirements of this part and guidelines developed
pursuant to subdivision (f), and the amount of funding requested
that is currently available.

(d) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide transit
operating or capital assistance that meets all of the following
criteria:

(1) Expenditures supporting new or expanded bus or rail
services, begin insert new or expanded water-borne transit that serves as the
key trunk line within a region, end insert or expanded intermodal transit
facilities, and may include equipment acquisition, fueling, and
maintenance, and other costs to operate those services or facilities.

(2) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each
expenditure directly enhances or expands transit service to increase
mode share.

(3) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each
expenditure reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

(e) For transit agencies whose service areas include
disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to Section 39711
of the Health and Safety Code, at least 50 percent of the total
moneys received pursuant to this chapter shall be expended on
projects or services that meet requirements of subdivision (d) and
benefit the disadvantaged communities, consistent with the
guidance developed by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to
Section 39715 of the Health and Safety Code.

(f) The Department of Transportation, in coordination with the
State Air Resources Board, shall develop guidelines that describe
the methodologies that recipient transit agencies shall use to
demonstrate that proposed expenditures will meet the criteria in
subdivisions (d) and (e) and establish the reporting requirements
for documenting ongoing compliance with those criteria.

(g) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to
the development of guidelines for the program pursuant to this
section.

(h) A transit agency shall submit the following information to
the Department of Transportation before seeking a disbursement
of funds pursuant to this part:

(1) A list of proposed expense types for anticipated funding
levels.

(2) The documentation required by the guidelines in developed
pursuant to subdivision (f) to demonstrate compliance with
subdivisions (d) and (e).

(i) Before authorizing the disbursement of funds, the department,
in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, shall determine
the eligibility, in whole or in part, of the proposed list of expense
types, based on the documentation provided by the recipient transit
agency to ensure ongoing compliance with the guidelines
developed pursuant to subdivision (f).

(j) The department shall notify the Controller of approved
expenditures for each transit agency, and the amount of the
allocation for each transit agency determined to be available at
that time of approval.

(k) The recipient transit agency shall provide annual reports to
the Department of Transportation, in the format and manner
prescribed by the department, consistent with the internal
administrative procedures for use of fund proceeds developed by
the State Air Resources Board.

(l) The Department of Transportation and recipient transit
agencies shall comply with the guidelines developed by the State
Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715 of the Health and
Safety Code to ensure that the requirements of Section 39714 of
the Health and Safety Code are met to maximize the benefits to
disadvantaged communities as described in Section 39711 of the
Health and Safety Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 99313 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

99313.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert From the funds made available pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 99312, an amount shall be allocated by
the Controller to each transportation planning agency and county
transportation commission, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit
Development Board, based on the ratio of the population of the
area under its jurisdiction to the total population of the state.

begin insert

(b) For the purposes of this section, notwithstanding subdivision
(a), the population of the area under the jurisdiction of the
transportation planning agency designated pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 29532.1 of the Government Code shall be deemed
to be 145,000 for each fiscal year beginning with the 2015-16
fiscal year. However, in making the population-based allocations
pursuant to this section and subdivision (b) of Section 99312.1,
the Controller shall make any additional allocation required by
this subdivision solely from the revenues deposited in the account
pursuant to Section 99312 and not from the revenues deposited
into the account pursuant to Section 99312.1, in a manner
consistent with the intent of this subdivision to provide an
additional allocation from the cumulative amount available from
the account for population-based allocations, and the Controller
may make any necessary accounting adjustments in that regard.

end insert