BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 491
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Date of Hearing: July 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
SB
491 (Committee on Transportation and Housing) - As Amended June
29, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 36-0
SUBJECT: Transportation: omnibus bill.
SUMMARY: Makes minor, non-controversial changes to sections of
law relating to transportation. Specifically, this bill:
1)Removes the requirement for the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to report the delivery date of the
construction phase of a project as erroneously required by
SB 486 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 917, Statutes of 2014. (Submitted
by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.)
2)Updates the title for the Federal Statewide Transportation
Improvement Program, removes incorrect references to the
federal law relating to that program, and provides an
additional two months for Caltrans to incorporate federal
changes into the State Transportation Improvement Plan
(SHOPP). (Submitted by Caltrans.)
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3)Authorizes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
(VTA) to hold public meetings for the purpose of adopting
project selection criteria for expenditure of Bay Area Air
Quality Management District (BAAQMD) vehicle registration
surcharge funds only if project selection criteria have
changes (as opposed to annually whether or not selection
criteria have changed as is required in existing law).
(Submitted by VTA.)
4)Updates the codes by replacing the outdated reference to
Business, Transportation and Housing Agency with reference to
the newly formed California Transportation Agency. (Submitted
by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.)
5)Deletes specified state highway route segment descriptions
from the codes for highway segments that have been
relinquished by the California Transportation Commission (CTC)
to local jurisdictions. (Submitted by the Office of Assembly
Member Ridley-Thomas.)
6)Changes the word "protected" to "separated" in the code to
better describe cycling infrastructure consisting of marked
lanes, tracks, shoulders, and paths designated exclusively for
bicycle use. (Submitted by Caltrans.)
7)Replaces references in the Vehicle Code pertaining to
suspensions and revocations of the driving privileges to the
repealed Welfare and Institutions Code with the appropriate
renumbered sections in the Family Code. [Submitted by the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).]
8)Corrects a drafting error in AB 1047 (Linder), Chapter 649,
Statutes of 2013, that omitted drivers of buses with a gross
vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,000 pounds or less from the
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requirement to be enrolled in the Employer Pull Notice (EPN)
Program by clarifying that any driver's license endorsement
issued to operate any commercial motor vehicle requires
enrollment in the EPN Program. [Submitted by the California
Highway Patrol (CHP).]
9)Makes conforming changes to code sections to correct
references to renumbered code sections with regard to DMV's
authority to hold administrative hearings for drivers whose
privileges are suspended or revoked for driving under the
influence (DUI). (Submitted by DMV.)
10)Corrects an oversight in recent legislation that extended the
operative date of exemptions to provide proof of financial
responsibility as part of the vehicle registration renewal
process without concomitantly amending the sunset date.
(Submitted by DMV.)
11)Brings various sections of the California's Motor Carrier
Safety Assistance Program codes into compliance with federal
mandates. (Submitted by CHP.)
12)Explicitly prohibits wearing earbuds or headsets covering,
resting on, or inserted in both ears when operating a motor
vehicle or bicycle. (Submitted by the Senate Transportation
and Housing Committee.)
13)Restores the CTC's authority to relinquish segments of State
Routes (SR) 92, 185, and 238 to the City of Hayward, if
Caltrans and the City reach an agreement. These provisions
are identical to the provisions of prior legislation granting
CTC relinquishment authority for these route segments [AB 1386
(Hayashi), Chapter 291, Statutes of 2009], which was
inadvertently removed by the 2012 Transportation Omnibus Bill,
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[AB 2679 (Committee on Transportation), Chapter 769, Statutes
of 2012.] (Submitted by Caltrans.)
14)Makes technical corrections to statutory provisions
pertaining to prior relinquishments to ensure the statutes
accurately reflect the statutory provisions authorizing those
relinquishments. (Submitted by Caltrans.)
15)Delays the Active Transportation Program project selection
dates by one month from December 31, 2015 to January 31, 2016,
to allow the Southern California Association of Governments
(SCAG) to first adopt the final regional plan. (Submitted by
SCAG.)
16)Makes the Vehicle Code consistent with the principally at
fault accident determinations under the Insurance Regulations
(Code of Civil Procedures and Civil Code) by increasing the
threshold for reporting an accident with property damage to
the DMV from $750 to $1,000. [Office of Senator Hill per SB
438 (Hill), of 2015.]
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the Caltrans to prepare an asset management plan.
2)Requires Caltrans to update the SHOPP to reflect federal
program changes.
3)Requires VTA to hold public meetings annually with regard to
project selection criteria used for expenditure of vehicle
registration surcharge funds collected by the BAAQMD.
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4)Replaced the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency with
the California State Transportation Agency and the California
Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.
5)Authorizes the CTC, following the approval by the Legislature,
to relinquish state highways to local jurisdictions.
6)Defines a cycle track or separated bikeway as a right-of-way
designed exclusively for bicycle travel adjacent to a roadway
and which are protected from vehicular traffic.
7)Repealed certain sections of the Welfare and Institutions Code
and renumbered them in the Family Code.
8)Established the EPN Program to provide employers and
regulatory agencies a means to ensure driver safety through
ongoing review of driver records.
9)Specifies that DMV has the authority to conduct administrative
hearings for drivers whose driving privileges are suspended or
revoked for DUI.
10)Sets forth requirements for the operation of commercial motor
vehicles.
11)Prohibits wearing of headsets or earplugs while operating a
motor vehicle or a bicycle.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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COMMENTS: The Assembly Transportation Committee and the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee (Committees) traditionally
author an annual transportation omnibus bill, combining various
statutory modifications that are technical in nature,
non-controversial, and have no opposition into a single bill.
Suggestions for omnibus provisions are solicited from a broad
range of stakeholders. The Committees insist that the
transportation omnibus bill be a consensus measure, therefore,
if there is opposition to an item, it must be removed. There is
no known opposition to any item in this bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093
SB 491
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