BILL NUMBER: SB 747 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator McGuire
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wood)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 21615) to
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 9 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to airports, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 747, as introduced, McGuire. Airports: financial assistance:
grant program.
The State Aeronautics Act establishes the Aeronautics Account in
the State Transportation Fund, and continuously appropriates the
moneys in the account for expenditure for airport purposes by the
Division of Aeronautics within the Department of Transportation and
the California Transportation Commission. Existing law establishes
the California Aid to Airports Program under which the department
provides grants to political subdivisions for the planning,
acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of
a publicly owned airport, and to cities or counties on behalf of any
privately owned, public use airport, as specified.
This bill would require the Department of Transportation to adopt
and administer a grant program for the purpose of funding specified
infrastructure projects to maintain and improve airport facilities
and infrastructure owned or operated by a commercial service airport
or general aviation airport. The bill would authorize one or more
eligible airports to submit a joint application, as specified. The
bill would also authorize the department to provide financial
assistance for and to enter into agreements with commercial air
carriers to, among other things, establish and market new or expanded
service at airports with 400,000 or fewer annual enplanements and
would authorize the department to use available moneys to provide
financial assistance to underserved airports, as specified.
The bill would require the Division of Aeronautics to develop
regulations for the department to adopt in order to implement these
provisions. The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the
Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund for it purposes
and would make unspecified percentage allocations to airports with
annual enplanements of 1,000,000 or more, 1,000,000 or less, and to
general aviation airports.
Because any violation of the State Aeronautics Act is a crime and
the provisions of the bill would be within the act, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 21615) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 9 of the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
Article 1.5. Local Airport Investment and Improvement Act
21615. (a) Notwithstanding Section 21602, the department shall
adopt and administer a grant program for purposes of maintaining and
improving facilities and infrastructure owned or operated by a
commercial service airport or general aviation airport. The following
infrastructure projects shall be eligible for funding under this
program:
(1) Projects included in the Airport Capital Improvement Program.
(2) The airport master plan.
(3) Deferred maintenance projects.
(4) Airport and equipment maintenance projects.
(5) Emergency projects necessary to maintain consistent flight
service operations.
(6) Equipment necessary to perform airport infrastructure
maintenance and sustain reliable flight operations.
(7) Studies on subjects related to airport landside and airside
operations and safety, including, but not limited to, wildlife and
runway hazards.
(b) One or more eligible airports may apply for financial
assistance under this section by providing joint applications for
similar projects. Joint applications shall be accepted if airports
are within a similar geographic region to achieve savings by
furnishing service providers a single bidding opportunity.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 21683.1, project grants may be
used by eligible airports to fulfill the local match requirements of
Federal Aviation Administration grant programs or to supplement those
grant programs.
(2) Eligible airports may submit matching grant applications to
the department simultaneously when the principal grant application is
submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration.
(3) Eligible airports receiving grants under this subdivision to
fulfill local match requirements may commence project construction
upon receipt by the airport of a grant assurance from the Federal
Aviation Administration.
21616. (a) The department may, pursuant to this article, provide
financial assistance for, and enter into agreements with, commercial
air carriers to do both of the following:
(1) Establish and market new or expanded service at airports with
400,000 or fewer annual enplanements.
(2) Subsidize air carrier service to and from an underserved
airport for a period not to exceed three years.
(b) The department may also use moneys made available for purposes
of this article to do both of the following:
(1) Provide financial assistance to an underserved airport to
obtain service to and from the underserved airport.
(2) Provide financial assistance to an underserved airport to
implement measures that the airport, in consultation with the
department, considers appropriate to improve air service both in
terms of the cost of the service to consumers and the availability of
that service, including improving air service through marketing and
promotion of air service and enhanced utilization of airport
facilities.
21617. The division shall develop regulations for the department
to adopt in order to implement this article.
21618. Funds appropriated by the Legislature to the department
for purposes of this article shall be allocated as follows:
(1) ____ percent to airports with annual enplanements of 1,000,000
or more.
(2) ____ percent to airports with annual enplanements of less than
1,000,000.
(3) ____ percent to general aviation airports.
SEC. 2. Notwithstanding Section 21680 of the Public Utilities
Code, the sum of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated from the
Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund to the
Department of Transportation for the purposes authorized by Article
1.5 (commencing with Section 21615) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of
Division 9 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.