SB 824, as introduced, Beall. Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.
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, for expenditures to provide transit operating or capital assistance consistent with specified criteria. Existing law provides for distribution of available funds under the program to recipient transit agencies by the Controller, upon approval of the recipient transit agency’s proposed expenditures by the Department of Transportation.
This bill would authorize a recipient transit agency that does not submit a project for funding under the program in a particular fiscal year to retain its funding share for expenditure in a subsequent fiscal year. The bill would, in that regard, require the department to annually calculate a funding share for each eligible recipient transit agency. The bill would allow a recipient transit agency to loan or transfer its funding share in a particular fiscal year to another recipient transit agency, to pool its funding share with those of other recipient transit agencies, or to apply to the department to reassign, to other eligible expenditures under the program, any savings of surplus moneys from an approved and completed expenditure under the program or from an approved expenditure that is no longer a priority, as specified. The bill would also allow a recipient transit agency to apply to the department for a letter of no prejudice for a capital project or component of a capital project for which the department has authorized a disbursement of funds, and if granted, would allow the recipient transit agency to expend its own moneys and to be eligible for future reimbursement from the program, under specified conditions. The bill would also require a recipient transit agency to provide additional information to the department to the extent funding is sought for capital projects.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 75230 of the Public Resources Code is
2amended to read:
(a) The Low Carbon Transit Operations Program is
4hereby created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit
5agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility,
6with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities.
7(b) Funding for the program is continuously appropriated
8pursuant to Section 39719 of the Health and Safety Code from the
9Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section
1016428.8 of the Government Code.begin insert The Department of
11Transportation, based on the amount of funding available for the
12program each fiscal year, shall annually compute the funding
13share for each eligible recipient transit agency.end insert
14(c) Funding shall be allocated by the Controller consistent with
15the requirements of this part and with Section 39719 of the Health
16and Safety Code, upon a determination by the Department of
17Transportation that the expenditures proposed by abegin insert recipientend insert transit
18agency meet the requirements of this part and guidelines developed
19pursuant to subdivision (f), andbegin insert thatend insert the amount of funding
20requestedbegin delete thatend delete is currently available.
21(d) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide transit
22operating or capital assistance that meets all of the following
23criteria:
P3 1(1) Expenditures supporting new or expanded bus or rail
2services, new or expanded water-borne transit, or expanded
3intermodal transit facilities, and may include equipment acquisition,
4fueling, and maintenance, and other costs to operate those services
5or facilities.
6(2) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each
7expenditure directly enhances or expands transit service to increase
8mode share.
9(3) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each
10expenditure reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
11(e) Forbegin insert recipientend insert transit agencies whose service areas include
12disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to Section 39711
13of the Health and
Safety Code, at least 50 percent of the total
14moneys received pursuant to this chapter shall be expended on
15projects or services that meet requirements of subdivision (d) and
16benefit the disadvantaged communities, consistent with the
17guidance developed by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to
18Section 39715 of the Health and Safety Code.
19(f) The Department of Transportation, in coordination with the
20State Air Resources Board, shall develop guidelines that describe
21the methodologies that recipient transit agencies shall use to
22demonstrate that proposed expenditures will meet the criteria in
23subdivisions (d) and (e) and establish the reporting requirements
24for documenting ongoing compliance with those criteria.
25(g) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
26Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to
27the development of guidelines for the program
pursuant to this
28section.
29(h) Abegin insert recipientend insert transit agency shall submit the following
30information to the Department of Transportation before seeking a
31disbursement of funds pursuant to this part:
32(1) A list of proposed expense types for anticipated funding
33levels.
34(2) The documentation required by the guidelines developed
35pursuant to subdivision (f) to demonstrate compliance with
36subdivisions (d) and (e).
37(i) For capital projects, the recipient transit agency shall also
38do all of the following:
39(1) Specify the phases of work for which the agency is seeking
40an allocation of moneys from the program.
P4 1(2) Identify the sources and timing of all moneys required to
2undertake and complete any phase of a project for which the
3recipient agency is seeking an allocation of moneys from the
4program.
5(3) Describe intended sources and timing of funding to complete
6any subsequent phases of the project, through construction or
7procurement.
8(i)
end delete
9begin insert(j)end insert Before authorizing the disbursement of funds, thebegin delete department,end delete
10begin insert Department of Transportation,end insert in coordination with the State Air
11Resources Board, shall determine the eligibility, in whole or in
12part, of the proposed list of expense types, based on the
13documentation provided by the recipient transit agency to ensure
14ongoing compliance with the guidelines developed pursuant to
15subdivision (f).
16(j)
end delete
17begin insert(k)end insert Thebegin delete departmentend deletebegin insert Department of Transportationend insert shall notify
18the Controller of approved expenditures for eachbegin insert
recipientend insert transit
19agency, and the amount of the allocation for eachbegin delete transitend delete agency
20determined to be available at that time of approval.
21(l) A recipient transit agency that does not submit a project for
22funding in a particular fiscal year shall retain its funding share,
23and may accumulate and utilize that funding share in a subsequent
24fiscal year for a larger expenditure.
25(m) A recipient transit agency may, in a particular fiscal year,
26loan or transfer its funding share to another recipient transit
27agency with an identified eligible expenditure under the program,
28under
terms and conditions approved by the Department of
29Transportation in the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision
30(f).
31(n) A group of recipient transit agencies may, in a particular
32fiscal year, enter into an agreement to pool the respective funding
33shares of each member of the group for an identified eligible
34expenditure under the program, under terms and conditions
35approved by the Department of Transportation in the guidelines
36developed pursuant to subdivision (f).
37(o) A recipient transit agency may apply to the Department of
38Transportation to reassign any savings of surplus moneys allocated
39under this section to the agency for an expenditure that has been
40
completed to another eligible expenditure under the program. A
P5 1recipient transit agency may also apply to the Department of
2Transportation to reassign to another eligible expenditure any
3moneys from the program previously allocated to the agency for
4an expenditure that the agency has determined is no longer a
5priority for the use of those moneys.
6(k)
end delete
7begin insert(p)end insert The recipient transit agency shall provide annual reports to
8the Department of Transportation, in the format and manner
9prescribed by the department, consistent with the internal
10administrative procedures for use of fund proceeds developed by
11the State Air Resources Board.
12(l)
end delete
13begin insert(q)end insert The Department of Transportation and recipient transit
14agencies shall comply with the guidelines developed by the State
15Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715 of the Health and
16Safety Code to ensure that the requirements of Section 39713 of
17the Health and Safety Code are met to maximize the benefits to
18disadvantaged communities as described in Section 39711 of the
19Health and Safety Code.
20(r) The audit of public transportation operator finances already
21required under the Transportation Development Act pursuant to
22Section 99245 of the Public Utilities Code shall be expanded to
23include verification of receipt and appropriate expenditure of
24moneys from the program. Each recipient transit
agency receiving
25moneys from the program in a fiscal year for which an audit is
26conducted shall transmit a copy of the audit to the Department of
27Transportation, and the department shall make the audits available
28to the Legislature and the Controller for review on request.
Section 75231 is added to the Public Resources Code,
30to read:
(a) A recipient transit agency under the program created
32pursuant to Section 75230 may apply to the Department of
33Transportation for a letter of no prejudice for a capital project or
34for any component of a capital project for which the department
35has authorized a disbursement of funds. If approved by the
36department, the letter of no prejudice shall allow the recipient
37transit agency to expend its own moneys for the project or any
38component of the project and to be eligible for future
39reimbursement from moneys available for the program.
P6 1(b) The amount expended under subdivision (a) shall be
2reimbursed by the state from moneys available for the program if
3all of the following conditions are met:
4(1) The project or project component for which the letter of no
5prejudice was requested has commenced, and the regional or local
6expenditures have been incurred.
7(2) The expenditures made by the recipient transit agency are
8eligible expenditures under the program. If expenditures made by
9the recipient transit agency are determined to be ineligible, the
10state has no obligation to reimburse those expenditures.
11(3) The recipient transit agency complies with all legal
12requirements for the project, including the requirements of the
13California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
14with Section 21000)).
15(4) There are moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
16designated for the program that are sufficient to make the
17reimbursement payment.
18(c) The recipient transit agency and the Department of
19Transportation shall enter into an agreement governing
20reimbursement as described in this section. The timing and final
21amount of reimbursement shall be dependent on the terms of the
22agreement and the availability of moneys in the Greenhouse Gas
23Reduction Fund for the program.
24(d) The Department of Transportation, in consultation with
25recipient public transit agencies, may develop guidelines to
26implement this section.
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