BILL NUMBER: SB 1397 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Huff
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Article 4.6 (commencing with Section 172) to Chapter
1 of Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to
transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1397, as introduced, Huff. Highway safety and information
program.
Existing law, the Outdoor Advertising Act, provides for the
regulation by the Department of Transportation of advertising
displays, as defined, within view of public highways.
This bill would enact the Highway Safety and Information Act. The
bill would authorize the department, subject to federal approval, to
enter into an agreement pursuant to a best value procurement and
competitive process for a project with a contractor to construct,
upgrade or reconstruct, and operate a network of changeable message
signs within the rights-of-way of the state highway system, as
specified. The bill would require the person with whom the department
has entered into the agreement to contract and receive funds for the
placement of advertisements, meeting certain standards established
by the department, on the changeable message signs when they are not
being used by the department. The bill would require revenues derived
from the project to be allocated between the department and the
person with whom the department has entered into the agreement and
would require those revenues received by the department to be
deposited in the State Highway Account, subject to appropriation by
the Legislature. The bill would authorize the department to adopt
guidelines and procedures relative to advertising on changeable
message signs. The bill would require the department to submit a
specified report to the fiscal and policy committees of the
Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation matters.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 4.6 (commencing with Section 172) is added to
Chapter 1 of Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:
Article 4.6. Highway Safety and Information Act
172. This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Highway Safety and Information Act.
172.2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Pursuant to Chapter 27 of the Statutes of 2014, the department
has conducted a feasibility study and revenue analysis on the use of
advertising on changeable message signs on the state highway system
and determined the feasibility of implementing a project and
potential revenue benefits.
(b) The department's current network of changeable message signs
has proven to be an effective way to inform road users of critical
safety and transportation-related conditions and of other important
information and to protect the safe and efficient utilization of the
highways.
(c) Changeable message signs have played a critical role in the
success of California's Emergency Alert System, initiated by Chapter
517 of the Statutes of 2002. The current network of changeable
message signs operated by the department, in coordination with the
Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Office of
Traffic Safety, has helped keep our children and families safer by
bringing public resources and private citizens together to help save
lives during emergencies.
(d) Communicating timely information regarding laws, services, and
events, public service and public health and safety messages, and
emergency notifications is an essential public purpose that advances
the general health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of California
and persons who visit and travel through the state.
(e) California makes available on its Internet Web site
information regarding laws, services, and events, communicates public
service and public health and safety messages, and transmits
emergency notifications to users of computers, smartphones, and
similar online and wireless devices.
(f) Recent advances in technology have made it possible to create
a more reliable, effective, and comprehensive network of changeable
message signs that combine text with graphics in order to rapidly and
clearly communicate important information to the users of California'
s highways more safely and effectively than the current network of
changeable message signs. This advanced technology would increase the
efficacy and reliability of the network of changeable message signs,
thereby enhancing the safety and travel experience of the people of
California and would function as an extension and improvement of the
existing California public information and emergency messaging
communication efforts.
(g) Revenues to the state generated by an upgraded changeable
message sign network would provide additional funding for
transportation and safety initiatives, such as additional highway
maintenance and repair, in return for the right to place
advertisements on the changeable message signs in a manner that is
consistent with, and supports, the network's safety and public
communication functions.
(h) The network of upgraded changeable message signs shall be
located and upgraded in accordance with department guidelines for
orientation toward motorists on the traveled way and shall have
minimal impact outside of those rights-of-way.
(i) The authority to use changeable message signs for commercial
advertising shall require that the advertising and department
messaging, when displayed in combination, are determined to be safe
and do not create an unsafe distraction to motorists, and is subject
to prior authorization under federal law.
172.4. For purposes of this article, the following terms mean the
following:
(a) "Agreement" means a legally enforceable agreement for the
project to install and operate changeable message signs or the
network of changeable message signs, including, but not limited to, a
license, lease, highway improvement agreement, easement,
encroachment permit, or operation and maintenance agreement.
(b) "Best value" means a value determined by objective criteria
that may include, but are not limited to, revenues to the state,
features, experience, functions, life cycle costs, price, the
capability to develop and incorporate advanced sign technologies, and
other criteria deemed appropriate by the department.
(c) "Changeable message sign" means a department-owned or
controlled sign or official sign that is designed to display various
messages that provide information to the public, such as traffic
information or advertising, by mechanical or electronic means
centrally controlled through a network, including, but not limited
to, digital and light emitting diode (LED) technologies.
(d) "Demonstration phase" means the initial phase of the project
whereby the safety and operational and fiscal viability of placement
of advertising on changeable message signs in exchange for revenue to
the state and an upgraded changeable message sign network are
demonstrated.
(e) "Network" means the integrated network of enhanced changeable
message signs. The network shall include upgraded changeable message
signs at existing locations and new changeable message signs at
additional locations as determined by the department.
(f) "Person" means an individual, partnership, limited
partnership, trust, estate, association, corporation, limited
liability company, or other entity.
(g) "Project" means to study, plan, design, construct,
reconstruct, develop, finance, maintain, rebuild, improve, repair,
lease, operate, or any combination of these, a state-of-the-art,
full-color network of changeable message signs within the
rights-of-way of the state highway system, or within the right-of-way
of a major arterial that is included within an integrated corridor
management system.
172.6. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, and subject to federal
approval authorizing the department to do so, the department may
enter into an agreement with one person to conduct a single project,
which shall include a demonstration phase, in a manner that best
effectuates the purposes of this article. The department shall
conduct a best value procurement and negotiate an initial agreement
to become effective upon obtaining any necessary federal
authorization. The department may provide services for which it is
reimbursed with respect to preliminary design, inspection, and
oversight of the project.
(b) The agreement described in subdivision (a) shall do all of the
following:
(1) Provide for the construction, upgrade or reconstruction, and
operation of changeable message signs selected for the project. The
department shall be responsible for the maintenance of the selected
changeable message signs.
(2) Provide for complete reversion of any ownership interest in
any of the privately constructed, upgraded or reconstructed, and
operated changeable message signs to the department at the expiration
of the agreement at no charge to the department and free and clear
of any liens or encumbrances.
(3) Provide that all department emergency notifications shall have
priority over other messaging, including advertising.
(4) Provide that the department, in consultation with the
Department of the California Highway Patrol, shall retain the ability
to make a determination on the safety of the changeable message
signs, and may take those actions deemed necessary to protect public
safety.
(5) Require the person with whom the agreement is made to
indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the department for any damage,
injury claim, or incident in connection with the construction,
upgrade or reconstruction, or operation of changeable message signs
performed by or under the control and supervision of that person, or
the advertising on changeable message signs, excluding any
advertising approved in advance or provided by the department,
including, but not limited to, personal injury, wrongful death,
defamation, and property damage.
(6) Provide that the department shall conduct a demonstration
phase of the project as a condition precedent to the full
implementation of the agreement described in this section. The
demonstration phase shall involve the construction, upgrade or
reconstruction, and operation of changeable message signs at current
and planned locations equal to not less than 15 percent of the number
of existing and planned changeable message signs at initiation of
the project and shall be conducted on routes and highway corridors at
sign locations selected by the department. The demonstration phase
shall begin immediately following federal approval as provided in
subdivision (a), and shall last until full implementation is
authorized, and if full implementation is not authorized, then for a
period of time sufficient to allow the person contracting with the
department to recover its capital and related costs for the project.
(7) (A) Provide that the department shall retain an independent
consultant to perform an evaluation of the results of the
demonstration phase.
(B) The department shall review the results of the demonstration
phase and the evaluation from the independent consultant and
determine, in its discretion, whether the placement of commercial
advertising with all department messaging creates an unsafe
distraction to motorists, and shall consider any other issues of
concern that are identified in the demonstration phase.
(C) The department may require changes to the agreement to address
identified issues of concern and to allow for full implementation of
the agreement. If, prior to full implementation, the agreement is
amended or otherwise modified in a way that materially impacts a
changeable message sign's ability to generate revenues, the person
conducting the project shall be entitled to recover from the
department any unreimbursed capital or operating expenses.
(8) Provide for the person with whom the agreement is made to
contract and receive funds for the placement of commercial
advertisements on changeable message signs, except during times and
to the extent the signs are in use by the department, and to share
revenues generated in connection with the use of those signs for
commercial advertising in furtherance of the public interest.
(c) The network of changeable message signs shall be deemed to be
part of the state highway system for purposes of identification and
enforcement of traffic laws or for other official purposes, and the
purposes of Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title 1 of
the Government Code.
(d) Revenues from changeable message signs shall be allocated
between the person with whom the agreement is made and the department
in accordance with the agreement as provided in paragraph (8) of
subdivision (b). Revenues derived from the project and received by
the department, and any other revenue generated from advertising on
changeable message signs owned by the department and received by the
department, shall be deposited in the State Highway Account in the
State Transportation Fund. This revenue shall not be subject to the
transfer under Section 183.1 or any successor to that section.
Revenues deposited under this section shall be retained in the State
Highway Account, subject to appropriation by the Legislature,
consistent with the provisions of any federal authorization.
(e) The changeable message signs shall meet the design,
construction, and operating requirements in the department's
standards and guidelines, including, but not limited to, controls,
such as state-of-the-art sensors that control the brightness of the
display based on the surrounding ambient light levels and other
technologies muting adjacent glare, that focus the zone of vision
toward motorists on the traveled way and prevent neighborhood impacts
in the vicinity of the changeable message signs.
(f) The department shall retain the ultimate right to determine
whether the location of an existing changeable message sign or
proposed location for the placement of a new changeable message sign
has or will negatively impact a residential area or community. If the
department determines that the location of a changeable message sign
has or will have a negative impact on a residential area or
community, the department may, in its discretion, impose additional
requirements on its lighting or placement, require a different
placement, not allow its placement, or require its removal.
172.8. Advertising on changeable message signs shall be in the
form and under those conditions as may be determined by the
department and as may be set forth in standards, guidelines, and
procedures adopted by the department. The advertising shall not
compromise safety or the department's safety communication functions.
The upgraded network shall enhance public messaging, including, but
not limited to, safety campaigns, emergency notifications, travel
times, and traveler information and the function of the network of
changeable message signs. All changeable message signs subject to
this article shall be exempt from Section 5408 of the Business and
Professions Code and from any and all regulations promulgated in
connection with Section 5408 of the Business and Professions Code.
173. The department shall not enter into an agreement with any
person who would cause or permit any changeable message sign to
display or advertise alcohol, tobacco, firearms, sexually explicit
material, or any illegal activity. The department shall adopt
policies and guidelines in connection with the content and formatting
of the advertising.
173.2. The department may use the changeable message signs for
emergency messages, as needed, and shall have dedicated time to use
the changeable message signs for traveler information and motorist
safety and awareness campaigns and any other public service messaging
desired by the state, without providing compensation to the person
with whom it enters into an agreement pursuant to this article.
173.4. (a) When choosing the person with whom to enter into an
agreement pursuant to Section 172.6 to effectuate the purposes of
this article, the department shall select, pursuant to a competitive
process, the person that the department determines will provide the
best value.
(b) The department may retain a consultant or adviser to assist in
preparing the best value criteria, selection of the person, and
oversight of the project. The consultant or adviser shall not bid on
the project or, before one year following award of a contract, work
as an officer or employee of, or consultant or adviser to, any person
or persons seeking to bid on the project.
173.6. No later than two years after the implementation of the
project, the department shall submit a report to the fiscal and
policy committees of the Legislature with jurisdiction over
transportation matters. The report shall include, but not be limited
to, all of the following:
(a) The status of implementation of the agreement, including the
number of signs placed and the locations of the signs placed.
(b) The amount of revenue received, cost savings to the
department, and the costs incurred by the department with respect to
the project, including costs incurred prior to the time the
department entered into an agreement.
(c) An assessment of the effect the project has had on public
safety, emergency notification, traveler information, and motorist
safety and awareness campaigns.
(d) A description of the types of advertising content displayed on
the signs.
173.8. The provisions of this article are severable. If any
provision of this article or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.