BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 1204
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: huber
VERSION: 1/14/10
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 15, 2010
SUBJECT:
El Dorado County Transportation Commission
DESCRIPTION:
This bill increases and revises the membership of the El Dorado
County Transportation Commission.
ANALYSIS:
The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) designated the El
Dorado County Transportation Commission (EDCTC) as a regional
transportation planning agency (RTPA) by in 1975. EDCTC's
jurisdiction is all of El Dorado County, except the Lake Tahoe
Basin, which is under the jurisdiction of the Tahoe Regional
Planning Agency.
Between 1975 and 1995, EDCTC was a unit of the El Dorado County
Department of Public Works. Existing law at the time required
that the board of supervisors and the City of Placerville each
appoint three members. In 1995, the County of El Dorado and the
City of Placerville executed a joint powers agreement
establishing EDCTC as an independent agency separate from county
government. The structure of its governing board remained the
same.
SB 902 (Leslie), Chapter 436, Statutes of 1996, established
EDCTC as a statutorily created regional transportation planning
agency and codified the joint powers agreement between El Dorado
County and the City of Placerville. SB 902 established a
governing board consisting of three members appointed by the El
Dorado County Board of Supervisors and three members appointed
AB 1204 (HUBER) Page 2
by the City of Placerville.
This bill :
1) Increases the membership of the EDCTC governing board
from six to seven members.
2) Increases the members appointed by the county board of
supervisors from three to four members.
3) Specifies that each incorporated city within El Dorado
County (excluding cities in the Lake Tahoe Basin) shall
appoint two members to the board, unless there is only one
incorporated city, in which case that city shall have three
appointed members.
COMMENTS:
1) Purpose . Currently the City of Placerville, the only
incorporated city in the jurisdiction of the EDCTC, has
three representatives on EDCTC's governing board. This
purpose of this bill is to revise the membership of EDCTC
and the distribution of municipal representation within El
Dorado County in the event one or more new cities are
incorporated. At the time of the incorporation of a new
city, Placerville's representation would be reduced from
three members to two members and the new city would have
two representatives. Should this occur the size of the
governing board would increase from seven to eight members.
With the incorporation of each additional city, no existing
city would lose membership, but each new city would be
entitled to two representatives on EDCTC's governing board.
2) Shift in El Dorado County's population drives
representation reform . The 1996 legislation established the
current structure of EDCTC's representation. According to
the author, El Dorado Hills' population and the
transportation needs within the county have changed
dramatically since then. Currently, the population of El
Dorado Hills is approximately 35,000 while the population
of Placerville is approximately 10,000. There has been one
unsuccessful incorporation vote in El Dorado Hills, and it
is likely there will be another effort to incorporate the
community. Recognizing the shifting population dynamics in
the county and the aspiration of many to create a second
AB 1204 (HUBER) Page 3
city, the EDCTC established a fourteen-member citizens'
advisory committee to examine the composition of EDCTC's
governing board and recommend changes to its structure.
After holding six public hearings throughout the county,
the committee recommended that board representation take
into account population, geography, community diversity,
ease of communication, balance, and flexibility to allow
for future incorporated cities to gain representation.
EDCTC unanimously voted to recommend the language that is
now in this bill.
3) Responsibilities of EDCTC . As an RTPA, EDCTC is
responsible for allocating Transportation Development Act
revenues, adopting a countywide regional transportation
plan, preparing the regional transportation improvement
program, which is the county's capital outlay program for
transportation investments, and conducting various
transportation studies.
EDCTC is in the area of jurisdiction of the Sacramento Area
Council of Governments (SACOG), the federally designated
metropolitan planning organization for the six county
Sacramento region. A memorandum of understanding between
the two agencies defining their mutual responsibilities was
entered into in 1994. Among the responsibilities of SACOG
is to ensure the federally required regional transportation
plan, which includes projects nominated by EDCTC, meets the
federal air quality standards. In addition, SACOG includes
the EDCTC transportation projects in the federally required
transportation improvement program. Meeting the air quality
standards and including projects in the transportation
improvement program are prerequisites for the region
receiving federal highway and transit funding. In addition,
both agencies agree to use common data bases and
information sources in developing their plans and
transportation investment programs.
4) Double Referral . This bill has been also referred to
Rules Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 68-0
Appr: 17-0
Local Gov't: 10-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
AB 1204 (HUBER) Page 4
Wednesday,
June 9, 2010)
SUPPORT: El Dorado County Transportation Commission
(sponsor)
Four Seasons Civic League
OPPOSED: None received.