BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1243
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 13, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                  AB 1243 (Lowenthal) - As Amended:  April 14, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                               
          TransportationVote:12-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes within the Business, Housing, and  
          Transportation Agency (BT&H), until January 1, 2012, the South  
          East Los Angeles County Commercial Vehicle Network Development  
          and Advisory Committee, and prescribes the committee's  
          membership and responsibilities.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)Establishes as the committee's goal the development of a work  
            program focused on addressing commercial vehicle enforcement  
            issues, and requires the committee to provide an annual  
            progress report.  

          2)Prescribes the a three-member committee appointed by the BT&H  
            Secretary from nominations each made by the CHP, Caltrans, and  
            the Gateway Cities Council of Governments (GCCOG),  
            respectively.  Members are to serve without compensation.  

          3)Requires the committee's work to include 12 specified  
            activities, including evaluating the current commercial  
            vehicle fine structure and the relative distribution of the  
            resulting revenues, evaluating the potential to standardize  
            the fine structure and process, and reviewing the use several  
            different technologies as legal enforcement tools.

          4)Authorizes the committee to accept grants from federal or  
            local public agencies or from private sources to assist in  
            carrying out the functions of the Committee.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Annual cost of around $130,000 for two years assuming the  








                                                                  AB 1243
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          equivalent of one full-time staff position within BT&H to  
          support the work of the committee, including conducting research  
          and analysis for the specified activities, facilitating meetings  
          with stakeholders, and completing the annual status reports,  
          including recommendations.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  The sponsor (GCCOG) represents 27 cities in southeast  
          Los Angeles County.  AB 1243 is intended to bring CHP, Caltrans,  
          and GCCOG together to collaborate in development of a commercial  
          vehicle enforcement system.  Despite the millions of truck miles  
          traveled in the Gateway Cities region, there are no permanent  
          operating truck inspection facilities on the I-710 freeway or  
          within the area. In 2008, GCCOG developed a "Gateway Cities ITS  
          Integration Plan for Goods Movement" in an effort to make goods  
          movement more efficient and to improve transportation mobility,  
          reduce congestion, and improve air quality.  The plan included  
          commercial vehicle enforcement technology strategies as one  
          aspect of the overall strategy.  

          The author explains that, "Because truck enforcement facilities  
          must be sited in local cities, built by Caltrans, and operated  
          by CHP, there are a variety of stakeholders that must work  
          closely together.  This bill will create an advisory committee  
          that will generate consensus and recommendations for addressing  
          the problem."  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081