BILL ANALYSIS
SB 455
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
SB 455 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 16, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 32-5
SUBJECT : California High-Speed Rail Authority - governance and
reporting
SUMMARY : Establishes certain eminent domain powers to the
High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) and, among other provisions,
establishes specified administrative and reporting
responsibilities of HSRA. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Senate confirmation of the five members of the
HSRA board who are appointed by the Governor.
2)Exempts HSRA from various statutory provisions related to the
acquisition and disposal of property, rights-of way, and
easements that otherwise require approval of the Department of
General Services, the State Public Works Board, or the
Department of Finance (DOF). These provisions provide HSRA
with similar statutory authority granted to the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) and several other state agencies in
property matters.
3)Requires the preparation of a project schedule that includes a
detailed assessment of project delivery milestones and
identification of issues that may affect the schedule.
4)Requires the schedule to be published and presented to HSRA
board each calendar quarter, beginning March 31, 2010. The
report would include a discussion of project status, including
any delays and their impact on meeting project delivery.
Copies of the report would be submitted to the Legislature and
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO).
5)Requires HSRA, beginning with the first board meeting after
March 31, 2010, to approve a quarterly report on the status of
any contracts with firms providing professional services,
including any change orders, modifications in the schedule,
and changes in budget or contracted amount for those
contracts.
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6)Requires HSRA to approve any amendments to contracts at a
scheduled board meeting. The contract amendment would also
include an explanation for its necessity and consequences on
the overall project schedule and budget.
7)Requires capital outlay projects undertaken by HSRA to be
consistent with one or more of the following criteria:
a) Provide enhanced railroad access to stations and
terminals;
b) Provide specified improvements to existing commuter and
intercity passenger train services;
c) Provide for improvement of connections from the San
Joaquin Valley to either southern California or the Bay
Area; and,
d) Require the projects to be capable of conversion or use
by high-speed passenger train service.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Enacts the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century (High-Speed Rail Bond Act). The
High-Speed Rail Bond Act, approved as Proposition 1A in
November 2008, provides $9.95 billion in general obligation
bond authority to fund the planning and construction of a
high-speed passenger train system and complementary
improvements to other specified rail systems in the state.
Authorizes the Legislature to establish conditions and
criteria on funds appropriated for planning and capital costs.
Requires HSRA, prior to expending bond funding for the
construction and acquisition of equipment and property, to
submit concurrently to DOF and the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee, a detailed funding plan for each corridor or usable
segment.
2)Establishes HSRA and charges it with the planning, designing,
constructing, operating, and maintaining a state-of-the-art
high-speed train system for California. The HSRA consists of
a nine-member board (five appointed by the Governor, two
appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and two by the
Speaker of the Assembly). The appointments are not subject to
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Senate confirmation.
3)Authorizes, through enactment of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the recently enacted federal
economic stimulus package), $8 billion for high-speed rail
passenger services throughout the nation. Also, the federal
stimulus package provides additional intercity and commuter
rail passenger discretionary funding that potentially could
benefit the state.
4)Requires HSRA to prepare and publish a revised business plan
by September 1, 2008.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, costs of $50,000 increasing to $100,000 annually
thereafter, for the development of the quarterly reports.
COMMENTS : Following the passage of the High-Speed Rail Bond
Act, HSRA will be transitioning from a small study and planning
organization to a multi-billion dollar engineering and
construction entity. Accordingly, this bill will provide HSRA
with authority to facilitate the development of the high-speed
rail service, establish legislative priorities for high-speed
rail investments, consistent with the statutory authority
conferred, and provide a structure intended to ensure
accountability in the performance of its functions and
activities.
Furthermore, similar to the requirements imposed by the
Legislature on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge seismic
retrofit mega-project, pursuant to SB 66 (Torlakson), Chapter
375, Statutes of 2005, this bill requires HSRA to prepare
quarterly reports to the Legislature on project delivery status,
including changes to the scope, schedule, and budget of the
high-speed rail project. Few projects compare in scope and
complexity to projects such as the Bay Bridge seismic retrofit
project and the California high-speed rail passenger project.
Further, mega-projects often experience large cost escalations
and schedule delays. Accordingly, quarterly reporting will
provide the Legislature and HSRA board with consistent and
continuous reporting on the status of this high-speed rail
mega-project. Also, these accountability provisions, in the
past, have been successful in timely identifying and addressing
potential scheduling and budgetary issues. Lastly, the
reporting requirement is not inconsistent with the LAO
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recommendation to enact legislation directing HSRA to provide an
annual report to the Legislature at the time HSRA submits its
annual budget.
Related bill : SB 783 (Ashburn) of 2009, revises the contents of
the HSRA business plan and requires it to prepare, publish, and
adopt it on a continuing basis, starting on January 1, 2012, and
every two years thereafter. That bill is being heard in the
Assembly Transportation Committee today.
AB 153 (Ma) of 2009, clarifies HSRA's ability to exercise
eminent domain power, authorizes it to employ its own legal
staff or to contract with other state agencies for legal
services, and makes changes to its authority governing project
development. That bill is with the Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093