BILL NUMBER: SB 1348 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 14516 14521.5
to the Government Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1348, as amended, Steinberg. California Transportation
Commission: guidelines.
Existing law generally provides for programming and allocation of
state and federal funds available for transportation capital
improvement projects by the California Transportation Commission,
pursuant to various requirements. Existing law authorizes the
commission, in certain cases, to adopt guidelines relative to its
programming and allocation policies and procedures.
Existing law generally requires regulations adopted by state
agencies to be reviewed and approved by the Office of Administrative
Law pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. A regulation is
required to be consistent with the statute to which it pertains.
Existing law provides that no state agency may issue, utilize,
enforce, or attempt to enforce any guideline that is a regulation, as
defined, unless the guideline has been adopted as a regulation.
This bill would provide that guidelines adopted by the commission
shall have no force or effect unless adopted as regulations pursuant
to the Administrative Procedure Act.
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, generally governs
the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations
by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by
the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law, in certain instances,
exempts state agencies from these requirements.
This bill would establish specified procedures that the commission
would be required to utilize when it adopts guidelines pursuant to a
statutory authorization or mandate that exempts the commission from
the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) From time to time, the Legislature has authorized the
California Transportation Commission to adopt guidelines for the
development and administration of statutorily created transportation
programs.
(b) Examples of the legislative authorization described in
subdivision (a) include, but are not limited to, the authority for
guidelines for the administration of transportation programs funded
by the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port
Security Bond Act of 2006 (Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section
8879.20) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code), including
the Corridor Mobility Improvement Account (CMIA) and the
Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety Account.
(c) In 2009, the commission also adopted program guidelines for
the implementation of the public-private partnership authority the
Legislature granted to the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
and to regional transportation planning agencies pursuant to Section
143 of the Streets and Highways Code.
(d) The Legislature has exempted program guidelines adopted by the
commission from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code) so that the commission may adopt guidelines
quickly and may amend adopted guidelines in response to quickly
changing circumstances.
(e) On some occasions, the commission's process for adopting
program guidelines has lacked transparency and has not provided the
public with ample opportunity to fully review and comment on proposed
guidelines.
(f) To ensure the commission's process for the adoption of program
guidelines is understandable, predictable, and transparent, and to
ensure the commission's process provides ample opportunity for public
review and comment on proposed guidelines, it is necessary to place
into statute a process for the adoption of program guidelines by the
commission.
SEC. 2. Section 14521.5 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
14521.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, in instances where
the commission adopts guidelines pursuant to a statutory
authorization or mandate and the adoption of the guidelines is
exempted from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative
Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part
1), the commission shall adopt guidelines using the procedures
established pursuant to this section.
(b) The commission's general counsel shall review the proposed
guidelines for matters such as necessity, authority, clarity,
consistency, reference, and nonduplication, and recommend any
proposed action to the commissioners. For purposes of this section,
"necessity," "authority," "clarity," "consistency," "reference," and
"nonduplication" shall each have the same meaning as defined in
Section 11349.
(c) A program or policy guideline adopted by the commission shall
be adopted by a majority vote of the commission at a public hearing.
The public shall be provided the opportunity at the hearing to
comment on the proposed or draft guideline prior to a vote of the
commission on the pending matter.
(d) The proposed or draft guideline shall be sent, at least 30
days prior to the public hearing required pursuant to subdivision
(c), to any person who has requested notices of the meetings of the
commission and shall be available to the public in electronic format.
The proposed or draft guideline shall include notice of the right of
the public to comment orally or in writing on the proposed or draft
guideline either prior to or during the public hearing.
(e) The commission shall maintain a guideline adoption file
containing the public notice, public comments, and minutes of the
public hearing, including the action taken by the commission.
(f) The guideline adoption file shall contain a summary of each
objection or recommendation made and an explanation of how the
proposed guideline was changed to accommodate each objection or
recommendation, or the reason or reasons for making no change.
(g) The commission shall include in its annual report to the
Legislature, required pursuant to Section 14535, a summary of its
activities related to the adoption of program or policy guidelines
during the previous calendar year, including, but not limited to, a
summary of the proposed guidelines considered by the commission, a
description of the actions taken by the commission, and the votes of
the commission on matters it considered.
SECTION 1. Section 14516 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
14516. Guidelines adopted by the commission shall have no force
or effect unless adopted as regulations pursuant to the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1).