BILL NUMBER: SB 1348 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 18, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 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, 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 and would exempt the adoption of those
guidelines 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 shall
be exempt 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. Part
1). Except for the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP)
guidelines adopted pursuant to Sections 14526, 14527, and 14529, on
or after January 1, 2011, the commission shall adopt guidelines using
the procedures.
(b) The commission's general lega
l 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. The
commission's legal counsel's recommendations and
communications to the commission concerning the results of the review
shall be subject to the attorney-client privilege. The commission's
executive director shall cause the recommendations and communications
to be distributed to all commissioners.
(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.
(c) Program or policy guidelines shall first be presented at a
commission meeting for purposes of receiving public comment. At least
45 days prior to the hearing, the proposed or draft guideline shall
be sent 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 on the proposed or draft
guideline during the public hearing or to comment in writing at any
time prior to the meeting or within seven business days following the
hearing, at which time the written comment period shall be closed.
(d) Following the close of the written comment period, the
commission staff shall review all written and oral comments and shall
prepare a summary of the objections and recommendations made in
those comments and an explanation of how the proposed guideline is
proposed to be changed to accommodate the objections or
recommendations, or the reason or reasons for proposing no change.
(e) The staff recommendations and summary described in subdivision
(d) shall be made publicly available at least 15 days prior to a
subsequent regular hearing of the commission. At that subsequent
public hearing, the commission shall consider the staff
recommendations and any additional public comment made at the hearing
prior to voting on the adoption of the proposed guideline. A program
or policy guideline adopted by the commission shall be adopted by an
affirmative vote of a majority of the commission membership.
(e)
(f) 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
, and a letter from the commission's legal counsel confirming that
he or she reviewed the proposed guidelines for compliance with the
standards set forth in subdivision (b) .
(f)
(g) 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)
(h) 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.