BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 294
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 13, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

               AB 294 (Portantino) - As Introduced:  February 9, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:13-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Reenacts, until January 1, 2015, Caltrans' authorization to 
            enter into design-sequencing contracts. 

          2)Requires Caltrans, upon awarding design-sequencing contracts, 
            to annually report to the Legislature specified cost and 
            schedule information.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor absorbable costs for Caltrans for the annual report on 
            design-sequencing contracts.

          2)Potential significant cost savings from expediting project 
            completion using design-sequencing.  

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  .  This bill reenacts design-sequencing authority 
            for Caltrans that expired on January 1, 2010. Under the 
            traditional design-bid-build contracting, construction of any 
            portion of the project cannot commence until Caltrans has 
            developed complete plans and specifications for the project, 
            placed the contract out for bid, and awarded the contract.  
            Design-sequencing is intended to expedite a project by 
            allowing construction on one phase of the project to be 
            started while subsequent phases are still under design.

            Design-sequencing was first authorized by AB 405 








                                                                  AB 294
                                                                  Page  2

            (Knox)/Chapter 378 of 1999, which allowed Caltrans to use this 
            method on a pilot basis for up to six projects.  AB 2607 
            (Knox)/Chapter 340 of 2000 increased the pilot program limit 
            to 12 projects.  Of the 12 design-sequencing projects 
            authorized in this initial pilot, Caltrans initiated 10 
            projects before the end of this phase. 

            SB 1210 (Torlakson)/Chapter 795 of 2004, established a second 
            phase of the pilot program and authorized an additional 12 
            design-sequencing projects between January 2005 and January 
            2010. Of those, Caltrans initiated 11 projects.  In 2009, AB 
            732 (Jeffries) which would have extended the second phase 
            until January 1, 2012, was held on Suspense in Senate 
            Appropriations.  

           2)Purpose  .  In a March 2008 interim report on the pilot program, 
            Caltrans compared six of the initial design-sequencing 
            projects against nine control projects. Results for these 
            initial projects were mixed. However, according to Caltrans 
            staff, findings from some of the recent projects are more 
            positive, due largely to the refined criteria Caltrans is 
            using to select appropriate design-sequencing projects.  AB 
            294 will provide the department extended authority to use a 
            project delivery tool having minimal risks and the potential 
            to increase efficiency and reduce project delivery costs.

           3)Prior Legislation  . Last year, AB 1760 (Blumenfield), a 
            substantially similar bill, was vetoed by Governor 
            Schwarzenegger, who argued that extension of design-sequencing 
            authority should await completion of the final report on Phase 
            I and Phase II projects. This report is not likely to be 
            completed at least until 2014.  
          
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081