BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1117
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1117 ( DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 26, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 32-3
SUBJECT : State Rail Plan
SUMMARY : Modifies requirements of the State Rail Plan.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the new
planning requirements of the federal Passenger Rail Investment
and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) and the need to build on
these new requirements to improve the state's rail planning
activities.
2)Identifies the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) as the designee to prepare, maintain, coordinate,
and administer the federal state rail plan required under
PRIIA.
3)Restructures the State Rail Plan, as follows:
a) Requires the State Rail Plan to comply with federal
requirements under PRIIA.
b) Adds required elements of the State Rail Plan to
include:
i) Plans for a comprehensive and integrated statewide
passenger rail system, including high-speed rail,
conventional intercity and commuter rail, and connections
to urban rail systems;
ii) A review of all high-speed rail routes, the freight
rail system, conventional intercity and commuter rail
systems, and urban system connections to other passenger
rail systems, including a statement of the state's
passenger rail objectives for routes in the state;
iii) Identification of improvements that have the
potential to benefit both rail freight and passenger rail
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services in the state; and,
iv) An inventory of the existing rail transportation
system, services, and facilities in the state, and an
analysis of the role of rail within the state's overall
transportation system.
c) Deletes specific, detailed requirements of the existing
State Rail Plan, including:
i) Actual, estimated, and proposed encumbrances for
capital and operating subsidies and for state operations;
ii) Identification of high-priority capital improvement
projects;
iii) Performance evaluation of all services in
operations;
iv) Recommended levels of service for the next ten
years;
v) Evaluations of regional planning agency reports of
commuter services;
vi) Maps of existing routes;
vii) Expenditure data and strategies related to Caltrans'
marketing activities;
viii) The specific requirement that the report be prepared
in consultation with AMTRAK and the Public Utilities
Commission;
ix) Discussions of fare policies; and,
x) The freight element, including issues related to
environmental aspects, financing, intermodal connections,
current system deficiencies, new technology, and light
density rail.
d) Modifies required due dates and sets forth a review and
submittal process to require Caltrans to:
i) Submit the draft State Rail Plan to the High-Speed
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Rail Authority (HSRA) and the California Transportation
Commission (CTC) by April 30, 2015;
ii) Prior to submitting the draft plan, requires
Caltrans to hold two public workshops on the draft plan;
iii) Submit the final plan to the CTC for advice and
consent on or before December 31, 2015;
iv) Submit the final plan to the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency by March 1, 2016, for
approval pursuant to federal requirements; and,
v) Submit the final, approved plan to the Legislature.
4)Requires the State Rail Plan to be updated every five years,
at a minimum.
5)Directs the CTC to include in its RTP guidelines:
a) Direction regarding the integration of all passenger
rail service into a coordinated system, with emphasis on
intermodal facilities connecting various passenger rail
systems with each other as well as with the overall
transportation system; and,
b) The provision of cost-effective passenger rail services
that contribute to climate stabilization, job access,
environmental enhancements, and improved mobility.
6)Directs the HSRA to plan for implementation of blended
systems, consistent with the authority's business plan, with
the following prescribed elements:
a) Identification of investments in passenger rail projects
in the San Francisco Transbay Terminal-to-Los Angeles Union
Station-to-Anaheim (Phase 1) high-speed rail corridor that
benefits conventional intercity and commuter rail services
and are compatible with being upgraded to high-speed rail
in the future; and,
b) Investments in operable segments in the Phase 1 corridor
that generate sufficient passenger revenue to be attractive
to private investors.
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7)In developing the blended systems, requires HSRA to consult
with Caltrans, regional transportation planning agencies,
agencies administering or operating commuter rail, freight
railroads operating in conventional intercity and commuter
rail corridors and in the Phase 1 high-speed rail corridors,
and firms that have expertise in commercial high-speed
intercity rail operations.
8)Requires the HSRA to submit its draft blended program to the
CTC and the Legislature by December 31, 2013, and to
subsequently incorporate it into its business plan.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Under the federal PRIIA, establishes a federal policy for
intercity passenger rail that includes a federal capital grant
program and new requirements for state rail plans. PRIIA also
conditions submittal of federal capital grant applications
upon completed state rail plans. State rail plans are to be
updated every five years.
2)Requires Caltrans to prepare a ten-year rail plan to be
updated biennially. The report is required to be submitted by
March 31 of every even-numbered year. (Note: With the advent
of new federal requirements for state rail plans, Caltrans
notified legislative policy committees that the 2012 report
would be delayed so that new federal state rail plan
requirements could be incorporated. That new plan is now
under development.)
3)Requires CTC, in consultation with Caltrans and the State Air
Resources Board, to maintain guidelines for travel demand
models used in the development of regional transportation
plans (RTPs) by federal designated metropolitan planning
organizations.
4)Requires each transportation planning agency, every four
years, to prepare and adopt an RTP directed at achieving a
coordinated and balanced regional transportation system,
including, but not limited to, mass transportation, highway,
railroad, maritime, bicycle, pedestrian, goods movement, and
aviation facilities and services.
5)Requires that an RTP consider both the short-term and
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long-term future an incorporate the transportation plans of
cities, counties, districts, state, and federal agencies.
6)Requires RTPs to be consistent with federal planning and
programming requirements and conform to the RTP guidelines
adopted by CTC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, successful rail development
depends on the integration of various modes of
transportation-including intercity, commuter and urban rail
transit, as well as the state and local roadway network. He has
introduced this bill to incorporate the state's efforts relative
to high-speed rail planning, regions' efforts relative to urban
rail, and new federal rail planning requirements into a new,
recast State Rail Plan.
The revised State Rail Plan will complement efforts already
underway within in the Administration to develop the next
iteration of a state rail plan consistent with federal
requirements for state rail plans as set forth under PRIIA.
These requirements, as identified in the federal preliminary
state rail plan outline, are much more extensive than the
existing state requirements. PRIIA requires an integrated and
comprehensive plan for existing and proposed conventional and
high-speed rail systems and freight rail. The plan must include
detailed 5- and 20-year capital project plans for all high-speed
and conventional intercity rail projects that may be financed
with federal grant funds and rail system planning is required to
be integrated into the entire transportation system.
SB 1117 builds on the work of regions to develop RTPs and
focuses on connectivity between rail systems and opportunities
to develop those systems to benefit the state's entire
transportation system.
Concerns : Although not formally opposed to the bill, Union
Pacific Railroad (UP) has raised the concern that the State Rail
Plan appears to delete the ability of the plan to identify
projects that may solely support freight rail interests. UP
points out that the bill requires a focus on blended systems but
that there are capacity constraints in blended passenger-freight
rail operations, and shared use of passenger and freight use on
many of the state's rail lines is not possible.
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Suggested technical amendments: The bill has drafting errors
that should be corrected:
1)The bill sets forth conflicting time periods for required
updates and multiple report submittal requirements. The bill
should be amended as follows:
On page 4, line 16, strike "biennially for submission to the
Legislature, the Governor, the Public Utilities Commission,
and the California Transportation Commission."
On page 5, line 22, after "Legislature" add ", the Governor,
the Public Utilities Commission, and the California
Transportation Commission."
2)The bill includes an erroneous reference (from an earlier
version of the bill) to guidelines provided by CTC relative to
high-speed intercity rail. The reference should be struck, as
follows:
On page 10, beginning at line 25, strike "policies and
guidelines of the California Transportation Commission
relative to the high-speed intercity rail element of the
statewide passenger rail transportation plan" and replace with
"policy objectives set forth in the State Rail Plan"
3)The bill sets forth a cumbersome, nearly year-long review and
approval process for the State Rail Plan. This process should
be shortened and streamlined, for example, to require only one
review by the CTC.
4)The bill requires the HSRA to submit a draft of its blended
program to the CTC and the Legislature. HSRA should also
submit a copy of the program to Caltrans so that it can be
reflected appropriately in the State Rail Plan.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Orange County Transportation Authority
Opposition
SB 1117
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093