BILL ANALYSIS �
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VETO
Bill No: SB 110
Author: DeSaulnier (D), et al.
Amended: 8/8/13
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR SENATE VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/19/13 - See last page for vote
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 8-0, 8/22/13 (pursuant
to Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: DeSaulnier, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu,
Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Roth, Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 8/26/13
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines,
Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen, Padilla,
Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland,
Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Pavley, Vacancy
SUBJECT : East Span, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Safety
Review Task Force
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes a safety review task force to
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assess the seismic safety of the East Span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, exempts the task force and its
members from liability, and subjects the task force to open
meeting and public record access requirements.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that state officers and employers are required to
do state business within the state unless they obtain prior
approval of the Governor to travel out of state.
2. Generally provides that a public employee is not liable for
an injury resulting from his act or omission where the act or
commission was the result of the exercise of the discretion
vested in him/her.
3. Provides that if an employee or former employee of a public
entity makes a timely request that the relevant public entity
defend any claim or action against him/her for an injury that
arises out of an act or omission occurring within the scope
of his/her employment with the public entity, then the public
entity shall defend that claim or action. If the employee or
former employee reasonably cooperates in good faith in the
defense of claim or action, then the public entity shall pay
any judgment, or pay any compromise or settlement amount to
that the public entity has agreed.
4. Requires, under the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act
(Bagley-Keene Act), designated government bodies, boards, and
commissions to publicly notice their meetings, prepare
agendas, accept public testimony and conduct their meetings
in public unless specifically authorized by the Act to meet
in closed session.
5. Requires, under the Public Records Act (PRA), that all
records of a state or local agency be open to inspection or
duplication by members of the public, unless exempted by an
express provision of the PRA. Imposes certain requirements
on the manner and timeframes within which a state or local
agency must respond to a public record request and requires
the agency make reasonable efforts to assist a member of the
public in making a focused and effective request.
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6. Creates the Bay Area Toll Authority (Authority) to
administer all toll revenues for the seven state-owned Bay
Area toll bridges.
This bill:
1. Establishes the East Span, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Safety Review Task Force (task force) in state government, to
consist of seven members, each appointed to a one-year term
as officers of the state and each selected on the basis of
qualifications related to expertise and independence.
2. Assigns the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) with the
responsibility to provide administrative support for the task
force.
3. Provides compensation to task force members as follows: the
chairperson is to receive $20,000 and each task force member
is to receive $16,000. All members are entitled to
reimbursement for expenses, paid for by the State Highway
Account (SHA).
4. Appropriates $149,000 from the SHA for expenses related to
the task force and requires the Authority to reimburse these
expenses.
5. Requires all task force meetings to be held in California
but allows members to conduct meetings outside the state or
to participate via conference call, with prior approval by
LAO.
6. Exempts task force members from provisions of existing law
that otherwise prohibit state officers and state employees
from working outside California and traveling out of the
state without the Governor's approval; authorizes the LAO to
approve out-of-state travel.
7. Subjects the task force to the requirements of the
Bagley-Keene Act and subjects the records of the task force
to disclosure under the PRA.
8. Directs the task force to assess the anticipated seismic
structural performance of East Span of the San
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Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, as follows:
A. Review the seismic design criteria of the East Span
and evaluate the appropriateness of the approach,
methodologies, and modeling assumptions used by the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as they pertain to
the ability of the bridge as designed to withstand an
earthquake of an appropriate hazard level.
B. Review construction techniques, testing documents, and
other pertinent information regarding construction of the
bridge and address specific questions that have been
raised about construction quality due to possible problems
with Caltrans' oversight of the construction contractor
and subcontractors.
C. Review and evaluate Caltrans' analyses to assess the
impact of construction defects.
D. Evaluate Caltrans' risk assessment to determine if
Caltrans appropriately assessed the bridge's ability to
withstand an earthquake.
1. Provides that the task force may request Caltrans to run
models of the bridge and the bridge foundation using various
assumptions; additionally requires Caltrans to otherwise
cooperate fully with the task force.
2. Requires the task force to submit a final written report to
the Legislature and the Governor setting forth the results of
the task force's review.
3. Clarifies that the task force members are covered by
existing government immunity provisions and provides that
task force members can request Caltrans, as the responsible
public entity, to defend against any claim or action based on
the task force members' acts or omissions in the scope of
their work on the task force. Any related expenses incurred
by Caltrans, including judgments, are to be reimbursed by the
Authority.
4. Makes this bill's provisions inoperative as of July 1, 2014,
and repeals these provisions on January 1, 2015.
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5. States legislative intent that the work of the task force
should not delay the opening of the new East Span of the Bay
Bridge if Caltrans determines at any time that the bridge is
safe and ready to open.
Comments
Media reports over the last year have raised questions about the
structural soundness of the new East Span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which is currently under
construction and will replace the older East Span of the bridge.
Questions were first raised last year specifically about the
soundness of the bridge's main tower foundation. Subsequently,
Caltrans reported that its own Seismic Peer Review Panel
reviewed pertinent data and confirmed the bridge was safe. That
report, however, did not assuage skeptics. They challenged the
panel members' independence and judgment, arguing that panel
members had a vested interest in finding that the bridge was
safe given that they had participated in the bridge's design.
Critics, therefore, concluded that the panel members' opinions
could not be trusted.
In response to these media reports, the author, in his capacity
as chair of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee,
requested that the LAO review Caltrans' and others' foundation
reviews and evaluations and confirm that the problems identified
by the media were resolved. Following that hearing, the LAO
determined that it did not have the expertise to review the
highly technical reviews of the bridge and decided to establish
a task force of independent experts to review the reviews
originally conducted by the Caltrans and others (including the
Federal Highway Administration).
The LAO convened the task force earlier this year amidst
controversy of its own. For example, soon after task force
members were identified, media scrutiny focused on alleged
conflicts of interests due to members' ties to Caltrans.
Proceeding undeterred, nonetheless, the LAO sought to negotiate
final contracts for the task force but found resistance by the
task force members who were concerned about the legal liability
of findings they may reach in the course of their work on the
task force. As a result, the work of the task force has been
stalled until resolution of the immunity issue can be remedied.
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The author has introduced this bill in an attempt to do just
that-i.e., alleviate task force members' concerns regarding
liability so that the work of the task force can continue in
earnest. This bill formally creates the task force in state
government and provide task force members with assurances that
they will not be held liable for any injury that results from
any of their acts or omissions made while serving on the task
force. In addition to its immunity provisions, this bill
specifically subjects the task force to open meeting
requirements of the Bagley-Keene Act and provides that the
records and the documents created or used by the task force are
subject to the PRA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
appropriates $149,000 from the SHA for task force expenses;
requires these expenses, and expenses incurred by Caltrans
related to defending task force members in a lawsuit, are to be
reimbursed by the Authority.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 110 without my signature.
The Legislature formed a task force to review and report on
the seismic structural performance of the new east span of
the bay bridge. Work on the review has started. This bill
requires that bridge tolls be used to pay to defend and
indemnify members of the task force if they are sued for
defamation based on their report.
Reviewing construction issues about the east span is fully
within the Legislature's oversight authority. It is also
fully within the Legislature's authority to defend and
indemnify the members of its own task force."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/19/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
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Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harkey, V. Manuel P�rez, Vacancy, Vacancy
JA:k:n 1/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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