BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1228
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1228 (Hueso)
As Amended August 19, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-1
TRANSPORTATION 12-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Achadjian, Bloom, Bonta, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Buchanan, Daly, Frazier, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gatto, Patterson, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Quirk-Silva, Waldron | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Continues the existence of the Trade Corridors Improvement
Fund (TCIF) to receive funding from sources including transfers from
the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (cap and trade auction revenues)
for specified trade corridor infrastructure improvements.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations about the increasingly important
role of goods movement and the value it brings to the state's
economy.
2)Continues the TCIF, originally created to receive approximately $2
billion in revenues from the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction,
Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B)
for trade corridor improvement projects.
3)Requires that monies in TCIF, from sources other than Proposition
1B, be available for appropriation for allocation by the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) for infrastructure
improvements on federally designated corridors, as determined by
CTC.
4)Requires CTC, in determining projects eligible for funding, to
consult infrastructure planning documents including the state
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Transportation Agency's state freight plan and the California Air
Resources Board's (ARB's) Sustainable Freight Strategy, as
specified.
5)Specifies that projects eligible for TCIF funding include, but are
not limited to, highway capacity and operational improvements,
freight rail system improvements, land port, airport, and seaport
efficiency enhancements, truck corridor improvements, surface
transportation an connector road improvements, and border access
improvements.
6)Requires CTC to allocate funds in a manner that addresses urgent
need, balances demands of various sized ports, provides reasonable
geographic balance, places emphasis on projects that improve trade
corridor mobility while reducing emissions, and other factors
related to improving goods movement and in a manner consistent
with existing statutory requirements for TCIF and in accordance
with guidelines adopted by the CTC on November 27, 2007.
7)Requires that if cap and trade auction revenues are transferred
into the TCIF, that disbursement of those funds be subject
existing law governing their use.
8)Requires CTC to allocate monies available in TCIF to projects that
have identified and committed supplemental funding from
appropriate local, federal, or private sources and directs CTC to
determine the appropriate amount of supplemental funding to be
required, based on a project-by-project review and assessment of
each project's benefit to the state and the program.
9)Requires that, except for border access improvements, improvements
funded from TCIF have supplemental funding that is at least equal
to the amount contributed from the fund.
10)Authorizes CTC to give priority for funding to projects with
higher levels of committed supplemental funding.
11)Requires CTC to include in its annual report to the Legislature,
a summary of its activities related to TCIF that include a
description and the location of projects that are funded, the
amount of funds allocated to each project, the status of each
project, and a description of the mobility and air quality
improvements the program would achieve.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
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significant future cost pressure, including administrative cost
pressure to Caltrans and the CTC, by continuing a program currently
without any dedicated new funding.
[The CTC adopted the initial TCIF program of 79 projects, totaling
$3.1 billion, in April 2008. The CTC deliberately over-programmed
projects in the TCIF in anticipation of additional revenue that did
not materialize, including State Highway Account funds. Although
all of the $2 billion in initial TCIF funds have been allocated, the
CTC has been able to program additional projects as savings have
materialized. The CTC has extended the program by two years, to
fiscal year 2015-16, to take advantage of any further contract
savings that may occur.]
COMMENTS : California is one of the 10 largest economies in the
world with a gross state product of more than $1.9 trillion. Our
state's goods movement system is the bedrock of the state's economy
with land, air, and sea ports of entry serving as key international
commercial gateways for the more than $500 billion in products
entering and exiting the United States (U.S.) each year.
Moving the goods that come into and through California has presented
a tremendous challenge and has placed pressure on all modes of
transportation and the environment. The movement of goods,
particularly as it relates to marine shipping and trucking, has
resulted in impacts to the state's quality of life through increased
roadway congestion, noise, and air quality impacts, particularly in
low-income and disadvantaged communities near transportation hubs
and corridors.
Proposition 1B and the creation of TCIF: In 2006, voters approved
Proposition 1B, which authorized the issuance of general obligation
bonds to fund transportation projects to relieve congestion, improve
the movement of goods, improve air quality, and enhance the safety
and security of the transportation system. Following the passage of
Proposition 1B, the TCIF was created to hold the $2 billion in bond
proceeds and directed CTC to allocate the funds to goods movement
projects identified in statewide planning documents. The geographic
distribution of TCIF funds was codified and guidelines adopted by
CTC on November 27, 2007. To date, all of the $2 billion Proposition
1B bond proceeds have expended or dedicated for specific projects.
Therefore, while TCIF remains in existence, all of the monies in the
fund are obligated.
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Renewed federal focus on goods movement: The most recent federal
transportation reauthorization, (MAP-21), specifically addressed the
need for comprehensive goods movement planning across the nation.
While MAP-21 did not specifically require that the state's produce
freight plans, MAP-21 indicated that those states with such plans in
place would be primed to receive federal monies for goods movement
if they should become available. MAP-21 directed the U.S.
Department of Transportation (USDOT) to develop a national freight
program to provide a basis for federal investment in
trade-facilitating infrastructure development and convened a
National Freight Advisory Committee to advise and make
recommendations to the USDOT on matters related to freight
transportation in the U.S.
California's freight planning efforts: AB 14 (Lowenthal), Chapter
223, Statutes of 2013, answered MAP-21's call for state freight
planning and mandated the preparation of a state freight plan by
California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) through the
establishment of the California Freight Advisory Committee (CFAC)
whose membership represents a broad cross section of state, federal,
local, business and community interests in goods movement.
Specifically, AB 14 requires CalSTA to complete the state freight
plan with specified elements to govern immediate and long-range
planning activities and capital investments with respect to freight
movement. The state freight plan is required to comply with the
relevant provisions of MAP-21 and be completed by December 1, 2014,
and updated every five years thereafter.
In addition to the development of the state freight plan, ARB is
also addressing goods movement as it relates to emissions reductions
goals through the development of a Sustainable Freight Strategy
(SFS). The SFS is currently under development by ARB and, through
the involvement of stakeholders, seeks to identify and prioritize
actions that would move California towards a sustainable freight
transport system characterized by zero- or near-zero emissions. ARB
and CalSTA are working closely to ensure that the state freight plan
and the SFS are fully coordinated.
According to the author, there is still significant need to address
goods movement in California. Specifically, he notes that long wait
times at borders (sometimes as long as three to four hours) create
delays along the supply chain and result in significant air quality
impacts. The author points out that significant state investment is
needed for infrastructure improvements that will create supply chain
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efficiencies across all modes.
To address these needs, the author has introduced this bill to
ensure there is a reliable funding mechanism in place for critical
goods movement-related infrastructure projects. To accomplish this,
the bill would continue the existence of TCIF, originally created to
hold and distribute Proposition 1B funds, so that monies received
from new funding sources (as yet unnamed) can be placed into the
TCIF for distribution by CTC for infrastructure improvements on
federally designated Trade Corridors of National and Regional
Significance, the Primary Freight Network, and along other corridors
that have a high volumes of freight movement, as determined by CTC.
Previous legislation: AB 14 requires CalSTA to prepare a state
freight plan to govern the immediate and long-range planning
activities and capital investments of the state with respect to the
movement of freight.
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319- 2093
FN:
0004874