BILL NUMBER: SB 9 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 15, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
(Coauthor: Senator Allen)
DECEMBER 1, 2014
An act to amend Sections 75220, 75221, and 75222 of, and to add
Sections 75223, 75224, and 75225 to, the Public Resources Code,
relating to transportation, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 9, as amended, Beall. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Transit
and Intercity Rail Capital Program.
Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties,
collected by the State Air Resources Board from a market-based
compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law establishes the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital
Program, which receives 10% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund as a continuous appropriation, to fund capital
improvements and operational investments to modernize California's
rail systems to achieve certain policy objectives, including reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, expanding and improving rail services to
increase ridership, and improving rail safety. Existing law requires
the Transportation Agency to evaluate applications for funding under
the program and to prepare a list of projects recommended for
funding, with grants to be awarded by the California Transportation
Commission.
This bill would modify the purpose of the program to delete
references to operational investments and instead provide for the
funding of transformative capital improvements, as defined, that will
modernize California's intercity, commuter, and urban rail systems
and bus and ferry transit systems to achieve certain policy
objectives, including reducing emissions of greenhouse gases,
expanding and improving transit services to increase ridership, and
improving transit safety. By expanding the purposes for which
continuously appropriated moneys may be used, the bill would make an
appropriation. The bill would modify the information required to be
included in applications for grants under the program and would
authorize an eligible applicant to submit an application to fund a
project over multiple fiscal years and to submit multiple
applications. The bill would require the Transportation Agency, in
selecting projects for funding, to consider the extent to which a
project reduces greenhouse gas emissions, would add additional
factors to be considered in evaluating applications for funding, and
would expand certain factors considered to include bus and ferry
transit service. The bill would require the Transportation Agency to
approve, by July 1, 2018, a 5-year program of projects, and would
require the California Transportation Commission to allocate funding
to eligible applicants pursuant to the program of projects, with
subsequent programs of projects to be approved not later than April 1
of each even-numbered year thereafter. The bill would require the
Transportation Agency, in cooperation with the California
Transportation Commission and at the request of an eligible
applicant, to enter into and execute a multiyear funding
commitment agreement for a project to be funded
over more than one fiscal year, as specified, and would authorize the
California Transportation Commission to approve a letter of no
prejudice that would allow an applicant to expend its own moneys on a
project in the approved program of projects, subject to future
reimbursement from program moneys for eligible expenditures.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 75220 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
75220. (a) The Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program is
hereby created to fund transformative capital improvements, as
defined in subdivision (d), that will modernize California's
intercity, commuter, and urban rail systems and bus and ferry transit
systems to achieve all of the following policy objectives:
(1) Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
(2) Expand and improve transit service to increase ridership.
(3) Integrate the rail service of the state's various rail
operators, including integration with the high-speed rail system.
(4) Improve transit safety.
(b) The Transportation Agency shall evaluate applications
consistent with the criteria set forth in this part and approve a
multiyear program of projects for funding pursuant to Section 75224,
which may be revised at any time. as
necessary.
(c) The California Transportation Commission shall allocate
funding to applicants pursuant to the program of projects approved by
the Transportation Agency.
(d) "Transformative capital improvement" means a rail, bus, or
ferry transit project that will significantly reduce vehicle miles
traveled, congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions by creating a new
transit system, increasing the capacity of an existing transit
system, or otherwise significantly increasing the ridership of a
transit system.
SEC. 2. Section 75221 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
75221. (a) Projects eligible for funding under the program
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Rail capital projects, including acquisition of rail cars and
locomotives, that expand, enhance, and improve existing rail systems
and connectivity to existing and future transit systems, including
the high-speed rail system.
(2) Intercity and commuter Intercity,
commuter, and urban rail projects that increase service levels,
improve reliability, or decrease travel times, including
infrastructure access payments to host railroads in lieu of capital
investments.
(3) Rail Rail, bus, and ferry
integration implementation, including integrated ticketing and
scheduling systems, shared-use corridors, related planning efforts,
and other service integration initiatives.
(4) Bus rapid transit and other bus and ferry transit investments
to increase ridership and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(5) Transit effectiveness studies that will result in implemented
service improvements that increase ridership.
(b) In order to be eligible for funding under the program, a
project shall demonstrate that it will achieve a reduction in
emissions of greenhouse gases. In selecting projects for funding, the
Transportation Agency shall consider the extent to which a project
reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.
(c) The program shall have a programmatic goal of providing at
least 25 percent of available funding to projects benefiting
disadvantaged communities, consistent with the objectives of Chapter
830 of the Statutes of 2012.
(d) In evaluating grant applications for funding, the
Transportation Agency shall consider all of the following:
(1) The cobenefits of projects that support the implementation of
sustainable communities strategies through one or more of the
following:
(A) Reducing vehicles vehicle miles
traveled from automobiles and the number of automobile trips through
growth in transit ridership.
(B) Promoting housing development in the vicinity of rail
stations. stations and major transit centers.
(C) Expanding existing rail and public transit systems.
(D) Enhancing the connectivity, integration, and coordination of
the state's various transit systems, including, but not limited to,
regional and local transit systems and the high-speed rail system.
(E) Implementing clean vehicle technology.
(F) Promoting active transportation.
(G) Improving public health.
(2) The project priorities developed through the collaboration of
two or more rail operators and any memoranda of understanding between
state agencies and local or regional rail operators.
(3) Geographic equity.
(4) Consistency with an adopted sustainable communities strategy
or, if a sustainable strategy is not required for a region by law, a
regional plan that includes policies and programs to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases.
(5) The extent to which a project has supplemental funding
committed to it from other nonstate sources.
(6) The extent to which the project will increase transit
ridership.
(e) Eligible applicants under the program shall be public
agencies, including joint powers agencies, that operate or have
planning responsibility for existing or planned regularly scheduled
intercity or commuter passenger rail service, urban rail transit
service, or bus or ferry transit service.
(f) A recipient of moneys under the program may combine funding
from the program with other state funding, including, but not limited
to, the State Transportation Improvement Program, the Low Carbon
Transit Operations Program, the State Air Resources Board clean
vehicle program, and state transportation bond funds.
SEC. 3. Section 75222 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
75222. (a) Applications for grants under the program shall be
submitted to the Transportation Agency for evaluation in accordance
with procedures and program guidelines approved by the agency. An
eligible applicant may submit an application to the agency to fund a
project over multiple fiscal years. The agency may make multiyear
funding commitments for projects that are proposed by an eligible
applicant to be funded from the program over a period of more than
one fiscal year.
(b) The application shall define the project purpose, intended
scope, proposed cost, intended funding sources, and schedule for
project completion.
(c) The application shall specify the phases of work for which an
eligible applicant is seeking an allocation of moneys from the
program.
(d) The application shall identify the sources and timing of all
moneys required to undertake and complete any phase of a project for
which an eligible applicant is seeking an allocation of moneys from
the program. The application shall also describe intended sources and
timing of funding to complete any subsequent phases of the project,
through construction or procurement.
(e) The application shall include information describing the
funding sources and approach to ensuring that ongoing
operating and maintenance costs of the project are funded through the
useful life of the project, as applicable.
(f) Eligible applicants may submit more than one application for
grants under the program pursuant to this section.
(g) An eligible applicant may use a project study report or
equivalent document to demonstrate eligibility of a project for
inclusion in the five-year multiyear
program of projects pursuant to Section 75224. The project study
report or equivalent document shall, at a minimum, be adequate to
define and justify the project scope, cost, and schedule for the
project application.
SEC. 4. Section 75223 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75223. (a) The Transportation Agency shall conduct at least two
public workshops on draft program guidelines containing selection
criteria prior to approval and shall post the draft guidelines on the
agency's Internet Web site at least 30 days prior to the first
public workshop. Concurrent with the posting, the agency shall
transmit the draft guidelines to the fiscal committees and the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.
(b) The Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code) does not apply to the development and approval of procedures
and program guidelines for the program pursuant to this section.
SEC. 5. Section 75224 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75224. (a) No later than July 1, 2018, the Transportation Agency
shall approve a program of projects, which shall cover a period of
five fiscal years, beginning with the 2018-19 fiscal year.
(b) The Transportation Agency shall approve each subsequent
program of projects not later than April 1 of each even-numbered
year, in annual increments. year. Each
subsequent program shall cover a period of five fiscal years,
beginning July 1 of the year of approval, and shall be a statement of
intent by the Transportation Agency for the allocation and
expenditure of moneys during those five fiscal years.
(c) In developing the program of projects, and consistent with the
consideration of all other criteria for individual projects, the
Transportation Agency shall seek to maximize the total amount of
reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases that would be achieved
under the program.
(d) For a project to be funded from the program over a period of
more than one fiscal year, the Transportation Agency, at the request
of an eligible applicant and in cooperation with the commission,
shall enter into and execute a multiyear funding agreement with the
eligible applicant for the project for an amount of program moneys
and for a duration any duration, as
determined jointly by the agency and applicant.
SEC. 6. Section 75225 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75225. (a) A lead applicant agency may apply to the commission
for a letter of no prejudice for a project or for any component of a
project included in the program of projects approved by the
Transportation Agency. If approved by the commission, the letter of
no prejudice shall allow the lead applicant agency to expend its own
moneys for the project or any component of the project and to be
eligible for future reimbursement from moneys available for the
program from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Fund, created pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government
Code.
(b) The amount expended under subdivision (a) shall be reimbursed
by the state from moneys available for the program from the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund if all of the following conditions are
met:
(1) The project or project component for which the letter of no
prejudice was requested has commenced, and the regional or local
expenditures have been incurred.
(2) The expenditures made by the lead applicant agency are
eligible for reimbursement in accordance with applicable laws and
procedures. If expenditures made by the lead applicant agency are
determined to be ineligible, the state has no obligation to reimburse
those expenditures.
(3) The lead applicant agency complies with all legal requirements
for the project, including the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000)).
(4) There are moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
designated for the program that are sufficient to make the
reimbursement payment.
(c) The lead applicant agency and the commission shall enter into
an agreement governing reimbursement as described in this section.
The timing and final amount of reimbursement is dependent on the
terms of the agreement and the availability of moneys in the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the program.
(d) The commission, in consultation with intercity, commuter,
urban rail, and other public transit entities, may develop guidelines
to implement this section.