AB 198 — Transportation.

Summary

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to advance funds to a public entity eligible for those funds for a guideway project when specified conditions exist, including, among others, that the California Transportation Commission has allocated the funds pursuant to specified provisions of law. If, upon completion of the project, the advance, together with specified interest on the advance, exceeds that portion of the actual reimburseable costs for which the public entity has not been reimbursed, existing law requires the public entity to repay the excess to the state for deposit in an account from which the advance was made. Existing law requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature if the department encounters any substantial problems in carrying out the funding advance program. This bill would revise and recast the funding advance program to authorize, instead of require, the department to advance funds for a transit or passenger rail project or project component when specified conditions exist. The bill would authorize the department to adopt guidelines to advance funds under these provisions. The bill would revise the conditions that are required to be met before the department may advance funds by, among other things, authorizing the funds to be advanced if the commission has allocated funds pursuant to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The bill would require the lead applicant agency or the recipient agency to repay the amount of the funds advanced plus a specified amount of interest to the state if the department, the Transportation Agency, or any other state agency charged with monitoring the stewardship of public funds makes a certain finding with regard to the use of funds available to the project. If the lead applicant agency or the recipient agency fails to repay the state, the bill would authorize the agency that makes the finding to request the Controller, Treasurer, or any other authorized state agency to demand a transfer of an amount equal to the amount paid to the recipient agency to be paid to the state or to withhold payment from future apportionments or any other funds to the recipient agency. The bill would delete the requirement for the department to submit the above-described report to the Legislature. (2) Existing law vests the California Transportation Commission with various powers and duties relative to the programming of transportation capital projects and allocation of funds to those projects pursuant to the state transportation improvement program and various other transportation funding programs. Existing law creates the Department of Transportation with various powers and duties relative to the state highway system and other transportation programs. This bill would establish the Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Strategy Grant Program as a competitive grant program to be awarded and administered by the department to provide funding to local agencies to identify transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through the development of climate adaptation plans and to identify ways to incorporate transportation-related climate adaptation needs into existing transportation plans. The bill would establish the Local Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Project Program, to be administered by the commission, for purposes of developing and implementing projects adapting local transportation infrastructure to climate change. The bill would require a local agency that receives funding under the grant programs to submit various reports to the commission or the department, as applicable, regarding the expenditure of those funds. The bill would establish the State Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Program, to be administered by the department, for purposes of planning, developing, and implementing projects adapting state transportation infrastructure to climate change. The bill would require the department, as part of the State Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Program, to develop a program of its top priority climate adaptation projects and to submit projects in this program to the commission for adoption. The bill would require the administrators of these programs to only award grants under those programs upon an appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require the department to post various reports on its internet website, and submit a 5-year performance report to the commission, regarding the expenditure of funds. (3) Existing law generally authorizes the Director of General Services to hire, lease, lease-purchase, or lease with the option to purchase real property for the use of a state agency, but prohibits the director from entering into a lease-purchase agreement for office space without specific legislative authorization. Existing law specifically authorizes the Department of General Services, with the consent of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to enter into a lease-purchase agreement, or lease with an option to purchase agreement, for a build-to-suit office facility to replace the Department of the California Highway Patrol area office in the City of Tracy in the County of San Joaquin. Existing law prescribes certain requirements for this project, including that the lease and all related agreements be approved by the Department of Finance, specified legislative notice requirements be satisfied, and that it be subject to the Property Acquisition Law. This bill would, similarly, authorize the Department of General Services, with the consent of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to enter into a lease-purchase agreement, or lease with an option to purchase agreement, for a build-to-suit office facility to replace the Department of the California Highway Patrol area office in the City of Santa Ana in the County of Orange, as specified. (4) Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to utilize the design-build method of procurement for up to 10 projects on the state highway system, based on either best value or lowest responsible bid. Existing law establishes a procedure for submitting bids that includes a requirement that design-build entities provide a statement of qualifications submitted to the transportation entity that is verified under oath, subject to penalty of perjury. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2034, or one year from the date that the Department of Transportation posts on its internet website that the provisions related to the construction inspection services of these projects have been held invalid by a court. This bill would authorize the department to utilize the design-build method of procurement for an additional 6 projects per fiscal year in the 2022–23 and 2023–24 fiscal years pursuant to these provisions. By authorizing the design-build method of procurement for an overall greater number of projects, the bill would expand the number of projects in which the statement of qualifications requirement, subject to penalty of perjury, is applicable, thereby expanding the scope of a crime and imposing a state-mandated local program. (5) The California High-Speed Rail Act creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state, with specified powers and duties. The act requires the authority to prepare, publish, adopt, and submit to the Legislature a business plan containing specified elements on a biennial basis and to also provide on a biennial basis a project update report, approved by the Secretary of Transportation as consistent with specified criteria, to the budget committees and the appropriate policy committees of both houses of the Legislature, on the development and implementation of intercity high-speed train service, as provided. This bill would require the authority to develop schedules for the delivery of specified tasks relating to the high-speed rail project for inclusion in the project update report and the business plan and would also require the authority to include certain other information in the project update report and the business plan relating to the Merced to Bakersfield segment of the high-speed rail project. The bill would require the authority to notify the chairpersons of the relevant committees of both houses of the Legislature before submitting a federal grant application for funding for implementation of the high-speed rail project and before releasing a request for proposals after June 1, 2022, for contracts relating to specified aspects of the high-speed rail system. This bill would establish the High-Speed Rail Authority Office of the Inspector General and would provide that the office is not a subdivision of any other governmental entity. The bill would require the Governor to appoint the High-Speed Rail Authority Inspector General to a 4-year term from a list of 3 qualified individuals nominated by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The bill would authorize the inspector general to initiate audits and reviews related to the delivery of the high-speed rail project and the selection and oversight of contractors, as provided. The bill would impose other duties and responsibilities on the inspector general relating to the oversight of the High-Speed Rail Authority. The bill would require the inspector general to submit annual reports to the Legislature and Governor regarding its findings. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for the inspector general, an employee of the inspector general, and certain other persons to divulge or make known certain information, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, provides for the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $9,000,000,000 for high-speed rail purposes and $950,000,000 for other related rail purposes. The Budget Act of 2021 appropriates various amounts from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority for high-speed rail purposes, subject to certain conditions and provisions. This bill would provide that funds appropriated from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority in the Budget Act of 2021 or any subsequent amendments to the Budget Act of 2021 are for the purpose of implementing the Merced to Bakersfield segment of the high-speed rail project and would also provide that these funds are to be used exclusively for the Merced to Bakersfield segment. (7) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include in its regulation of those emissions the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates 25% of the annual proceeds of the fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority for certain components of a specified high-speed rail project. This bill would prohibit the authority, beginning with the 2022–23 fiscal year, from entering into new funding commitments with these funds appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for activities outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment, except under specified circumstances. The bill would make this prohibition inoperative on June 30, 2030, or when the Merced to Bakersfield segment is fully funded, whichever is sooner. (8) Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law authorizes the department to do any act necessary, convenient, or proper for the construction, improvement, maintenance, or use of all highways that are under its jurisdiction, possession, or control. This bill would establish the Reconnecting Communities: Highways to Boulevards Pilot Program under the administration of the department to provide funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of awarding competitive grants to eligible entities, in partnership with the department, for planning or implementing the conversion or transformation of underutilized state highways into multimodal corridors that serve residents of underserved communities, as provided. (9) Under existing law, the Department of Transportation's acquisition of any right-of-way over any real property for state highway purposes includes the right of the department to issue certain permits for the location in the right-of-way of any structures or fixtures necessary to telegraph, telephone, or electrical lines or of any ditches, pipes, drains, sewers, or underground structures, unless otherwise specifically provided in the instrument conveying title. This bill would apply that permitting authority to a right-of-way over any real property for state highway purposes that is owned or controlled by the department, and would additionally specify the right of the department to issue those permits for the location in the right-of-way of any structures or fixtures necessary to advanced communication or information services lines. (10) Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which consists of various departments and state entities, including the Department of Transportation and the California Transportation Commission. Existing law requires the agency to prepare a state freight plan on or before December 31, 2014, and every 5 years thereafter, with specified elements to govern the immediate and long-range planning activities and capital investments of the state with respect to the movement of freight. Existing law requires the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate certain revenues deposited in the Trade Corridor Enhancement Account and certain federal funds for eligible infrastructure projects, and prohibits these funds from being allocated to projects that include the purchase of fully automated cargo handling equipment, as provided. This bill would, upon an appropriation for its purposes, require the Transportation Agency, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, to develop and administer contracts, grants, or other funding mechanisms to invest in port-specific high-priority projects that increase goods movement capacity on rail and roadways serving ports and at port terminals, as provided. The bill would require that 70% of the allocated funds be used for infrastructure projects, each supporting goods movement related to the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, or both, and 30% of the allocated funds be used for other high-priority projects supporting ports and goods movement infrastructure in the rest of the state, including inland ports. The bill would authorize public agencies to partner with private operators to implement eligible projects and would prohibit funds from being allocated to projects that include the purchase of fully automated cargo handling equipment, as provided. The bill would require the agency to develop guidelines for project selection in consultation with the ports and other stakeholders, as provided. (11) Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a distinguishing placard to a qualified disabled veteran or person with a disability, upon application, to be displayed upon a parked vehicle for the purposes of identifying eligibility for certain parking privileges. Existing law requires the department to annually compare their record of placardholders with the records of the Office of Vital Records of the State Department of Public Health and the Social Security Administration's Death Master File to identify placardholders that are deceased and to withhold any renewal notices for deceased persons. This bill would, instead of the Social Security Administration's Death Master File, require the department to compare their records with a nationwide vital statistics clearinghouse. The bill would also require the department to, based on this record check, withhold any placard that would have been sent to a deceased person. Existing law requires the department to send renewal forms for placards by mail, and for the renewal forms to be returned by mail or in person. This bill would remove the requirement that the renewal form be sent by mail and the requirement that it be returned by mail or in person. (12) This bill would appropriate $200,000 from the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund to the Transportation Agency for compliance and oversight activities related to federal infrastructure funding. (13) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (14) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

Bill Text

• Amended 06/25/22 - Amended Senate Current pdf June 25, 2022
• Amended 02/18/21 - Amended Assembly pdf February 18, 2021
• Introduced 01/08/21 - Introduced pdf January 08, 2021
• AB198 View text html

Action History

1. August 01, 2022

   Re-referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

2. June 28, 2022

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

3. June 27, 2022

   From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 2.) (June 27).

4. June 25, 2022

   From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

5. June 21, 2022

   In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

6. March 11, 2021

   Referred to Com. on B. & F.R.

7. February 25, 2021

   In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

8. February 25, 2021

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 56. Noes 18. Page 510.)

9. February 23, 2021

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

10. February 22, 2021

    Ordered to second reading.

11. February 22, 2021

    Withdrawn from committee.

12. February 22, 2021

    Assembly Rule 96 suspended. (Ayes 53. Noes 17. Page 432.)

13. February 22, 2021

    Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET.

14. February 18, 2021

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on BUDGET. Read second time and amended.

15. January 28, 2021

    Referred to Com. on BUDGET.

16. January 11, 2021

    Read first time.

17. January 09, 2021

    From printer. May be heard in committee February 9.

18. January 08, 2021

    Introduced. To print.

Sponsors

• Committee on Budget · Primary

Votes

Subjects