CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1049

Introduced by Senator Dodd

February 15, 2022

An act to add Chapter 9.1 (commencing with Section 2416) to Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to transportation.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1049, as introduced, Dodd. Transportation Resilience Program.
Existing law generally provides for programming and allocation of state and federal transportation capital improvement program funds pursuant to the state transportation improvement program process administered by the California Transportation Commission. Existing law provides for allocation of certain other transportation capital improvement funds outside the state transportation improvement program process, including funds set aside for state highway rehabilitation under the state highway operation and protection program and funds from various other sources.
This bill would establish the Transportation Resilience Program in the Department of Transportation, to be funded in the annual Budget Act from 15% of the available federal National Highway Performance Program funds and 100% of the available federal Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation program funds. The bill would provide for funds to be allocated by the California Transportation Commission for climate adaptation planning and resilience improvements, as defined, that address or mitigate the risk of recurring damage to, or closures of, the state highway system, other federal-aid roads, public transit facilities, and other surface transportation assets from extreme weather events, sea level rise, or other climate change-fueled natural hazards. The bill would establish specified eligibility criteria for projects to receive funding under the program and would require the commission to prioritize projects that meet certain criteria.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) From State Route 37 in the North Bay to State Route 1 to the Port of Los Angeles, sea level rise and other climate-fueled hazards are threatening California’s critical surface transportation infrastructure and surrounding communities.
(b) Large-scale investment will be needed to make California’s transportation assets and its communities resilient to climate hazards. In the San Francisco Bay area alone, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments estimate a $19 billion cost to adapt for just two feet of sea level rise.
(c) Since 2015, California has enacted several laws and taken administrative action directed to incorporate climate adaptation into transportation investment decisions. Executive Order B-30-15 requires the consideration of climate change in all state investment decisions; Chapter 608 of the Statutes of 2015 requires local governments to incorporate climate adaptation and resiliency strategies into general plans; and the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (Chapter 5 of the Statutes of 2017) includes funding for climate change adaptation planning grants.
(d) Critical multistakeholder adaptation planning work has already begun around the state, including development of the State Route 37 Resilient Corridor Program to ensure this vital east-west link between State Route 101 and State Route 80 remains a viable transportation artery, to mitigate congestion, and to increase opportunities for ecological enhancements, transit, multimodal use, and public access along the State Route 37 corridor.
(e) The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58) increases California’s National Highway Performance Program funds to $12.8 billion over the five-year funding period and newly allows those dollars to be spent on resilience, including an allowance for up to 15 percent of the funds to be spent on protective features anywhere on the federal aid highway system.
(f) The IIJA also creates a new resilience formula program, the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation program (PROTECT program), which provides California approximately $630 million over five years. These funds can be used for planning and resilience improvements that protect surface transportation assets.
(g) This act will improve the resilience of California’s surface transportation network and surrounding communities by funding climate adaptation planning and resilience improvements that protect California’s most high-risk transportation assets and provide an added benefit of preserving or protecting adjacent communities, the environment, and other critical infrastructure.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 9.1 (commencing with Section 2416) is added to Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:
CHAPTER  9.1. Federal Aid for Transportation Resilience Projects

2416.
 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Natural infrastructure” has the same meaning as defined in subsection (a) of Section 101 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
(2) “Program” means the Transportation Resilience Program established pursuant to subdivision (b).
(3) “Resilience improvement” means a project to mitigate or address an identified climate risk to a surface transportation asset that includes one or more protective features. Protective features include, but are not limited to, protective features identified in subsection (k) of Section 119 of Title 23 of the United States Code and resilience improvements described in subsection (d)(4)(A)(ii) of Section 176 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
(b) There is hereby established the Transportation Resilience Program in the department for the purposes of funding adaptation planning and resilience improvements to protect the state’s surface transportation assets eligible for funding under Section 119 and Section 176 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
(c) (1) The program shall be funded by federal funds from appropriations in the annual Budget Act. Funds for the program shall be appropriated to the department for allocation by the commission for climate adaptation planning and resilience improvements that address or mitigate the risk of recurring damage to, or closures of, the state highway system, other federal-aid roads, public transit facilities, and other surface transportation assets from extreme weather events, sea level rise, or other climate change-fueled natural hazards.
(2) The amount to be appropriated to the program in the annual Budget Act shall include 15 percent of the apportionments under subsection (b)(1) of Section 104 of Title 23 of the United States Code for the federal National Highway Performance Program established pursuant to Section 119 of Title 23 of the United States Code and 100 percent of the apportionments under subsection (b)(8) of Section 104 of Title 23 of the United States Code for the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation program established pursuant to Section 176 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
(3) The funding for the program may be augmented if other fund sources are identified.
(d) (1) Not less than 10 percent of program funds shall be used for climate mitigation planning activities, including the development of comprehensive multistakeholder regional climate adaptation planning and grants to local agencies for technical assistance, vulnerability assessments, and preparation of resilience plans, strategies, and programs that increase the resilience of transportation infrastructure.
(2) Not less than 75 percent of program funds shall be used for resilience improvements. Of this amount, not less than ____ shall be reserved for projects improving state highway system resilience. Funds may be used to advance project development and implementation of an eligible resilience improvement, including advance environmental mitigation.
(3) The remainder of the funds may be used for purposes identified in both paragraphs (1) and (2). In allocating the funds pursuant to this paragraph, the commission shall consider demand for both planning and project implementation.
(e) A resilience improvement shall be eligible for funding under the program if it meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The project shall be identified in a climate adaptation plan developed through a multistakeholder process that provides an opportunity for public input from communities potentially impacted by the project. The climate adaptation plans may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
(A) An adaptation plan funded from a grant made available pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 16321 of the Government Code.
(B) A comprehensive multimodal corridor plan that incorporates climate resilience.
(C) A state, regional, or local climate adaptation plan developed thorough a multistakeholder process with robust public engagement, including comprehensive regional adaptation plans funded pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
(2) The project shall be consistent with an applicable sustainable communities strategy adopted as part of a regional transportation plan pursuant to Section 65080 of the Government Code.
(3) If a metropolitan planning organization or state agency has developed a comprehensive resilience plan, including, but not limited to, a plan funded pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) or a resilience improvement plan, as defined in Section 176 of the Title 23 of the United States Code, the project shall be included in the applicable plan.
(f) In selecting projects to be funded pursuant to this chapter, the commission shall prioritize resilience improvement projects that address a risk to a transportation network’s most high-priority vulnerable assets. In making this determination, the commission shall consider all of the following:
(1) The degree of risk for recurring damage or asset failure due to climate threats. For projects on the state highway system, the commission shall consult the department’s 2020 and 2021 adaptation priority reports or any subsequent updates.
(2) The benefits of the project to preserving or enhancing regional or statewide mobility, economy, goods movement, safety, and other benefits associated with protecting the asset.
(3) The benefits of the project to preserving or protecting adjacent communities, the environment, and other critical infrastructure.
(g) In selecting projects to be funded pursuant to this chapter, the commission shall further prioritize a project that meets the requirement of subdivision (f) if the project does any of the following:
(1) Provides greenhouse gas emission reduction and other environmental benefits.
(2) Promotes system resilience and includes the use of natural infrastructure, such as marsh restoration, either as a core component of the project or as an element of environmental mitigation.
(3) Helps reduce climate risk for vulnerable communities in the vicinity of the project, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 71340 of the Public Resources Code or other local method for identifying vulnerable communities.
(h) A state highway system project funded pursuant to this chapter shall be consistent with the asset management plan required under Section 14526.4 of the Government Code, to the extent practicable.
(i) Nothing in this chapter shall limit the commission from awarding funds to more than one phase of the same project.