Bill Text: CA SB824 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 479, Statutes of 2016. [SB824 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB824-Amended.html
Bill Title: Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 479, Statutes of 2016. [SB824 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB824-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 824 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
JANUARY 7, 2016
An act to amend Section 75230 of, and to add Section 75231 to, the
Public Resources Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 824, as amended, Beall. Low Carbon Transit Operations Program.
Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties,
collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale
of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative
to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be deposited in the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the
annual proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to various
programs, including 5% for the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program,
for expenditures to provide transit operating or capital assistance
consistent with specified criteria. Existing law provides for
distribution of available funds under the program by a specified
formula to recipient transit agencies by the Controller, upon
approval of the recipient transit agency's proposed expenditures by
the Department of Transportation.
This bill would require a recipient transit agency to
demonstrate that each expenditure of program moneys allocated to the
agency does not supplant another source of funds. The bill
would authorize a recipient transit agency that does not submit an
expenditure for funding under the program in a particular fiscal year
to retain its funding share for expenditure in a subsequent fiscal
year. year for a maximum of 4 years.
The bill would allow a recipient transit agency to loan or transfer
its funding share in any particular fiscal year to another recipient
transit agency within the same region, or to apply to the department
to reassign, to other eligible expenditures under the program, any
savings of surplus moneys from an approved and completed expenditure
under the program or from an approved expenditure that is no longer a
priority, as specified. The bill would also allow a recipient
transit agency to apply to the department for a letter of no
prejudice for any eligible expenditures under the program for which
the department has authorized a disbursement of funds, and, if
granted, would allow the recipient transit agency to expend its own
moneys and to be eligible for future reimbursement from the program,
under specified conditions. The bill would also require a recipient
transit agency to provide additional information to the department to
the extent funding is sought for capital projects.
Existing law requires recipient transit agencies whose service
areas include disadvantaged communities, as defined, to expend at
least 50% of the funding received from the program on projects and
services that benefit disadvantaged communities.
This bill would instead provide for the Department of
Transportation to require at least 50% of the total moneys available
for the program to be expended on projects and services that benefit
disadvantaged communities. The bill would require the department to
ensure that investments benefiting disadvantaged communities are made
within the jurisdiction of each regional transportation planning
agency, and to report to the Legislature on the investments made in
that regard by July 1, 2019, and at least every 3 years thereafter.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 75230 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
75230. (a) The Low Carbon Transit Operations Program is hereby
created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit
agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility,
with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities.
(b) Funding for the program is continuously appropriated pursuant
to Section 39719 of the Health and Safety Code from the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund established pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the
Government Code.
(c) Funding shall be allocated by the Controller on a formula
basis consistent with the requirements of this part and with Section
39719 of the Health and Safety Code, upon a determination by the
Department of Transportation that the expenditures proposed by a
recipient transit agency meet the requirements of this part and
guidelines developed pursuant to this section, and that the amount of
funding requested is currently available.
(d) A recipient transit agency shall demonstrate that each
expenditure of program moneys allocated to the agency reduces
greenhouse gas emissions.
(e) A recipient transit agency shall demonstrate that each
expenditure of program moneys does not supplant another source of
funds.
(e)
(f) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide
transit operating or capital assistance that meets any of the
following:
(1) Expenditures that directly enhance or expand transit
service by supporting new or expanded bus or rail services, new
or expanded water-borne transit, or expanded intermodal transit
facilities, and may include equipment acquisition, fueling, and
maintenance, and other costs to operate those services or facilities.
(2) Expenditures that increase mode share.
(3) Expenditures related to the purchase of zero-emission buses,
including electric buses, or the installation of the necessary
equipment and infrastructure to operate and support zero-emission
buses.
(f) For recipient transit agencies whose service areas include
disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to Section 39711 of
the Health and Safety Code,
(g) (1) The
department shall require at least 50 percent of the total
moneys received pursuant to this chapter shall
to be expended on projects or services that meet the
requirements of subdivision (d)
subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) and benefit the disadvantaged
communities, consistent with the guidance developed by the
State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715 as
identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety
Code.
(2) The department shall ensure that investments benefiting
disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to Section 39711 of
the Health and Safety Code are made within the jurisdiction of each
regional transportation planning agency, as defined in Section 99214
of the Public Utilities Code. The department, notwithstanding Section
10231.5 of the Government Code, shall report to the Legislature on
or before July 1, 2019, and at least every three years thereafter, on
the investments made that benefit disadvantaged communities and on
the investments made that benefit other communities. The report shall
be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(g)
(h) The Department of Transportation, in coordination
with the State Air Resources Board, shall develop guidelines that
describe the methodologies that recipient transit agencies shall use
to demonstrate that proposed expenditures will meet the criteria in
subdivisions (d) and (d), (e), (f)
, and (g) and establish the reporting requirements for
documenting ongoing compliance with those criteria.
(h)
(i) 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 of guidelines for the program pursuant to this
section.
(i)
(j) A recipient transit agency shall submit the
following information to the Department of Transportation before
seeking a disbursement of funds pursuant to this part:
(1) A list of proposed expense types for anticipated funding
levels.
(2) The documentation required by the guidelines developed
pursuant to this section to demonstrate compliance with subdivisions
(d) and (f). (d), (e),(f), and (g).
(j)
(k) For capital projects, the recipient transit agency
shall also do all of the following:
(1) Specify the phases of work for which the agency is seeking an
allocation of moneys from the program.
(2) Identify the sources and timing of all moneys required to
undertake and complete any phase of a project for which the recipient
agency is seeking an allocation of moneys from the program.
(3) Describe intended sources and timing of funding to complete
any subsequent phases of the project, through construction or
procurement.
(k)
(l) A recipient transit agency may use program
moneys for operating assistance in the fiscal year in which the
service is first implemented, and that has used
program moneys for operating assistance to implement new or expanded
transit service in a previous fiscal yea r may use program
moneys to continue to operate the same service in any
subsequent fiscal year if the agency can demonstrate that reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions can be realized.
(l)
(m) Before authorizing the disbursement of funds, the
Department of Transportation, in coordination with the State Air
Resources Board, shall determine the eligibility, in whole or in
part, of the proposed list of expense types, based on the
documentation provided by the recipient transit agency to ensure
ongoing compliance with the guidelines developed pursuant to this
section.
(m)
(n) The Department of Transportation shall notify the
Controller of approved expenditures for each recipient transit
agency, and the amount of the allocation for each agency determined
to be available at that time of approval.
(n)
(o) A recipient transit agency that does not submit an
expenditure for funding in a particular fiscal year shall
may retain its funding share, and may accumulate
and utilize that funding share in a subsequent fiscal year for a
larger expenditure, including operating assistance. The recipient
transit agency shall must first specify
the number of fiscal years that it intends to retain its funding
share and the expenditure for which the agency intends to use these
moneys. There shall be no limit on the number of fiscal
years that a recipient transit agency may retain its funding share.
A recipient transit agency may only retain its funding
share for a maximum of four years.
(o)
(p) A recipient transit agency may, in any particular
fiscal year, loan or transfer its funding share to another recipient
transit agency within the same region for any identified eligible
expenditure under the program, including operating assistance, in
accordance with procedures incorporated by the Department of
Transportation in the guidelines developed pursuant to this section,
which procedures shall be consistent with the requirement in
subdivision (f). (g).
(p)
(q) A recipient transit agency may apply to the
Department of Transportation to reassign any savings of surplus
moneys allocated under this section to the agency for an expenditure
that has been completed to another eligible expenditure under the
program, including operating assistance. A recipient transit agency
may also apply to the Department of Transportation to reassign to
another eligible expenditure any moneys from the program previously
allocated to the agency for an expenditure that the agency has
determined is no longer a priority for the use of those moneys.
(q)
(r) The recipient transit agency shall provide annual
reports to the Department of Transportation, in the format and manner
prescribed by the department, consistent with the internal
administrative procedures for use of fund proceeds developed by the
State Air Resources Board.
(r)
(s) The Department of Transportation and recipient
transit agencies shall comply with the guidelines developed by the
State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715 of the Health and
Safety Code to ensure that the requirements of Section 39713 of the
Health and Safety Code are met to maximize the benefits to
disadvantaged communities as described in Section 39711 of the Health
and Safety Code.
(t) A recipient transit agency shall comply with all applicable
legal requirements, including the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000)), and civil rights and environmental justice obligations under
state and federal law. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
expand or extend the applicability of those laws to recipient
transit agencies.
(s)
(u) The audit of public transportation operator
finances already required under the Transportation Development Act
pursuant to Section 99245 of the Public Utilities Code shall be
expanded to include verification of receipt and appropriate
expenditure of moneys from the program. Each recipient transit agency
receiving moneys from the program in a fiscal year for which an
audit is conducted shall transmit a copy of the audit to the
Department of Transportation, and the department shall make the
audits available to the Legislature and the Controller for review on
request.
SEC. 2. Section 75231 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75231. (a) A recipient transit agency under the program created
pursuant to Section 75230 may apply to the Department of
Transportation for a letter of no prejudice for any eligible
expenditures under the program, including operating assistance, for
which the department has authorized a disbursement of funds. If
approved by the department, the letter of no prejudice shall allow
the recipient transit agency to expend its own moneys for the
expenditures and to be eligible for future reimbursement from moneys
available for the program.
(b) The amount expended under subdivision (a) shall be reimbursed
by the state from moneys available for the program if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The expenditures for which the letter of no prejudice was
requested have commenced, and any regional or local expenditures, if
applicable, have been incurred.
(2) The expenditures made by the recipient transit agency are
eligible under the program. If expenditures made by the recipient
transit agency are determined to be ineligible, the state has no
obligation to reimburse those expenditures.
(3) The recipient transit agency complies with all applicable
legal requirements for the expenditures, including the
requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000)), if applicable.
and civil rights and environmental justice obligations under
state and federal law. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to expand or extend the applicability of those laws to
recipient transit agencies.
(4) There are moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
designated for the program and from the recipient transit agency'
s formula allocation share as determined pursuant to subparagraph (B)
of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 39719 of the Health
and Safety Code that are sufficient to make the reimbursement
payment.
(c) The recipient transit agency and the Department of
Transportation shall enter into an agreement governing reimbursement
as described in this section. The timing and final amount of
reimbursement shall be dependent on the terms of the agreement and
the availability of moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for
the program.
(d) The Department of Transportation, in consultation with
recipient public transit agencies, may develop guidelines to
implement this section.
