Bill Text: CA AB360 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Airports: evaluation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB360 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB360-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 360 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Melendez
FEBRUARY 17, 2015
An act to amend Section 21632 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to airports.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 360, as amended, Melendez. Ontario International
Airport. Airports: evaluation.
The State Aeronautics Act governs the creation and operation of
airports in this state. The act authorizes the Department of
Transportation to evaluate the need for an airport, owned or operated
by the United States in this state that ceases to be so owned or
operated, in the state's public-use airport system, as specified. The
act requires the department, before finalizing the evaluation, to
submit a copy of its report to the California Transportation
Commission for review and comment and requires the commission to
complete its review and comment, as specified, not later than 45 days
after receiving the evaluation.
This bill would instead require the commission to complete its
review and comment not later than 50 days after receiving the
evaluation.
Existing law provides for creation of airport districts. Existing
law provides for transfer of the San Diego International Airport from
the San Diego Unified Port District to the San Diego County Regional
Airport Authority.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would establish the Ontario International Airport
Authority and require the transfer of management and operational
control of the Ontario International Airport from the City of Los
Angeles to the authority.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 21632 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
21632. (a) The department may also acquire existing airports and
air navigation facilities, but it shall not acquire any airport or
air navigation facility owned or controlled by a political
subdivision of this or any other state without the consent of the
political subdivision.
(b) Whenever an airport owned or operated by the United States in
this state ceases to be so owned or operated, the department, in
consultation with local and regional transportation planning
agencies, may evaluate the present and future need for the airport in
the state's public-use airport system, including the need for both
the transportation of people and goods. The purpose of the evaluation
is to determine aviation needs and does not eliminate any
requirement of the California Environmental Quality Act, Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(c) Prior to Before finalizing the
evaluation, the department shall submit a copy of its report to the
commission for review and comment. The commission shall complete its
review and forward any comments to the department not later than
45 50 days after receiving the
evaluation.
(d) Upon completion of its evaluation, the department may make a
recommendation to the Legislature, the commission, the affected local
agencies, and the appropriate federal agency for the airport's
ownership and type of operation as a public-use airport, if the
department determines that the airport would be of significant
benefit to the state's airport system. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the department, in making its recommendation, give
priority for ownership and operation of these public-use airports to
a local political subdivision or subdivisions acting jointly.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 21606, if If
a political subdivision or subdivisions acting jointly notify
the department of their intentions to prepare a reuse plan for the
airport, and simultaneously apply to the Federal Aviation
Administration for a federal grant to develop an airport master plan
for the airport, the department shall not make its recommendation
pursuant to subdivision (d). If the department's evaluation
determines that the airport would be of significant benefit to the
state's airport system, and the political subdivision or subdivisions
acting jointly fail to convert the federal airport to a civil
public-use airport in accordance with the department's evaluation
within five years of notification to the department, or fail to
evidence substantial progress toward that purpose as determined by
the department, then the department may take action in accordance
with subdivision (f).
(f) If the department determines the airport is of present or
future benefit to the state's public-use airport system, and no
political subdivision applies to the appropriate federal agency to
acquire or operate the airport, or has notified the department of its
intention to prepare a reuse plan for the airport and thereafter
fails to act upon its application pursuant to subdivision (e), the
department may, subject to subdivision (g), assist in the formation
of a public entity to own and operate the airport
airport, which shall be representative of political
subdivisions in the area which that
surrounds and is served by the airport, as determined by the
department. If established, the owning and operating entity may,
subject to subdivision (g), prepare and submit an application to the
appropriate federal agency to acquire or operate, or acquire and
operate, the airport as a public airport.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), if any political subdivision
has previously applied to the appropriate federal agency to acquire
and operate the airport as a public airport, has completed all
required environmental and fiscal evaluations, and subsequently
withdrew its application prior to before
December 31, 1988, the department shall not file any application to
acquire or operate the airport or assist in the formation of a public
entity to own and operate the airport.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would establish the Ontario International
Airport Authority and require the transfer of management and
operational control of the Ontario International Airport from the
City of Los Angeles to the authority.
