Bill Text: CA SB1371 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Transportation: bond funded projects: letter of no
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-09-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 292, Statutes of 2010. [SB1371 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB1371-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1371 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 292
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 16, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 16, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Correa
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Chapter 20.5 (commencing with Section 2704.75) to
Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to
transportation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1371, Correa. Transportation: bond funded projects: letter of
no prejudice.
Existing law, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond
Act for the 21st Century, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion
in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related purposes,
including $950 million to be allocated by the California
Transportation Commission to eligible recipients for capital
improvements to intercity and commuter rail lines and urban rail
transit systems in connection with or otherwise related to the
high-speed train system.
Existing law, with respect to the Highway Safety, Traffic
Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, a $19.925
billion general obligation bond act for transportation and related
purposes, authorizes a regional or local agency to apply for a letter
of no prejudice that makes that agency eligible to expend funds
under its control for a project or project component that has been
designated to receive bond funding and to be subsequently reimbursed
from bond funds for that expenditure when bond funds become
available.
This bill would allow an eligible recipient for funding for
capital improvements to intercity and commuter rail lines and urban
rail transit systems in connection with or otherwise related to the
high-speed train system under the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger
Train Bond Act for the 21st Century to apply to the California
Transportation Commission for a letter of no prejudice relating to
those projects. The bill would authorize the commission to develop
guidelines to implement these provisions.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 20.5 (commencing with Section 2704.75) is added
to Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:
CHAPTER 20.5. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SAFE, RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED
PASSENGER TRAIN BOND ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
2704.75. (a) An eligible recipient for funds pursuant to Section
2704.095 may apply to the California Transportation Commission for a
letter of no prejudice for a project or a component of a project to
be undertaken with those funds. The commission may approve the letter
of no prejudice for one or more projects or project components that
the commission has programmed or otherwise approved for funding. The
letter of no prejudice shall reference the project or component
thereof and the amount of bond funding that is programmed or
otherwise approved for that project or project component. The
commission may approve a letter of no prejudice regardless of whether
bond funding has been previously appropriated for purposes of the
project or project component.
(b) Expenditures for the costs, up to the amount set forth in the
letter of no prejudice, of a project or project component for which a
letter of no prejudice has been issued shall be eligible for
reimbursement from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund if all of
the following apply:
(1) The project or project component for which the letter of no
prejudice was requested has commenced and expenditures have been
incurred by the eligible recipient.
(2) The expenditures made by the eligible recipient are eligible
for reimbursement in accordance with state and federal laws and
procedures and are permitted expenditures under Section 2704.095. If
expenditures made are determined to be ineligible, then the state has
no obligation to reimburse for those expenditures.
(3) The eligible recipient complies with all legal requirements
for the project, including the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(4) The expenditures were incurred after the project or project
component was programmed or otherwise approved for funding by the
commission.
(5) There is in the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund an
appropriated amount sufficient to make the reimbursement payment.
Nothing in this section requires the fund to be funded at any
particular time or in any particular amount.
(c) The commission and an eligible recipient may enter into an
agreement or agreements governing reimbursement as described in this
section.
(d) The commission, in consultation with eligible recipients, may
develop guidelines to implement this section. If the commission
develops guidelines, the commission shall, to the extent practicable,
use the guidelines developed for letters of no prejudice under
Section 8879.501 of the Government Code.
(e) Nothing in this section modifies any requirement under Chapter
20 (commencing with Section 2704).
(f) For the purposes of this section, "letter of no prejudice"
means an agreement between an eligible recipient and the commission
that makes eligible for future reimbursement from bond proceeds the
expenditure of funds under the control of the eligible recipient,
subject to the availability of bond funds, as provided in this
section. The timing and final amount of reimbursement are dependent
on the terms of the agreement and the availability of bond funds. The
final amount of reimbursement may be less than the amount stated in
the letter of no prejudice.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to allow bond-funded transportation projects to proceed
as expeditiously as possible, and to benefit job retention in
California, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
