Bill Text: CA SB749 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Transportation Commission: guidelines.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-25 - Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB749 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB749-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 749 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 185020 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to high-speed rail. add Section 14521.5
to the Government Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 749, as amended, Steinberg. High-speed rail.
California Transportation Commission: guidelines.
Existing law generally provides for programming and allocation of
state and federal funds available for transportation capital
improvement projects by the California Transportation Commission,
pursuant to various requirements. Existing law authorizes the
commission, in certain cases, to adopt guidelines relative to its
programming and allocation policies and procedures.
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, generally governs
the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations
by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by
the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law, in certain instances,
exempts state agencies from these requirements.
This bill would establish specified procedures that the commission
would be required to utilize when it adopts guidelines, except as
specified, and would exempt the adoption of those guidelines from the
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified
powers and duties relative to development and implementation of a
high-speed train system. The authority is composed of 9 members,
including 5 members appointed by the Governor.
This bill would provide that the members of the authority
appointed by the Governor are subject to appointment with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) From time to time, the Legislature has authorized the
California Transportation Commission to adopt guidelines for the
development and administration of statutorily created transportation
programs.
(b) Examples of the legislative authorization described in
subdivision (a) include, but are not limited to, the authority for
guidelines for the administration of transportation programs funded
by the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port
Security Bond Act of 2006 (Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section
8879.20) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code), including
the Corridor Mobility Improvement Account (CMIA) and the
Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety Account.
(c) In 2009, the commission also adopted program guidelines for
the implementation of the public-private partnership authority the
Legislature granted to the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
and to regional transportation planning agencies pursuant to Section
143 of the Streets and Highways Code.
(d) The Legislature has exempted program guidelines adopted by the
commission from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code) so that the commission may adopt guidelines
quickly and may amend adopted guidelines in response to quickly
changing circumstances.
(e) On some occasions, the commission's process for adopting
program guidelines has lacked transparency and has not provided the
public with ample opportunity to fully review and comment on proposed
guidelines.
(f) To ensure the commission's process for the adoption of program
guidelines is understandable, predictable, and transparent, and to
ensure the commission's process provides ample opportunity for public
review and comment on proposed guidelines, it is necessary to place
into statute a process for the adoption of program guidelines by the
commission.
SEC. 2. Section 14521.5 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
14521.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the adoption of
guidelines by the commission shall be exempt from the rulemaking
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1). Except for the State
Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) guidelines adopted pursuant
to Sections 14526, 14527, and 14529, on or after January 1, 2013,
the commission shall adopt guidelines using the procedures
established pursuant to this section.
(b) The commission's legal counsel shall review the proposed
guidelines for matters such as necessity, authority, clarity,
consistency, reference, and nonduplication, and recommend any
proposed action to the commissioners. For purposes of this section,
"necessity," "authority," "clarity," "consistency," "reference," and
"nonduplication" shall each have the same meaning as defined in
Section 11349. The commission's legal counsel's recommendations and
communications to the commission concerning the results of the review
shall be subject to the attorney-client privilege, unless otherwise
waived. The commission's executive director shall cause the
recommendations and communications to be distributed to all
commissioners.
(c) Program or policy guidelines shall first be presented at a
commission meeting for purposes of receiving public comment. At least
45 days prior to the meeting, the proposed or draft guideline shall
be sent to any person who has requested notices of the meetings of
the commission and shall be available to the public in electronic
format. The proposed or draft guideline shall include notice of the
right of the public to comment orally on the proposed or draft
guideline during the public meeting or to comment in writing at any
time prior to the meeting or within seven business days following the
meeting, at which time the written comment period shall be closed.
(d) Following the close of the written comment period, the
commission staff shall review all written and oral comments and shall
prepare a summary of the objections and recommendations made in
those comments and an explanation of how the proposed guideline is
proposed to be changed to accommodate the objections or
recommendations, or the reason or reasons for proposing no change.
(e) The staff recommendations and summary described in subdivision
(d) shall be made publicly available at least 15 days prior to a
subsequent regular meeting of the commission. At that subsequent
public meeting, the commission shall consider the staff
recommendations and any additional public comment made at the meeting
prior to voting on the adoption of the proposed guideline. A program
or policy guideline adopted by the commission shall be adopted by an
affirmative vote of a majority of the commission membership.
(f) The commission shall maintain a guideline adoption file
containing the public notice, public comments, and minutes of the
public meeting, including the action taken by the commission, and a
letter from the commission's legal counsel confirming that he or she
reviewed the proposed guidelines for compliance with the standards
set forth in subdivision (b).
(g) The guideline adoption file shall contain a summary of each
objection or recommendation made and an explanation of how the
proposed guideline was changed to accommodate each objection or
recommendation, or the reason or reasons for making no change.
(h) The commission shall include in its annual report to the
Legislature, required pursuant to Section 14535, a summary of its
activities related to the adoption of program or policy guidelines
during the previous calendar year, including, but not limited to, a
summary of the proposed guidelines considered by the commission, a
description of the actions taken by the commission, and the votes of
the commission on matters it considered.
SECTION 1. Section 185020 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
185020. (a) There is in state government a High-Speed Rail
Authority.
(b) (1) The authority is composed of nine members as follows:
(A) Five members appointed by the Governor, with the advice and
consent of the Senate.
(B) Two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(C) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(2) For the purposes of making appointments to the authority, the
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly shall take into consideration geographical diversity to
ensure that all regions of the state are adequately represented.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), and until their
successors are appointed, members of the authority shall hold office
for terms of four years. A vacancy shall be filled by the appointing
power making the original appointment, by appointing a member to
serve the remainder of the term.
(d) (1) On and after January 1, 2001, the terms of all persons who
are then members of the authority shall expire, but those members
may continue to serve until they are reappointed or until their
successors are appointed. In order to provide for evenly staggered
terms, persons appointed or reappointed to the authority after
January 1, 2001, shall be appointed to initial terms to expire as
follows:
(A) Of the five persons appointed by the Governor, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2004, and two shall
be appointed to terms which expire on December 31, 2005.
(B) Of the two persons appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2004.
(C) Of the two persons appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2005.
(2) Following expiration of each of the initial terms provided for
in this subdivision, the term shall expire every four years
thereafter on December 31.
(e) Members of the authority are subject to the Political Reform
Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000)).
(f) From among its members, the authority shall elect a
chairperson, who shall preside at all meetings of the authority, and
a vice chairperson to preside in the absence of the chairperson. The
chairperson shall serve a term of one year.
(g) Five members of the authority constitute a quorum for taking
any action by the authority.
