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 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 authorize a recipient transit agency that does not
submit a project for funding under the program in a particular
fiscal year to retain its funding share for expenditure in a
subsequent fiscal year. The bill would, in that regard,
require the department to annually calculate a funding share for each
eligible recipient transit agency. The bill would allow a
recipient transit agency to loan or transfer its funding share in
a any particular fiscal year to another
recipient transit agency, agency within the
same region, to pool its funding share with those of other
recipient transit agencies, 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 a capital project or component of a capital project for
which the department has authorized a disbursement of funds,
and 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.
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. The Department of Transportation, based on
the amount of funding available for the program each fiscal year,
shall annually compute the funding share for each eligible recipient
transit agency.
(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 subdivision (f), 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.
(d)
(e) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide
transit operating or capital assistance that meets all
any of the following criteria:
following:
(1) Expenditures 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.
A recipient transit agency may use program moneys for the costs
to operate new or expanded service in the fiscal year in which the
service is first implemented, and in any subsequent fiscal year if
the agency can demonstrate that additional reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions can be realized.
(2) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each
expenditure directly enhances or expands Expenditures
that directly enhance or expand transit service to
increase mode share.
(3) The Any other expenditure
for which the recipient transit agency
demonstrates that each can demonstrate that the
expenditure reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
(e)
(f) For recipient transit agencies whose service areas
include disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to Section
39711 of the Health and Safety Code, at least 50 percent of the total
moneys received pursuant to this chapter shall be expended on
projects or services that meet requirements of subdivision (d) and
benefit the disadvantaged communities, consistent with the guidance
developed by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715
of the Health and Safety Code.
(f)
(g) 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 (e) (f) and
establish the reporting requirements for documenting ongoing
compliance with those criteria.
(g)
(h) 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.
(h)
(i) 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 subdivision (f) this section
to demonstrate compliance with subdivisions (d) and
(e). (f).
(i)
(j) 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.
(j)
(k) 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
subdivision (f). this section.
(k)
(l) 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.
(l)
(m) A recipient transit agency that does not submit a
project for funding in a particular fiscal year shall retain its
funding share, and may accumulate and utilize that funding share in a
subsequent fiscal year for a larger expenditure. The recipient
transit agency shall 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.
(m)
(n) A recipient transit agency may, in a
any particular fiscal year, loan or transfer its
funding share to another recipient transit agency with an
within the same region for any identified
eligible expenditure under the program, under terms and
conditions approved in accordance with proced
ures incorporated by the Department of Transportation in
the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (f).
this section.
(n)
(o) A group of recipient transit agencies may, in
a any particular fiscal year, enter
into an agreement to pool the respective funding shares of each
member of the group for an any
identified eligible expenditure under the program, under
terms and conditions approved in accordance with
procedures incorporated by the Department of Transportation in
the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (f).
this section.
(o)
(p) 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. 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.
(p)
(q) 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.
(q)
(r) 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.
(r)
(s) 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 a capital project or
for any component of a capital project 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 project or any component of the
project 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 project or project component for which the letter of no
prejudice was requested has commenced, and the regional or local
expenditures have been incurred.
(2) The expenditures made by the recipient transit agency are
eligible expenditures 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 legal
requirements for the project, including the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000)).
(4) There are moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
designated for the program 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.
