Bill Text: CA SB824 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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

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BILL NUMBER: SB 824	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	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 authorize a recipient transit agency that does not
submit  a project   an expenditure  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 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,  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 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.
   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  subdivision (f), 
 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) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide transit
operating or capital assistance that meets any of the 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) Expenditures that  directly enhance or expand transit
service to  increase mode share. 
   (3) Any other expenditure for which the recipient transit agency
can demonstrate that the expenditure reduces greenhouse gas
emissions.  
   (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, 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.
   (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 (f) and establish the reporting requirements for
documenting ongoing compliance with those criteria.
   (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.
   (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 this section to demonstrate compliance with subdivisions
(d) and (f).
   (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. 
   (k) A recipient transit agency may use program moneys for
operating assistance in the fiscal year in which the service is first
implemented, and in any subsequent fiscal year if the agency can
demonstrate that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be
realized.  
   (k) 
    (l)  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. 
   (l) 
    (m)  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. 
   (m) 
    (n)  A recipient transit agency that does not submit
 a project   an expenditure  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.   expenditure,
including operating assistance.  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.

   (n) 
    (o)  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). 
   (o) A group of recipient transit agencies may, in any particular
fiscal year, enter into an agreement to pool the respective funding
shares of each member of the group for any identified eligible
expenditure under the program, 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). 
   (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.
  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) 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) 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.
   (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 any eligible
expenditures under the  program   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 legal
requirements for the expenditures, including the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000)), if applicable.
   (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.