California Assembly Bill AB1779 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1779AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani  (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member   Olsen   )  FEBRUARY 21, 2012 An act to amend Sections 14031.8  and   ,  14070.2  , and 14070.6  of, and to repeal and add Article 5.4 (commencing with Section 14074) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code, relating to transportation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1779, as amended, Galgiani. Intercity rail agreements. Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to contract with Amtrak for intercity rail passenger services and provides funding for these services from the Public Transportation Account. Existing law, until December 31, 1996, authorized the department, subject to approval of the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, to enter into an interagency transfer agreement under which a joint powers board assumes responsibility for administering the state-funded intercity rail service in a particular corridor. Existing law, with respect to a transferred corridor, requires the board to demonstrate the ability to meet performance standards established by the secretary. This bill would authorize the department, with the approval of the secretary, to enter into an additional interagency transfer agreement with respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, as defined, if a joint powers authority and governing board  is   are  created and organized. In that regard, the bill would provide for the creation of the San Joaquin Corridor Joint Powers Authority, to be governed by a board of not more than 11 members. The bill would provide that the board shall be organized when at least 6 of the 11 agencies elect to appoint members. The bill would provide for the authority to be created when the  member-agencies   member agencies  enter into a joint powers agreement, as specified. Only those agencies that appoint members by December 31, 2013, would be  member-agencies   member agencies  of the authority.  The bill would provide for future appointments of additional members if the service boundaries of the San Joaquin Corridor are expanded. Existing law provides for the allocation of state funds by the secretary to a joint powers board under an interagency transfer agreement based on the annual business plan for the intercity rail corridor and subsequent appropriation of state funds. This bill, with respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, would provide that specified resources for transit purposes shall not be available to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction, or reclassification of state resources for operating intercity rail services. This bill would authorize the secretary to adopt new performance standards by December 31, 2014, for intercity rail services.  The bill would make other related changes.   Existing law authorizes the department and any entity that assumes administrative responsibility for passenger rail services through an interagency transfer agreement to contract with specified entities for the use of tracks and other facilities and for the provision of passenger rail services.   This bill would require a contractor under an agreement described above to agree that its labor relations shall be governed by a specified federal act relating to labor relations on railroads.  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. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Intercity Passenger Rail Act of 2012 for the San Joaquin Corridor. SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) An intercity rail passenger system, linking major urban centers and complemented by feeder bus services that provide access to outlying areas and destinations, is an important element of the state's transportation system, and shall remain a state-funded program. (2) The state has a continuing interest in the provision of cost-effective intercity rail passenger services and has a responsibility to coordinate intercity rail passenger services statewide. (3) Since 1976, the state has invested over one billion eight hundred million dollars ($1,800,000,000) in capital improvements and operating support for intercity rail passenger service and must ensure the protection of that investment.  (4) Intercity rail service and ridership increases will result in more jobs, improve air quality, and help promote sustainable development.  (b) The Legislature, through the enactment of this act, intends all of the following: (1) The Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing shall be responsible for the overall planning, coordination, and budgeting of the intercity passenger rail service. (2) If the secretary determines that transferring responsibility for intercity rail service in a particular corridor or corridors to a statutorily created joint powers agency would result in administrative or operating cost reductions, the secretary may authorize the Department of Transportation to enter into an interagency transfer agreement to effect a transfer of those administrative functions. (3) Any intercity rail corridor for which administrative responsibility has been transferred to a joint powers board through an interagency transfer agreement shall remain as a component of the statewide system of intercity rail corridors. (4) The public interest requires expansion of the state intercity rail program in order to keep pace with the needs of an expanding population. (5) For not less than a five-year period, the level of state funding for intercity rail service in each corridor should be maintained at a level equal to at least the current level of service in the corridor, thus providing fiscal stability that will allow appropriate planning and operation of these services. SEC. 3. Section 14031.8 of the Government Code is amended to read: 14031.8. (a) The Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing shall establish, through an annual budget process, the level of state funding available for the operation of intercity passenger rail service in each corridor. (b) Where applicable, operating funds shall be allocated by the secretary to the joint powers board in accordance with an interagency transfer agreement that includes mutually agreed-upon rail services. Funds for the administration and marketing of services, as appropriate, shall also be transferred by the secretary to the joint powers board, subject to the terms of the interagency transfer agreement. (c) The joint powers board or local or regional entities may, but shall not be required to, augment state-provided resources to expand intercity passenger rail services, or to address funding shortfalls in achieving agreed-upon performance standards. However, notwithstanding Section 99233.4 or 99260.5 of, or subdivision (b) of Section 99400 of, the Public Utilities Code, or any other provision of law, the joint powers board or local or regional agencies relative to the San Joaquin Corridor shall not use existing sources of transit funding for this purpose, including, but not limited to, funds made available under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, commonly known as the Transportation Development Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10, of the Public Utilities Code), or under the State Transportation Assistance Program pursuant to Sections 99313 and 99314 of the Public Utilities Code. The joint powers board or local or regional agencies with regard to the San Joaquin Corridor may identify and secure new supplemental sources of funding for the purpose of expanding or maintaining intercity rail passenger service levels, which may include state and federal intercity rail resources. (d) The department may provide any support services as may be mutually agreed upon by the joint powers board and the department. (e) Operating costs shall be controlled by dealing with, at a minimum, the current Amtrak cost allocation formula, which, beginning in federal fiscal year 2013-14, will be subject to Section 209 of the federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, and the ability to contract out to Amtrak or other rail operators as a part of federal legislation dealing with Amtrak reauthorization. (f) Not later than December 31, 1997, the secretary shall establish a set of uniform performance standards for all corridors and operators to control cost and improve efficiency. To the extent necessary, as determined by the secretary, performance standards may be modified not later than December 31, 2014, relative to including the San Joaquin Corridor among the corridors subject to an interagency transfer agreement. (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, with regard to the San Joaquin Corridor, local resources described in subdivision (c) shall not be available for expenditure to offset any redirection, elimination, reduction, or reclassification of state resources for operating intercity rail services. SEC. 4. Section 14070.2 of the Government Code is amended to read: 14070.2. (a) If authorized by the secretary, the department may, through an interagency transfer agreement, transfer to a joint powers board, and the board may assume, all responsibility for administering intercity passenger rail service in the corridor. Upon the date specified in the agreement, the board shall succeed to the department's powers and duties relative to that service, except that the department shall retain responsibility for developing budget requests for the service through the state budget process, which shall be developed in consultation with the board, and for coordinating service in the corridor with other intercity passenger rail services in the state. (b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), the interagency transfer agreement shall be executed on or before December 31, 1996. (2) With respect to the San Joaquin Corridor, the interagency transfer agreement shall be executed on or before December 31, 2013. (c) The secretary shall require the board to demonstrate the ability to meet the performance standards established by the secretary pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 14031.8.  SEC. 5.   Section 14070.6 of the   Government Code   is amended to read:  14070.6. The department and any entity that assumes administrative responsibility for  intercity  passenger rail services through an interagency transfer agreement, may, through a competitive solicitation process, contract with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) or with organizations not precluded by state or federal law to provide  intercity  passenger rail services, and may contract with rail corporations and other rail operators for the use of tracks and other facilities and for the provision of  intercity   passenger services on terms and conditions as the parties may agree. The department is deemed to be a third-party beneficiary of the contract, and the contract shall not contain any provision or condition that would negatively impact on or conflict with any other contracts the department has regarding intercity  passenger  rail services. Any entity that succeeds the department as sponsor of state-supported  intercity  passenger rail services through an interagency transfer agreement  ,  is deemed an agency of the state for all purposes related to  intercity  passenger rail services, including Section  1614   5311  of Title 49 of the United States Code.  If the intercity passenger rail service is operated by a contractor, the contractor shall, as a condition of entering into an operating agreement with the entity, agree that its labor relations shall be governed by the federal Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.).   SEC. 5.   SEC. 6.  Article 5.4 (commencing with Section 14074) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code is repealed.  SEC. 6.   SEC. 7.  Article 5.4 (commencing with Section 14074) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read: Article 5.4. San Joaquin Corridor 14074. As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) "Authority" or "San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority" means a joint exercise of powers agency formed under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 for purposes of assuming administrative responsibility for the San Joaquin  corridor   Corridor  under an interagency transfer agreement pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 14070). (b) "Board" means the governing board of the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority established under Section 14074.2. (c) "San Joaquin Corridor" or "corridor" means the Los  Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento-Oakland   Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento   -San Francisco Bay Area  intercity passenger rail corridor. 14074.2. (a) There is hereby created the San Joaquin Joint Powers Board, subject to being organized pursuant to subdivision (b).  The   Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), the  board shall be composed of not more than 11 members, as follows: (1) One member of the board of directors of the Sacramento Regional Transit District, appointed by that board. (2) One member of the board of directors of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, appointed by that board  , who shall be a resident of San Joaquin County  . (3) One member of the board of directors of the Stanislaus Council of Governments, appointed by that board. (4) One member of the board of directors of the Merced County Association of Governments, appointed by that board. (5) One member of the board of directors of the Madera County Transportation Commission, appointed by that board. (6) One member of the board of directors of the Fresno Council of Governments, appointed by that board. (7) One member of the board of directors of the Kings County Association of Governments, appointed by that board. (8) One member of the board of directors of the Tulare County Association of Governments, appointed by that board. (9) One member of the board of directors of the Kern Council of Governments, appointed by that board. (10) One member of the board of directors of a regional transportation agency or rail transit operator that serves Contra Costa County, appointed by ____, who shall be a resident of the county. (11) One member of a regional transportation agency or rail transit operator that serves Alameda County, appointed by ____, who shall be a resident of the county. (b) The board shall be organized when at least six of the agencies described in paragraphs (1) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (a) elect to appoint a member to serve on the board. Only those agencies that appoint members to serve on the board prior to December 31, 2013, shall be  member-agencies   member agencies  of the authority and be represented on the board.  However, if the rail service boundaries of the San Joaquin Corridor are extended, an additional member from each additional county receiving rail service may be added to the board through a decision of the board.  14074.4. This authority shall be created only if the agencies that would be represented on the board enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement to form the agency. 14074.6. The board shall make its decisions in accordance with the votes of its members, with a majority vote required for all matters with the exception of the approval of the business plan  and  ,  revisions to that plan,  and the addition of new members pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14074.2,  which shall require a two-thirds vote of the members. 14074.8. The Steering Committee of the Caltrans Rail Task Force shall remain in existence. If a joint powers authority is formed pursuant to this article and an interagency transfer agreement is executed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14070.2, the Steering Committee of the Caltrans Rail Task Force shall become the Steering Committee of the San Joaquin Joint Powers  Agency   Authority  for the purpose of advising the joint powers board.