California Senate Bill SB231 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 231AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 20, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Senator Gaines FEBRUARY 13, 2015 An act to amend Sections 75212 and 75230 of the Public Resources Code,  and to amend Section 99313 of the Public Utilities Code,  relating to transportation, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 231, as amended, Gaines. Transportation programs.  (1) Existing   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 and 20% for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. This bill would include water-borne transit as an eligible project that may be funded under these 2 programs. Because the bill would expand the allowable purposes for which the continuously appropriated funds allocated to the program may be expended, it would thereby make an appropriation.  (2) Existing law requires the transfer of a specified portion of the sales tax on diesel fuel, in addition to various other revenues, to the Public Transportation Account, a trust fund in the State Transportation Fund. Funds in the account are required to be allocated to various public transportation and transportation planning purposes. Specified revenues in the account are allocated by the Controller to local transportation agencies for public transportation purposes, pursuant to a program commonly known as the State Transit Assistance program. These funds are allocated by formulas based 50% on population and 50% on transit operator revenue, and are continuously appropriated for purposes of the program.   This bill would provide that for the purposes of the population-based formula, the population of the area under the jurisdiction of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency shall be deemed to be 145,000 for each fiscal year beginning with 2015-16. The bill would identify certain special fund revenues in the Public Transportation Account that are to be used to comply with this provision. Because the bill would require a change to the allocation of funds that are continuously appropriated, it would make an appropriation.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 75212 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 75212. Projects eligible for funding pursuant to the program include any of the following: (a) Intermodal, affordable housing projects that support infill and compact development. (b) Transit capital projects and programs supporting transit ridership, including water-borne transit. (c) Active transportation capital projects that qualify under the Active Transportation Program, including pedestrian and bicycle facilities and supportive infrastructure, including connectivity to transit stations. (d) Noninfrastructure-related active transportation projects that qualify under the Active Transportation Program, including activities that encourage active transportation goals conducted in conjunction with infrastructure improvement projects. (e) Transit-oriented development projects, including affordable housing and infrastructure at or near transit stations or connecting those developments to transit stations. (f) Capital projects that implement local complete streets programs. (g) Other projects or programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other criteria air pollutants by reducing automobile trips and vehicle miles traveled within a community. (h) Acquisition of easements or other approaches or tools that protect agricultural lands that are under pressure of being converted to nonagricultural uses, particularly those adjacent to areas most at risk of urban or suburban sprawl or those of special environmental significance. (i) Planning to support implementation of a sustainable communities strategy, including implementation of local plans supporting greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts and promoting infill and compact development. SEC. 2. 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 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 transit agency meet the requirements of this part and guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (f), and the amount of funding requested that is currently available. (d) Moneys for the program shall be expended to provide transit operating or capital assistance that meets all of the following criteria: (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. (2) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each expenditure directly enhances or expands transit service to increase mode share. (3) The recipient transit agency demonstrates that each expenditure reduces greenhouse gas emissions. (e) For 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) 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) and establish the reporting requirements for documenting ongoing compliance with those criteria. (g) 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) A 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) to demonstrate compliance with subdivisions (d) and (e). (i) Before authorizing the disbursement of funds, the department, 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). (j) The department shall notify the Controller of approved expenditures for each transit agency, and the amount of the allocation for each transit agency determined to be available at that time of approval. (k) 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. (  l  ) 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  39714   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.  SEC. 3.   Section 99313 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 99313. (a) From the funds made available pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 99312, an amount shall be allocated by the Controller to each transportation planning agency and county transportation commission, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board, based on the ratio of the population of the area under its jurisdiction to the total population of the state. (b) For the purposes of this section, notwithstanding subdivision (a), the population of the area under the jurisdiction of the transportation planning agency designated pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 29532.1 of the Government Code shall be deemed to be 145,000 for each fiscal year beginning with the 2015-16 fiscal year. However, in making the population-based allocations pursuant to this section and subdivision (b) of Section 99312.1, the Controller shall make any additional allocation required by this subdivision solely from the revenues deposited in the account pursuant to Section 99312 and not from the revenues deposited into the account pursuant to Section 99312.1, in a manner consistent with the intent of this subdivision to provide an additional allocation for population-based allocations, and the Controller may make any necessary accounting adjustments in that regard.