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AB-23 Transportation.(2015-2016)

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2015–2016 1st Ext.

Assembly Bill
No. 23

Introduced by Assembly Members Eduardo Garcia, Burke, and Chiu
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Roger Hernández, McCarty, Nazarian, Rendon, Santiago, and Ting)

September 04, 2015

An act to add Section 14528.2 to the Government Code, and to amend Section 2381 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to transportation.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 23, as introduced, Eduardo Garcia. Transportation.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to prepare a State Highway Operation and Protection Program every other year for the expenditure of transportation capital improvement funds for projects that are necessary to preserve and protect the state highway system, excluding projects that add new traffic lanes. Existing law provides for the programming of transportation capital improvement funds for other objectives through the State Transportation Improvement Program administered by the California Transportation Commission, which includes projects recommended by regional transportation planning agencies through adoption of a regional transportation improvement program and projects recommended by the department through adoption of an interregional transportation improvement program, as specified.
This bill, by January 1, 2017, would require the California Transportation Commission to establish a process whereby the department and local agencies receiving funding for highway capital improvements from the State Highway Operation and Protection Program or the State Transportation Improvement Program prioritize projects that provide meaningful benefits to the mobility and safety needs of disadvantaged community residents, as specified.
(2) Existing law creates the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking, with specified available funds to be awarded to eligible projects by the California Transportation Commission and regional transportation agencies, as specified.
This bill would specifically require $125,000,000 to be appropriated annually from the State Highway Account to the Active Transportation Program, with these additional funds to be used for network grants that prioritize projects in underserved areas, as specified.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 14528.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:

14528.2.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2017, the commission shall establish a process whereby the department and local agencies receiving funding for highway capital improvements from the State Highway Operation and Protection Program or the State Transportation Improvement Program prioritize projects that provide meaningful benefits to the mobility and safety needs of disadvantaged community residents as identified by the community through strong public participation. In that regard, the commission shall do all of the following:
(1) Establish a funding floor where no less than 35 percent of rehabilitation and reconstruction projects are located in urban and rural disadvantaged communities and provide meaningful benefits to community residents in those disadvantaged communities.
(2) Include robust public stakeholder engagement on the development of guidelines relating to prioritization of projects in disadvantaged communities.
(3) Prioritize projects that recruit, hire, and train low-income, formerly incarcerated, or disconnected youth and adults and other individuals with barriers to employment pursuant to Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, including projects that utilize community workforce agreements, project labor agreements with targeted hire commitments, and partnerships with community-based workforce training entities preparing low-income youth and adults for employment.
(b) Each project applicant shall provide a description of how a proposed project located in a disadvantaged community provides meaningful benefits to the community. The location of a project in a disadvantaged community by itself does not mean that the project provides meaningful benefits to that community in the absence of a well-grounded description. In order for a benefit to be meaningful, it shall be direct and assured.
(c) As used in this section, “disadvantaged community” means a community with any of the following characteristics:
(1) An area with median household income less than 80 percent of the statewide median household income based on the most current census tract-level data from the American Community Survey.
(2) An area identified as among the most disadvantaged 25 percent of areas in the state according to the California Environmental Protection Agency, based on the latest version of the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen) scores.
(3) An area where at least 75 percent of public school students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program. To the extent the characteristics of this paragraph are used to determine that an area is disadvantaged, the applicants shall either demonstrate how the proposed project benefits those public school students in the project area or, if the proposed project does not provide meaningful benefits to those public school students, demonstrate how the characteristics are applicable in determining that the larger community is disadvantaged.

SEC. 2.

 Section 2381 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended to read:

2381.
 (a) The Active Transportation Program shall be funded by state and federal funds from appropriations in the annual Budget Act. Funds for the program shall be appropriated to the department, for allocation by the commission. The amount to be appropriated each year shall include 100 percent of the federal Transportation Alternative Program funds, except for any federal Recreational Trails Program funds appropriated to the Department of Parks and Recreation; twenty-one million dollars ($21,000,000) of federal Highway Safety Improvement funds or other federal funds; and one hundred twenty-five million dollars ($125,000,000) of State Highway Account funds. Future funding may be augmented if state or federal funds increase, or if other funding sources are identified. Funds appropriated for the Active Transportation Program shall be distributed as follows:
(1) Forty percent to metropolitan planning organizations in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000, in proportion to their relative share of population. Funds allocated under this paragraph shall be obligated for eligible projects selected through a competitive process by the metropolitan planning organizations in consultation with the department and the commission and in accordance with guidelines established pursuant to this chapter.
(2) Ten percent to small urban and rural regions with populations of 200,000 or less, with projects competitively awarded by the commission to projects in those regions.
(3) Fifty percent to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis.
(b) For the purpose of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the following shall apply in the region served by the multicounty designated transportation planning agency described in Section 130004 of the Public Utilities Code:
(1) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency shall consult with the county transportation commissions created pursuant to Sections 130050, 130050.1, and 132800 of the Public Utilities Code, the commission, and the department in the development of competitive selection criteria to be adopted by the multicounty designated transportation planning agency, which should include consideration of geographic equity, consistent with program objectives.
(2) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency shall place priority on projects that are consistent with plans adopted by local and regional governments within the county where the project is located.
(3) The multicounty designated transportation planning agency shall obtain concurrence from the county transportation commissions, adopt the projects selected in a comprehensive program of projects, and make funds available to selected project recipients.
(c) For each two-year program of projects, network grants shall be awarded to eligible applicants from the one hundred twenty-five million dollars ($125,000,000) appropriated annually to the program from the State Highway Account. Network grants shall be in an amount of between twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) and fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), and shall be awarded consistent with the percentage allocation requirements in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (a). Network grants shall be available to applicants that prioritize projects in underserved areas that lack pedestrian or bicycle facilities, or both, that address the least-safe intersections and corridors identified through community input or within the local master plans for pedestrian or bicycle facilities, trails, or safe routes to school, and that advance the interests of metropolitan planning organizations to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals in sustainable communities strategies in regional transportation plans adopted pursuant to Section 65080 of the Government Code. A minimum of one-third of funding available for network grants shall be used for safe routes to school projects and, of that amount, a minimum of 10 percent and a maximum of 30 percent shall be used to fund noninfrastructure programs that support education, community engagement, evaluation, and traffic enforcement. The commission shall amend the guidelines adopted pursuant to Section 2382 in the manner specified in Section 2383 consistent with the requirements of this subdivision.

(c)

(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the program described in this chapter constitutes a highway purpose under Article XIX of the California Constitution and justifies the expenditure of highway funds therefor, and all expenditures of Article XIX funds under this program shall be consistent with Article XIX.