Existing law creates the North Coast Railroad Authority with various powers and duties relating to rail service in the north coast area of the state, including the authority to acquire, own, operate, and lease real and personal property reasonably related to the operation and maintenance of railroads, and the planned transfer of all of the authority’s assets, and the authority’s dissolution.
Existing law creates, within the Counties of Sonoma and Marin, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District, which is governed by a 12-member board of directors, with specified duties and powers. Existing law requires the district to work with specified authorities, including the North Coast Railroad Authority, to achieve a safe, efficient, and compatible system of passenger and freight rail service and authorizes the district to, among other things,
provide a rail transit system for the provision of freight service by rail and own, operate, manage, and maintain a passenger rail system within the territory of the district.
This bill would require the authority, or a successor agency, to convey and transfer all of its rights, interests, privileges, and title, lien free, relating to the southern portion of a specified right-of-way to the district, as provided.
This bill would give the board of governors of the district the duty and power to, among other things, own, operate, manage, and maintain a freight rail system within the district and fix rates, rentals, charges, and classifications of freight service operated by the district. The bill would also give the board of governors of the district the duty and power to consider potential alternatives to help address the housing needs of current and future employees. The bill would
repeal the requirement that the district obtain coverage for itself and its employees under certain federal laws.
This bill would require the district to create and maintain a bicycle and pedestrian pathway that begins at the county line separating the Counties of Mendocino and Sonoma at or near mile post 89, runs in, or parallel to, the southern portion of the right-of-way, as appropriate, and connects to the district’s bicycle and pedestrian pathway to the extent feasible if certain conditions are met, designate the ancillary bicycle and pedestrian pathways that provide connections between and access to district station sites and the district’s other pathways as “The Great Redwood Trail, Southern Segment,” and would authorize the district to partner and contract with trail
agencies, as provided.
On or before July 1, 2022, this bill would rename the North Coast Railroad Authority the Great Redwood Trail Agency. The bill would provide for the appointment of the agency’s board of directors, as specified. On or before July 1, 2022, the bill would require the authority to convey and transfer all of its rights, interests, privileges, and responsibilities relating to the northern portion of the right-of-way to the agency, as provided. The bill would, to the extent funding is available, require the agency to, among other things, (1) inventory any parcel, easement, or contract related to the northern portion of the right-of-way, (2) complete an environmental assessment of the conditions of the northern portion of the right-of-way, (3) plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain a trail in, or next to, the northern portion of the right-of-way, and (4)
complete a federal railbanking process for the northern portion of the right-of-way. The bill would also give the agency certain enumerated rights and powers, including, among other things, the right and power to fix and collect fees, make grants, acquire interests in real property, and enter into contracts and joint powers agreements.
This bill would create the Great Redwood Trail Program Fund, and would
require certain moneys to be deposited into the fund and to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for certain purposes.
By imposing new requirements on local entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.