Christmas and New Year’s are over, but this week, there is still
great anticipation among the Capitol community to see what the
Governor proposes in his 2014-15 state budget. For
the first year in many,we are expecting a surplus rather than a
deficit when the budget is revealed this Friday. While that is a
far preferable situation, it still means there will be hard
decisions to make, and, as always, CSAC will be part of the
process.
We already know from the two legislative leaders how they hope to
manage a potentially multiple billion dollar surplus.
CSAC Mourns the Loss of Former California Transportation
Commission Executive Director Bimla Rhinehart
CSAC learned of the passing of Bimla Rhinehart, former Executive
Director of the California Transportation Commission (CTC), on
Tuesday, March 5th. CSAC staff and the many county staff that
have worked with Bimla extend our most sincere condolences to her
family. She was a tremendous asset to the transportation
community in California and we will miss her leadership,
commitment to public service, and her welcoming and warm spirit
greatly.
The Institute for Local Government (ILG), which is sponsored by
CSAC, will be conducting a webinar on land use and community
design from 11-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. The featured speaker
will be Keith Woodstock, Director of Community and Regional
Planning Center at California State University, Fresno.
This webinar is part of ILG’s Sustainable Communities Learning
Network’s Brownbag Series. To register for the free
webinar, click here.
AB 22 (Blumenfield) – Oppose
As Introduced on December 3, 2012
AB 22, by Assembly Member Bob Blumenfield, would prohibit a city,
county, or city and county that has an ordinance in operation
that requires the city, county, or city and county to repair or
reconstruct streets, sidewalks, or driveways that have been
damaged as a result of tree growth from repealing the ordinance
without the concurrence of the local electorate by majority
vote.
Wrap-Up: Another Successful Housing, Land Use, & Transportation
Policy Committee Meeting
The CSAC Housing, Land Use, and Transportation Policy Committee
had another successful meeting during the 118th CSAC Annual
Meeting in Los Angeles County last week. The agenda was packed full
of timely and important information for counties, both in
retrospect of accomplishments achieved in 2012 and in preparation
for the 2013 legislative session. A few significant highlights
include:
AB 890 (Olsen) – Support
Chapter No. 528, Statutes of 2012
AB 890, by Assembly Member Kristin Olsen, exempts from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) repair, maintenance,
and minor alterations of existing roadways, provided the project
is initiated by a city or county to improve public safety, does
not cross a waterway, and involves negligible or no expansion of
an existing use. The exemption applies to a city or county with a
population of less than 100,000 persons and will sunset January
1, 2016.
SB 214 (Wolk) – Support
As Amended on August 6, 2012
SB 214, by Senator Lois Wolk, would update state law governing
Infrastructure Financing Districts (IFDs) to provide an improved
mechanism to deliver much-needed infrastructure projects and
create jobs in California.
AB 2447 (Skinner) – Support
As Amended on August 6, 2012
AB 2447, by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner, the California
Neighborhood Revitalization Partnership Act of 2012, would create
a competitive grant program for financing the purchase of
foreclosed homes, the demolition of blighted structures that are
foreclosed or abandoned, and the redevelopment of demolished or
vacant properties.
AB 345 (Atkins) – Support
As Amended on June 29, 2011
AB 345, by Assembly Member Toni Atkins, would codify in statute a
long-standing advisory committee, the California Uniform Traffic
Control Devices Committee (CTCDC), created by the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The measure would also
add two additional representatives to the CTCDC representing
non-motorized users of the road, selected from the Caltrans
Active Transportation and Livable Communities Advisory Group
(ATLC).
AB 890 (Olsen) – Support
As Amended on January 13, 2012
AB 890, by Assembly Member Kristin Olsen, would exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) repair, maintenance,
and minor alterations of existing roadways, provided the project
is initiated by a city or county to improve public safety, does
not cross a waterway, and involves negligible or no expansion of
an existing use. The exemption would sunset January 1, 2016.
SB 162 (Anderson) – Oppose
As Amended on May 21, 2012
SB 162, by Senator Joel Anderson, would prohibit a state agency
from opposing fee-to-trust land acquisition applications if the
land is intended for housing, environmental protection, or
cultural preservation.
Governor Brown Appoints Director of Transportation
Governor Brown appointed a director to the California Department
of Transportation (Caltrans) on May 9. Malcolm Dougherty, 43, of
Fresno, has been serving as acting director since 2011 and chief
deputy director since 2010.
AB 1901 (Jones) – Support
As Introduced on February 22, 2012
AB 1901, by Assembly Member Brian Jones, would extend the sunset
date on existing design-build authority granted to counties,
eliminate the project cost threshold in order to use the
design-build method, and modify the reporting requirements that
counties must submit to the Legislative Analyst’s
Office.
AB 890 (Olsen) – Support
As Amended on January 4, 2012
AB 890, by Assembly Member Kristin Olsen, would exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) a project within a
city or county’s existing road right-of-way that would improve
public safety. The bill also specifically states the exemption
does not apply to a project that would increase traffic
capacity.
Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program – Request
for Comment
Current federal regulations (23 CFR 650.405(b)(1)), under the
Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program, more or
less require, unless granted permission otherwise, local agencies
to replace deficient single-lane bridges with two-lane bridges.
CSAC Housing, Land Use, and Transportation Policy Committee
Meeting
The Housing, Land Use, and Transportation Policy Committee will
be meeting on Wednesday, November 30th from 10:00 a.m. to noon
during the CSAC Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Senate Schedules Markup of Federal Surface Transportation
Authorization Bill
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW Committee)
is scheduled to markup a two-year surface transportation
reauthorization bill Wednesday, November 9th at 10:00 a.m.
SB 226, by Senator Joe Simitian, makes a number of changes
related to CEQA exemptions, streamlining, and the comment
process. Specifically, the bill will:
AB 147 (Dickinson) – Sponsor
Chapter No. 228, Statutes of 2011
AB 147, by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson, will expand existing
eligible uses for transportation mitigation impact fees charged
under the Subdivisions Map Act for transit, bicycle, and
pedestrian facilities.
SB 226 (Simitian) – Concerns
As Amended on August 23, 2011
SB 226, by Senator Joe Simitian, would makes changes to the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) related to solar
facilities and the CEAC comment process.
For information on the CEQA changes related to solar facilities,
please see the Agriculture and Natural Resources
article in this same issue of The CSAC Bulletin.
SB 293 (Padilla) – Oppose
As Amended on August 15, 2011
SB 293, by Senator Alex Padilla, would cap retention on a public
works project at five percent. Current law requires retentions of
at least five percent on public works projects, with the
flexibility for public agencies to utilize the most appropriate
retention, case-by-case, to protect taxpayers, ratepayers and
Californians who depend upon core local services.
SB 293 (Padilla) – Oppose
As Amended on July 5, 2011
SB 293, by Senator Alex Padilla, would cap retention on a public
works project at five percent. Current law requires retentions of
at least five percent on public works projects, with the
flexibility for public agencies to utilize the most appropriate
retention, case-by-case, to protect taxpayers, ratepayers and
Californians who depend upon core local services.
AB 147 (Dickinson) – Sponsor
As Amended on May 31, 2011
AB 147, by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson, would expand existing
eligible uses for transportation mitigation impact fees charged
under the Subdivisions Map Act for transit, bicycle, and
pedestrian facilities.
SB 907 (Evans) – Support if Amended
As Amended on May 3, 2011
SB 907, by Senator Noreen Evans, would which would create the
Master Plan for Infrastructure Financing and Development
Commission and would require the Commission to prepare and submit
a strategy and plan for infrastructure development in California
by December 1, 2013.
AB 931 (Dickinson) – Sponsor
As Amended on April 15, 2011
AB 931, by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson, sponsored by CSAC,
aims to incentivize affordable infill housing projects throughout
the State of California.
SB 226 (Simitian) – Request for Comment
As Introduced on February 9, 2011
SB 226, by Senator Joe Simitian, would, under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), revise the scoping procedures
by authorizing referral of a proposed action to adopt or
substantially amend a general plan to a city or county under
Government Code §65352 to be conducted concurrently with the
scoping meeting, and authorizes the city or county to submit its
comments at the scoping meeting.
Transportation Tax Swap Fix Moves to Full Budget Committee
CSAC continues to support swift action to validate by a
two-thirds vote the Prop 42 transportation replacement taxes
contained in the Transportation Tax Swap (swap) adopted back in
March 2010. As you may recall this is necessary due to the
passage of Proposition 26 which retroactively applies the
two-thirds vote requirement for adopting taxes.
