BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2511
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2511 (Dutra)
As Amended August 6, 2002
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |67-0 |(May 2, 2002) |SENATE: |30-2 |(August |
| | | | | |14,2002) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Allows a public entity to avoid project delivery
delays in connection with a transit or transportation capital
improvement project, by authorizing those agencies, under
specific circumstances, to assume utility relocation work from a
utility that has abandoned the work.
The Senate amendments :
1)Narrow the bill so that it only applies to utility relocations
in Santa Clara County and specify that, for the provisions of
this act to apply, certain conditions must have occurred
related to a formal, written utility relocation agreement.
2)Clarify that, in situations where the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority (VTA) will assume relocation work
from a utility, VTA (rather than the utility) will be required
to offer a first right of refusal to a crew or subgroup of the
utility's employees. If the utility's employees elect not
contract for the work, then VTA shall select from a list,
which may be provided by the utility, with input from the
representatives of the local collective bargaining unit.
3)Include cable television corporations, cable operators, and a
special district that operates utilities among the types of
entities that would be subject to this measure. The
amendments also clarify that the components of a utility
relocation agreement that are specified in the bill would be
based on mutual agreement from both parties.
EXISTING LAW authorizes certain transit districts to exercise
the right of eminent domain to take any property necessary or
convenient to the exercise of their powers. When exercising
this power, transit agencies are required to pay the cost of
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removal, reconstruction, or relocation of any structure,
railway, main, pipe, conduit, wire, cable, or pole of any public
utility which is required to be moved to a new location.
Transit districts must also pay any applicable damages from the
taking, injury, or destruction of property.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Set forth findings regarding the necessity of utility
relocation work and the potential for significant cost
increases from delays in such work. Also declares that it is
in the best interest of the state that utility relocation work
on transportation capital improvement projects be completed
expeditiously to avoid unnecessary costs and delays in
completing these vital projects.
2)Established definitions, based on state and federal law, for
utilities that would be subject to this bill, and defines a
public entity as a city, county, city and county, special
district, joint powers authority, or state agency.
3)Specified that, in cases where a utility enters into a
relocation agreement with a public entity, the agreement must
contain the following components:
a) Location of the work to be completed;
b) Cost arrangements between the parties for the work to be
conducted;
c) A schedule for the work to be completed;
d) Remedies for contract impairment;
e) Definition of default on the part of either party; and,
f) What constitutes abandonment of utility relocation work,
and remedies for addressing any abandonment.
4)Authorized a public entity to assume utility relocation work
in connection with a transit or transportation capital
improvement project, in cases where the utility has abandoned
the work. The public entity's authority to assume the
relocation work from the utility would be subject to the terms
and remedies that were established under the original
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relocation agreement.
5)Authorized public entities that have assumed utility
relocation work under the terms and conditions of this bill,
to issue contracts with another qualified entity to conduct
the work.
6)Required the utility to offer first right of refusal to a crew
or other subgroup of its own employees that are qualified to
conduct the work. If the crew or subgroup elects not to
contract with the public entity for the work, the public
entity is required to choose a qualified firm or agency from a
list that the utility is authorized to provide.
7)Required that any utility relocation work performed or caused
to be performed by the public entity be done according to
industry standards, under the oversight of the utility, and
upon the acceptance of the utility.
8)Provided that the rights and remedies that are made available
to a public entity are supplemental to any pre-existing rights
and remedies held by that entity.
9)Authorized the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority
(ACTA) to provide funding for utility relocation work in
accordance with an executed utility relocation agreement that
is made pursuant to this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill would create a remedy for VTA, in
situations when the agency is faced with potential project
delays and cost increases in situations where a public utility
has defaulted or abandoned an agreement to relocate their
facilities or assets. For many transportation capital
improvement projects, it is necessary for public utilities to be
moved and relocated in advance of construction of these
projects. In these cases, the project sponsor enters in to a
utility relocation agreement with the affected public utilities.
These agreements spell out the terms and conditions under which
the utility relocation work would be completed, as well as the
terms and conditions under which the costs for the work would be
handled. The affected public utilities are responsible for
doing the design and construction of the utility relocation
work. The costs for the work are either borne entirely by the
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local project sponsor, borne entirely by the affected public
utilities, or shared between the local projects sponsor and the
public utilities, depending upon the terms and conditions of the
relocation agreement.
Utility relocation work must be completed before the local
project sponsor can award a construction contract of the
project. If the utility relocation work cannot be performed
expeditiously or cannot be completed at all by the appropriate
public utility, then the result is significant costs to the
public because construction work for the project is delayed.
Therefore, it is essential that utility relocation work on
transportation capital improvement projects be completed
expeditiously to avoid unnecessary costs and delays in
completing these projects.
Project sponsors have had problems getting these public
utilities to perform relocation work on some of their
transportation capital improvement projects. Because
construction contracts cannot be awarded until this work is
completed, this situation has negatively impacted the
construction schedules of some projects.
For example, VTA recently experienced a six-month delay on its
Capitol Light Rail Project because of the inability of one
public utility to design and construct utility relocations
associated with this project in a timely manner. VTA is
experiencing the same difficulties on its Vasona Light Rail
Project and is likely to see its schedule for this project slip
by three to six months. Both of these projects are funded
through Santa Clara County's 1996 Measure B Transportation
Improvement Program, a local half-cent sales tax program for
transportation purposes.
The issue has not been exclusively one of cost. In fact if the
public utility cannot pay for its portion of the costs due to
financial difficulties, the project sponsor typically offers to
cover the utility's share and to be paid back by the public
utility at a later date. The issue has been the inability of
certain public utilities to get their crews out on the project
site to actually do the work because, given their current
circumstances, the public utilities consider this work to be of
a lower priority. For the local project sponsor, however,
completion of utility relocation work in a timely manner is
critical.
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This bill would ensure the expeditious completion of utility
relocation work for transportation capital improvement projects.
Prior legislation: This bill addresses issues that are similar
to the following measures that were introduced in the Second
Extraordinary Session: 1) ABX2 30 (Dutra), Public Utilities:
utility relocation; and, 2) ABX2 77 (Dutra), Local
Transportation Authorities: utility relocation.
Analysis Prepared by : Andrew Antwih / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0006099