BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1010
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 20, 2005 

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                   AB 1010 (Oropeza) - As Amended:  April 6, 2005 

          Policy Committee:                              Transportation  
          Vote:        12-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill transfers, from the California Public Utilities  
          Commission (CPUC) to Caltrans on January 1, 2007, the  
          responsibility to regulate safety aspects of the planning,  
          acquisition and construction of public transit guideways  
          (tracks).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Moderate one-time relocation costs, in the range of $350,000,  
            to Caltrans to transfer PUC staff to its Rail Crossings Safety  
            and Track Inspection Branch.  (State Highway Account, Public  
            Transportation Account or eligible federal funds.)

          2)Moderate cost shift, about $700,000 in FY 2006-07 and $1.4  
            million annually thereafter, from the PUC to Caltrans.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author believes that concentrating the state's  
            resources in one agency, Caltrans, will streamline the  
            regulatory process governing the safety of public transit  
            guideways.  This bill partially implements a recommendation of  
            the governor's California Performance Review (CPR) Commission  
            to shift all rail crossing regulatory functions from the PUC  
            to Caltrans.

           2)Background  .  For several decades, the PUC and Caltrans have  
            operated separate, sometimes parallel, programs overseeing the  
            design, funding, construction and operation of intercity and  
            local public transit rail operations in California.  The PUC  








                                                                  AB 1010
                                                                  Page  2

            is responsible for overseeing the safety of all public and  
            private highway-rail crossings and is empowered to annual  
            establish funding priorities for construction of new  
            crossings.  Caltrans' Rail Crossing and Track Inspection  
            Branch reviews the PUC's list of eligible projects and  
            contracts directly with local agencies to fund and carry out  
            the projects.  The dual agency process, while providing a  
            system of checks and balances between the two agencies, has  
            generally exacerbated the often slow process a local agency  
            must navigate in order to get a local rail project approved,  
            funded, and constructed. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081