Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Traffic Congestion Relief Act of 2000.
Article 1 - General Provisions
California Government Code — §§ 14556-14556.3
Sections (16)
Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 113, Sec. 3. Effective July 30, 2001.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless expressly stated otherwise:
(a)“Commission” is the California Transportation Commission.
(b)“Department” is the Department of Transportation.
(c)“Fund” or “TCRF” is the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund created under this chapter.
(d)“Program” is the Traffic Congestion Relief Program established under this chapter.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the interest of the State of California to immediately take steps to relieve congestion on the state’s transportation systems and finds and declares the following:
(a)California’s population has grown by more than 50 percent over the past 20 years while highway capacity has increased only 7 percent.
(b)Between 1987 and 1995, the number of California drivers who sit idle in traffic congestion has grown 70 percent, and California drivers now sit idle in traffic congestion more than 300,000 hours per day.
(c)It is estimated that traffic congestion in California now costs the state’s businesses more than two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($2,800,000) per day in lost time and resources.
(d)Local streets and roads in California suffer from an estimated ten billion two hundred million dollars ($10,200,000,000) backlog of deferred maintenance. The magnitude of this backlog is estimated to increase by four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000) each year.
(e)The Public Transportation Account in the State Transportation Fund, which provides funds for transit operations and intercity rail service
in California, is estimated to have a four-year deficit of fifty-three million dollars ($53,000,000), increasing to a six-year deficit of one hundred fifty-eight million dollars ($158,000,000).
(f)The state’s population is expected to exceed 45,000,000 persons by the year 2020, imposing additional demand on the transportation system.
(g)Significant benefits will be obtained by completing major improvements earlier, accelerating development of new improvements, and improving the connectivity of the various transportation modes within the state’s transportation system.
(h)Therefore, it is appropriate to create a Traffic Congestion Relief Fund to finance congestion relief improvements, to dedicate the sales tax on gasoline to transportation purposes, and to create a Transportation Investment Fund to finance
improvements to neighborhood streets and roads, to provide funding for transit operations and intercity rail, and to supplement the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)The lead applicant agency specified for each project in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40) shall be responsible for preparing and submitting a project application to the commission in accordance with guidelines adopted by the commission.
(b)The lead applicant agency may, but is not required, to be the agency responsible for carrying out the work to complete the project.
(c)A lead applicant
agency may submit separate applications for separate projects identified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40).
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
Not later than 90 days from the effective date of the act that added this section, the commission, in consultation with the department and representatives from regional agencies and local agencies, and after a public hearing, shall establish guidelines to implement this chapter. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, criteria for project applications, estimation costs, assessment of capability to complete the project, allocation of funds to project phases, timely expenditure of funds, management of changes to cost, scope, and schedules,
assessment of progress in implementing projects, and audit requirements.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)Designated lead applicant agencies shall submit applications to the commission within two years of the effective date of the act that added this section. If a completed application is not received within this period for a project listed in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40), or an alternate project has not been submitted by the appropriate lead agency pursuant to subdivision (b), the commission shall notify the Governor and the Legislature and shall seek statutory identification and approval of another project or projects
to use the funds.
(b)(1) A designated lead applicant agency may submit an application for an alternate or substitute for a project specified in Section 14556.40, for other than an intercity rail project, if the specified project is delayed by environmental or other factors external to the control of the lead applicant agency that are not likely to be removed within a reasonable time, if sufficient matching funds are not available to secure the designated state grant funds, if the specified project is not included in or consistent with the respective regional transportation plan, or if completion of the specified project would jeopardize the completion of other projects previously programmed in the State Transportation Improvement Program.
(2)An application for an alternative project shall be approved by the commission if the application is submitted by the
identified lead applicant agency within the two-year period specified in subdivision (a), the alternative project is designated to relieve congestion consistent with this act, the alternate project is within the jurisdiction of the lead applicant agency, and all other project approval requirements are met.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)The project applications shall define the project purpose, intended scope, proposed cost, intended funding sources, and schedule for project completion. Each application shall also specify the paragraph number of subdivision (a) of Section 14556.40 that authorizes the project, and identify the agency responsible for carrying out the work, to which the commission will allocate funds.
(b)Except as authorized under subdivision (c), the project application shall specify
the scope of work, the cost, and the schedule for the following separate phases of work, as appropriate:
(1)Studies, environmental review, and permits.
(2)Preparation of project plans and specifications.
(3)Right-of-way acquisition.
(4)Construction or procurement.
(c)Some projects may be permitted to include scope of work on less than all of the phases specified in subdivisions (b).
(d)In accordance with guidelines established by the commission, each application shall include a plan describing all capital funds required for the project, the sources and the timing for those funds, and how those funds will be used. An
application may seek funding for a single phase of a project.
(e)Applications for projects involving regional improvement program funds shall be cosigned by the regional transportation planning agency responsible for the regional transportation improvement program. Applications for projects involving interregional improvement program funds or where the state is the owner-operator shall be cosigned by the department.
(f)The plan shall identify the sources and timing of all funds required to undertake and complete any phase of a project for which the applicant seeks an allocation of funds from the commission. The plan should also describe intended sources and timing of funds to complete any subsequent phases of the project, through construction.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
The commission shall ascertain from the appropriate regional transportation planning agency that a project is included in, or is consistent with, the appropriate regional transportation plan before approving a project application involving right-of-way or construction phases. A project that involves only studies or project development phases is not required to be included in a regional transportation plan, unless federal funds will also be used to fund the project.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)The commission, with the assistance of the department, shall begin review of a project application within 30 days of receipt of the application.
(b)The commission shall either approve or deny a project application within 90 days of the receipt of the application, unless the commission requests additional information from the applicant, in which case the 90-day time to approve or deny the application shall begin on the date that the commission receives the additional
information requested.
(c)The commission shall state specific reasons for denying an application. The commission shall allow the applicant to amend and resubmit an application that has been denied. The commission shall then have 90 days from receipt of the amended application to reconsider the denial.
(d)The commission shall not deny an application that meets the requirements of this chapter, including the guidelines adopted by the commission for this chapter and any other applicable statutes and regulations. The commission shall not unreasonably delay approval of an application that substantially conforms to these requirements if the applicant agrees to allow modifications to the application to meet the commission’s conditions for approval.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)Commission approval of a project application establishes the time schedule, by fiscal year, for implementation of the phases of a project. Project approval shall be deemed rescinded if the lead applicant agency or the agency responsible for carrying out the project does not seek an allocation from the commission and start the first phase of work during the fiscal year scheduled.
(b)If the first phase is not completed as scheduled, so that work on subsequent phases is
delayed, the agency responsible for carrying out the project shall report the reasons for failure to complete the project to the commission. The commission may then reconsider the project application, ask for modification of the schedule and any other requirements of the application, and may, at its discretion, extend the time of reconsideration until environmental studies, review, and approval of final environmental documents has been completed.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)The commission shall direct the department to allocate funds to the department, regional transportation planning agencies, local transportation commissions, congestion management agencies, transportation authorities, cities, counties, a city and county, joint powers authorities, ports, and transit districts for projects specified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40).
(b)Funds allocated as directed by the commission shall be expended only for studies or the
phases of project work specified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40).
(c)Allocations shall be made to specified phases of a project and may include more than one phase in a given allocation. The commission shall, at the time the first allocation is made to a project, indicate how it intends to spread the total funding authorized for the project among the phases, but that indication shall not be binding for future phases if the commission finds that a different level of funding for a later phase would help ensure quicker delivery of the project for construction.
(d)Consistent with Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40), these funds may be used to satisfy any federal, state, or local matching fund requirement for the project to be funded.
(e)The allocation shall specify the percentage rate of
reimbursement for expenditures for each phase of the project, considering the funding shares from various sources that comprise the full funding of each phase. The commission may specify different rates of reimbursement for different phases, and shall determine the spread of funding specified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40) across all the phases of work, as appropriate for the project.
(f)The commission may approve minor changes to project scope, cost, or schedule, so long as those modifications fall within the project purpose specified in the project application.
(g)The commission may consider applications under this section upon adoption of implementing guidelines.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)The department shall execute a cooperative agreement with the lead applicant agency or the agency responsible for carrying out the work for reimbursement of approved project expenditures, using funds allocated by the commission for that purpose and project phase. To reduce time and financial burden on lead applicant agencies, the department shall use electronic reimbursement procedures to the extent prudent and practical.
(b)The cooperative agreement shall specify how
additional costs are to be covered, if necessary, and how savings are to be used or distributed, if available, among all the various funding sources being used for the project.
Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 512, Sec. 1. Effective October 4, 2001.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (b), a regional or local agency receiving an allocation from this program shall certify, by resolution of its governing board, before final execution of the cooperative agreement, that it will sustain its level of expenditures for transportation purposes at a level that is consistent with the average of its annual expenditures during the 1997–98, 1998–99, and 1999–2000 fiscal years, including funds reserved for transportation purposes, during the fiscal years that the allocation provided under
this chapter is available for use. The certification is subject to audit by the state.
(b)A transportation entity that imposes a retail transactions and use tax in accordance with an ordinance adopted pursuant to Part 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code for transportation purposes, and receives an allocation under this program, shall certify, by resolution of its governing board, before final execution of the cooperative agreement, that during the fiscal years that the allocation provided under this chapter is available for use, the transportation entity will expend the allocated funds for the originally programmed purpose, and that the entity will not use for other than transportation capital purposes any capital funds that were programmed, planned, or approved for transportation capital purposes on or before the effective date of the cooperative agreement. The certification is subject to audit by
the state.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 91, Sec. 6. Effective July 7, 2000.
(a)For applicants other than the department, funds allocated shall generally be administered as a reimbursement program. At the request of an applicant, the commission shall authorize an advance payment for project development work necessary for a project specified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 14556.40). At the request of an applicant, the commission may authorize an advance payment for demonstrated need, or for a project right-of-way, construction, or procurement phase.
(b)Project costs incurred prior to commission approval of a project application may not be reimbursed. Project costs incurred prior to commission allocation of funds, but after commission approval of a project application, may be reimbursed retroactively after allocation.
Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 656, Sec. 3. Effective September 26, 2000.
The Controller shall develop a system that provides access to funds allocated by the commission under this article from the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund by electronic transfer of funds.
Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 522, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2006.
(a)After receiving an allocation, the lead applicant shall make diligent and timely progress toward completing the work as described in the submitted application. If timely progress is not achieved, the commission may review the status of the project. If the commission finds the lead applicant agency is not pursuing project work diligently, including use of funds under the agency’s control committed to the project, the commission may reallocate those funds to another project or projects listed in Article 5 (commencing with Section
14556.40).
(b)If the commission and a lead applicant agency concur that a project is delayed by factors external to the control of the lead applicant agency and the factors are not likely to be removed within a reasonable time, the lead applicant agency may submit an application for an alternate or substitute project if the alternate project is designed to relieve congestion consistent with this act, is within the jurisdiction of the lead applicant agency, and meets all other project approval requirements.
(c)Notwithstanding Section 16304, funds allocated from the fund shall be available for encumbrance for three years after the date of allocation, and encumbered funds shall be available for liquidation for two additional years. Any funds not expended by that time limit shall revert to the fund.
(d)The commission,
with respect to any funds that revert to the fund pursuant to subdivision (c), may direct the department to reallocate those funds to the same project if the commission finds that the lead applicant agency is pursuing the project diligently and that the project has been delayed by factors external to the control of the lead applicant agency. In no case may the amount made available for expenditure on a project exceed the amount specified for that project in that article.