AB 558

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act provides for the creation of the Fresno County Transportation Authority with 9 members, as specified. Existing law authorizes the authority to raise revenue, as specified, and to fund regional and local transportation improvements. Existing law imposes various requirements on public works projects, including a requirement that, at minimum, all workers employed on a public works project be paid the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which a public work is performed, as specified. This bill would increase the membership of the authority to 13 members by adding to the authority a member of the public at large who represents a labor organization, a youth member, a local community member who is from a disadvantaged, unincorporated area of the county, and an educational member representing the county, as specified. The bill would require the authority, for a project that it funds, to ensure that certain prevailing wage requirements are satisfied if the project is not in its entirety a public work project and, for a construction or development project it funds, to enforce and promote environmental protections and regulations adopted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, as specified. By imposing new requirements on the authority, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes a retail transactions and use tax ordinance to be imposed by the authority, as specified. Existing law requires a county transportation expenditure plan to be prepared by the transportation planning agency for the expenditure of specified revenues and funds expected to be available for transportation improvements, for the period during which the tax is to be imposed. Existing law provides various requirements on the transportation planning agency regarding the approval of a county expenditure plan, including, but not limited to, public hearings and amendment procedures. Existing law prohibits a county transportation expenditure plan from being adopted by the authority until it has received the approval of the board of supervisors and of the city councils representing both a majority of the cities in the county and a majority of the population residing in the incorporated areas of the county. This bill would require the plan to be considered a project subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, as specified, and would require that the projects funded by the authority help mitigate any further pollution in disadvantaged communities or in disadvantaged unincorporated communities. The bill would place additional requirements on the transportation planning agency before preparing a plan, including, but not limited to, establishing a participatory public process that allows members of the public to inform and propose the plan and implementing guidelines and ensuring proposals for transportation improvements comply with state climate, air quality, and equity goals before adopting amendments. The bill would place additional requirements on the authority before adopting amendments to the plan, including, among other things, holding public hearings, as specified, and ensuring the amendments comply with state climate, air quality, and equity goals. By imposing new requirements on the authority and the transportation planning agency, the bill would create 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.