Article 11. State-local Partnership Program of California Government Code >> Division 1. >> Title 2. >> Chapter 12.491. >> Article 11.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature, pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 8879.23, to establish criteria and conditions for use of the funds in the State-Local Partnership Program Account in the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Fund of 2006. These criteria and conditions shall include, but need not be limited to, eligibility of applicants, eligibility of projects, timely use of funds, and relationship of funds in the account to other funds for transportation purposes.
  (b) The purpose of the State-Local Partnership Program is to do both of the following:
  (1) Reward "self-help" counties, cities, districts, and regional transportation agencies in which voters have approved fees or taxes solely dedicated to transportation improvements.
  (2) Provide funds for a wide variety of capital projects that are typically funded in local or regional voter-approved expenditure plans and that provide mobility, accessibility, system connectivity, safety, or air quality benefits.
  (c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that all funds available in the account, pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 8879.23, shall be made available for allocation by the commission over a period of five years.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
  (a) "Program" means the State-Local Partnership Program established in this article and funded pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 8879.23.
  (b) "Uniform developer fees" means developer fees imposed pursuant to existing statutory authority, including, but not limited to, Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66000) of Division 1 of Title 7 and Article 5 (commencing with Section 66483) of Chapter 4 of Division 2 of Title 7. The developer fees must be imposed by a local ordinance or resolution adopted by a city, county, or city and county and must be dedicated to transportation purposes to address cumulative transportation impacts. The developer fees must be uniformly applied to new development within a defined area or jurisdiction, except in cases in which fees are waived, such as for affordable housing development. Developer fees imposed to mitigate onsite impacts related to a specific development project do not qualify as uniform developer fees under this subdivision.

An eligible applicant under the program shall be a local or regional transportation agency that has responsibility for funding, procuring, or constructing transportation improvements within its jurisdiction, and that does either of the following:
  (a) Has sought and received voter approval for the imposition of taxes or fees solely dedicated to transportation improvements and administers those taxes or fees.
  (b) Has imposed uniform developer fees.

Eligible local matching funds required to obtain funding under the program shall be obtained from revenues from any voter-approved local or regional tax or fee solely dedicated to transportation improvements, or from uniform developer fees. Tax or fee, for purposes of this section, means a countywide or citywide sales tax, a property or parcel tax in a county or counties or district, and voter-approved bridge tolls or voter-approved fees dedicated to specific transportation improvements.

(a) Eligible projects shall include all of the following:
  (1) Improvements to the state highway system, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
  (A) Major rehabilitation of an existing segment that extends the useful life of the segment by at least 15 years.
  (B) New construction to increase capacity of a highway segment that improves mobility or reduces congestion on that segment.
  (C) Safety or operational improvements on a highway segment that are intended to reduce accidents and fatalities or improve traffic flow on that segment.
  (2) Improvements to transit facilities, including guideways, that expand transit services, increase transit ridership, improve transit safety, enhance access or convenience of the traveling public, or otherwise provide or facilitate a viable alternative to driving.
  (3) The acquisition, retrofit, or rehabilitation of rolling stock, buses, or other transit equipment, including, but not limited to, maintenance facilities, transit stations, transit guideways, passenger shelters, and fare collection equipment with a useful life of at least 10 years. The acquisition of vans, buses, and other equipment necessary for the provision of transit services for seniors and people with disabilities by transit and other local agencies is an eligible project under this paragraph.
  (4) Improvements to the local road system, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
  (A) Major roadway rehabilitation, resurfacing, or reconstruction that extends its useful life by at least 15 years.
  (B) New construction and facilities to increase capacity, improve mobility, or enhance safety.
  (5) Improvements to bicycle or pedestrian safety or mobility with a useful life of at least 15 years.
  (6) Improvements to mitigate the environmental impacts of new transportation infrastructure on a locality's or region's air quality or water quality, commonly known as "urban runoff," including, but not limited to, the installation of catch basin screens, filters, and inserts, or other best management practices for capturing or treating urban runoff.
  (b) For purposes of the program, a separate phase or stage of construction for an eligible project may include mitigation of the project's environmental impacts, including, but not limited to, soundwalls, landscaping, wetlands or habitat restoration or creation, replacement plantings, and drainage facilities.

(a) For purposes of distributing funds annually appropriated by the Legislature to the State-Local Partnership Program Account, the commission shall segregate the funds into two separate subaccounts, which are hereby created in the account, as follows:
  (1) Ninety-five percent of the funds shall be deposited into the Voter-Approved Taxes and Fees Subaccount and shall be made available to eligible applicants as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 8879.68 for expenditure on eligible projects, as approved by the commission. Funds in this subaccount shall be distributed by formula, pursuant to Section 8879.72.
  (2) Five percent of the funds shall be deposited into the Uniform Developer Fees Subaccount and shall be made available to eligible applicants as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 8879.68 for expenditure on eligible projects, as approved by the commission. Funds in this subaccount shall be distributed through a competitive grant application process to be administered by the commission pursuant to Section 8879.73.
  (b) Notwithstanding Section 13340, the money in the subaccounts described in subdivision (a) are hereby appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, to the commission for the purposes described in subdivision (a).

(a) To establish the funding shares for each eligible applicant described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8879.71, the commission shall do the following prior to the commencement of a funding cycle:
  (1) Determine the total amount of annual revenue generated from voter-approved sales taxes, voter-approved parcel or property taxes, and voter-approved bridge tolls dedicated to transportation improvements according to the most recent available data reported to the State Board of Equalization, the Controller, or the Bay Area Toll Authority.
  (2) Establish a northern California and southern California share by attributing the proportional share of revenues from voter-approved sales taxes, voter-approved parcel or property taxes, and voter-approved bridge tolls dedicated to transportation improvements and imposed in counties in northern California to the northern share, and by attributing the proportional share of revenues from voter-approved sales taxes imposed in counties located in southern California to the southern share. The determination of whether a county is located in northern or southern California shall be based on the definitions set forth in Section 187 of the Streets and Highways Code.
  (3) Program funds made available to the southern share, based on the determination in paragraph (2), shall be distributed to the entity responsible for programming and allocating revenues from the sales tax in proportion to the population of the county in which the entity is located compared to the total population of southern California counties with voter-approved sales taxes dedicated to transportation improvements. For the purpose of calculating population, the commission shall use the most recent information available from the Department of Finance.
  (4) Program funds made available to the northern share, based on the determination in paragraph (2), shall be distributed as follows:
  (A) Program funds generated by voter-approved bridge tolls and voter-approved parcel or property taxes dedicated to transportation improvements shall be distributed to the entity responsible for programming and allocating revenues from the toll or tax based on the proportional share of revenues generated by the toll or tax by that entity in comparison to the total revenues generated by voter-approved sales taxes, voter-approved parcel or property taxes, and voter-approved bridge tolls dedicated to transportation improvements in northern California.
  (B) Program funds generated by voter-approved sales taxes dedicated to transportation improvements shall be distributed to the entity responsible for programming and allocating revenues from the sales tax in proportion to the population of the county in which the entity is located compared to the total population of the northern California counties with voter-approved sales taxes dedicated to transportation improvements. For the purposes of calculating population, the commission shall use the most recent information available from the Department of Finance.
  (b) Under this section, each fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for the program shall constitute a funding cycle.
  (c) Each eligible applicant desiring to participate in the program in any funding cycle under this section shall submit to the commission all of the following:
  (1) A description of the eligible project nominated for funding, including a description of the project's cost, scope, and specific improvements and benefits it is anticipated to achieve.
  (2) A description of the project's current status, including the phase of delivery the project is in at the time it is nominated for funding and a schedule for the project's completion.
  (3) A description of how the project would support transportation and land use planning goals within the region.
  (4) The amount of eligible local matching funds the applicant is committing to the project.
  (5) The amount of program funds the applicant seeks from the program for the project.
  (d) The commission shall review nominated projects under this section and their accompanying documentation to ensure that each nominated project meets the requirements of this article and to confirm that each project has a commitment of the requisite amount of eligible local matching funds as required in this article. Upon conducting the review of the requirements and determining the proposed projects to be in compliance with this article, the projects shall be deemed eligible.
  (e) An eligible applicant that is identified to receive an allocation of funds under this section, but that does not submit a project for funding in a funding cycle, may utilize its funding share in a subsequent funding cycle.
  (f) In addition to the requirements in subdivision (a), the commission shall, prior to the commencement of a funding cycle, calculate the amount of bond funds specified in subdivision (g) of Section 8879.23 that have not been appropriated and shall establish, using the distribution formula set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 8879.71, projected targets for the distribution of those funds for the purpose of planning consistent with Section 8879.501. The commission shall annually review and revise these projected targets.

(a) To distribute funds from the Uniform Developer Fees Subaccount to eligible applicants, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8879.71, the commission shall administer a competitive grant application program pursuant to this section.
  (b) Under this section, each fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for the program shall constitute a funding cycle. To ensure that as many eligible applicants as possible may benefit from the competitive portion of the program, no single project shall receive more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) in a single funding cycle in which program funds are allocated by the commission.
  (c) Each eligible applicant desiring to participate in the program in any funding cycle under this section shall submit to the commission all of the following:
  (1) A description of the eligible project nominated for funding, including a description of the project's cost, scope, and specific improvements and benefits it is anticipated to achieve.
  (2) A description of the project's current status, including the phase of delivery the project is in at the time it is nominated for funding and a schedule for the project's completion.
  (3) A description of the ways in which the project would support transportation and land use planning goals within the region.
  (4) The amount of eligible local matching funds the applicant is committing to the project.
  (5) The amount of program funds the applicant seeks from the program for the project.
  (d) The commission shall review nominated projects under this section and their accompanying documentation to ensure that each nominated project meets the requirements of this article and to confirm that each project has a commitment of the requisite amount of eligible local matching funds as required in this article. Upon conducting the review of the requirements and determining the proposed projects to be in compliance with this article, the projects shall be deemed eligible.
  (e) The commission shall adopt a program of projects under this section that is geographically balanced and provides cost-effective and multimodal safety, reliability, and environmental benefits. In allocating funds to specific projects, the commission shall give priority to projects that can do any of the following:
  (1) Commence construction or implementation of the project in a manner to provide the public benefit at the earliest possible date.
  (2) Enhance the leveragability of bond funds by utilizing a higher proportion of nonbond funds toward a project's total cost than is otherwise required by this article.
  (3) Demonstrate quantifiable air quality improvements, including, but not limited to, a demonstration that the project can result in a significant reduction in vehicle-miles traveled.

(a) The commission shall adopt a program of projects to receive allocations under this article for each funding cycle, with allocations to projects to be initially made at the commission's meeting in April 2009, and to be made no later than the commission's October meeting for subsequent years.
  (b) Projects receiving an allocation under the program shall encumber funds no later than two years after the end of the fiscal year in which an allocation is made by the commission. The commission shall rescind an allocation to a project that fails to comply with these requirements. Rescinded allocations of funds shall, in the case of the program established pursuant to Section 8879.72, be made available for another eligible project proposed by the agency that nominated the original project for funding, and, in the case of the program established in Section 8879.73, be reallocated to other projects during the fiscal year following the year in which the applicable timely use of funds requirement was not met.
  (c) The commission shall develop and adopt guidelines to implement this article, and to establish the process for allocating funds to eligible projects under the program, consistent with this article. Prior to adopting the guidelines, the commission shall hold one public hearing in northern California and one public hearing in southern California to review and provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed guidelines. The commission may incorporate the hearings into its regular meeting schedule.

Pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 8879.23, an eligible project funded pursuant to this article shall require a match of one dollar ($1) of eligible local matching funds for each dollar of program funds applied for under this article. An applicant may propose to use other funds for the same project, including local, federal, or other state funds, however, those other funds shall not be counted toward the match required by this article.

The commission shall include in its annual report to the Legislature, required pursuant to Section 14535, a summary of its activities related to the administration of the program. The summary, at a minimum, shall include the description, location, and total cost of each project contained in the program, the amount of bond funds allocated to each project, the status of each project, and a description of the system improvements each project is achieving.