Chapter 1. General Provisions And Definitions of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 10. >> Part 16. >> Chapter 1.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District Act.

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this part to provide for a unified, comprehensive institutional structure for the ownership and governance of a passenger rail system within the Counties of Sonoma and Marin that shall operate in harmony with existing freight service that operates upon the same rail line and serves the Counties of Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma. It is the further intent of the Legislature that the district established by this act may succeed to the powers, duties, obligations, liabilities, immunities, and exemptions of both the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Commission and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority upon their dissolution. Because there is no general law under which this district could be formed, the adoption of a special act and the formation of a special district is required.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the provisions of this chapter govern the construction of this part.

As used in this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
  (a) "District" means the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District.
  (b) "Rail transit" means the transportation of passengers and their incidental baggage by rail.
  (c) "Rail transit works" or "rail transit facilities" means any or all real and personal property, equipment, rights or interests owned or to be acquired by the district for rail transit service purposes, including ancillary bicycle and pedestrian pathways that provide connections between and access to station sites.
  (d) "Board of directors," "board," or "directors" means the board of directors of the district.
  (e) "Public agency" includes the state, and any county, city and county, city, district, or other political subdivision or public entity of, or organized under the laws of, this state, or any department, instrumentality, or agency thereof.

The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Part 1 (commencing with Section 56000) Division 3 of Title 5 of the Government Code), shall not apply to the formation or dissolution of the district, or the annexation of additional contiguous territory to the district.