2005 California Government Code Sections 65080.1-65086.5 CHAPTER 2.5. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING

65080.1.  Once preparation of a regional transportation plan has
been commenced by or on behalf of a designated transportation
planning agency, the Secretary of the Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency shall not designate a new transportation planning
agency pursuant to Section 29532 for all or any part of the
geographic area served by the originally designated agency unless he
or she first determines that redesignation will not result in the
loss to California of any substantial amounts of federal funds.
65080.2.  A transportation planning agency which has within its area
of jurisdiction a transit development board established pursuant to
Division 11 (commencing with Section 120000) of the Public Utilities
Code shall include, in the regional transportation improvement
program prepared pursuant to Section 65080, those elements of the
transportation improvement program prepared by the transit
development board pursuant to Section 120353 of the Public Utilities
Code relating to funds made available to the transit development
board for transportation purposes.
65080.3.  (a) Each transportation planning agency with a population
that exceeds 200,000 persons may prepare at least one "alternative
planning scenario" for presentation to local officials, agency board
members, and the public during the development of the triennial
regional transportation plan and the hearing required under
subdivision (c) of Section 65080.
   (b) The alternative planning scenario shall accommodate the same
amount of population growth as projected in the plan but shall be
based on an alternative that attempts to reduce the growth in traffic
congestion, make more efficient use of existing transportation
infrastructure, and reduce the need for costly future public
infrastructure.
   (c) The alternative planning scenario shall be developed in
collaboration with a broad range of public and private stakeholders,
including local elected officials, city and county employees,
relevant interest groups, and the general public.  In developing the
scenario, the agency shall consider all of the following:
   (1) Increasing housing and commercial development around transit
facilities and in close proximity to jobs and commercial activity
centers.
   (2) Encouraging public transit usage, ridesharing, walking,
bicycling, and transportation demand management practices.
   (3) Promoting a more efficient mix of current and future job
sites, commercial activity centers, and housing opportunities.
   (4) Promoting use of urban vacant land and "brownfield"
redevelopment.
   (5) An economic incentive program that may include measures such
as transit vouchers and variable pricing for transportation.
   (d) The planning scenario shall be included in a report evaluating
all of the following:
   (1) The amounts and locations of traffic congestion.
   (2) Vehicle miles traveled and the resulting reduction in vehicle
emissions.
   (3) Estimated percentage share of trips made by each means of
travel specified in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) of Section 65080.
   (4) The costs of transportation improvements required to
accommodate the population growth in accordance with the alternative
scenario.
   (5) The economic, social, environmental, regulatory, and
institutional barriers to the scenario being achieved.
   (e) If the adopted regional transportation plan already achieves
one or more of the objectives set forth in subdivision (c), those
objectives need not be discussed or evaluated in the alternative
planning scenario.
   (f) The alternative planning scenario and accompanying report
shall not be adopted as part of the regional transportation plan, but
it shall be distributed to cities and counties within the region and
to other interested parties, and may be a basis for revisions to the
transportation projects that will be included in the regional
transportation plan.
   (g) Nothing in this section grants transportation planning
agencies any direct or indirect authority over local land use
decisions.
   (h) This section does not apply to a transportation plan adopted
on or before September 1, 2001, proposed by a transportation planning
agency with a population of less than 1,000,000 persons.
65080.5.  (a) For each area for which a transportation planning
agency is designated under subdivision (c) of Section 29532, or
adopts a resolution pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65080, the
Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the transportation
planning agency, and subject to subdivision (e), shall prepare the
regional transportation plan, and the updating thereto, for that area
and submit it to the governing body or designated policy committee
of the transportation planning agency for adoption.  Prior to
adoption, a public hearing shall be held, after the giving of notice
of the hearing by publication in the affected county or counties
pursuant to Section 6061.  Prior to the adoption of the regional
transportation improvement program by the transportation planning
agency if it prepared the program, the transportation planning agency
shall consider the relationship between the program and the adopted
plan.  The adopted plan and program, and the updating thereto, shall
be submitted to the California Transportation Commission and the
department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 65080.
   (b) In the case of a transportation planning agency designated
under subdivision (c) of Section 29532, the transportation planning
agency may prepare the regional transportation plan for the area
under its jurisdiction pursuant to this chapter, if the
transportation planning agency, prior to July 1, 1978, adopts by
resolution a declaration of intention to do so.
   (c) In those areas that have a county transportation commission
created pursuant to Section 130050 of the Public Utilities Code, the
multicounty designated transportation planning agency, as defined in
Section 130004 of that code, shall prepare the regional
transportation plan and the regional transportation improvement
program in consultation with the county transportation commissions.
   (d) Any transportation planning agency which did not elect to
prepare the initial regional transportation plan for the area under
its jurisdiction, may prepare the updated plan if it adopts a
resolution of intention to do so at least one year prior to the date
when the updated plan is to be submitted to the California
Transportation Commission.
   (e) If the department prepares or updates a regional
transportation improvement program or regional transportation plan,
or both, pursuant to this section, the state-local share of funding
the preparation or updating of the plan and program shall be
calculated on the same basis as though the preparation or updating
were to be performed by the transportation planning agency and funded
under Sections 99311, 99313, and 99314 of the Public Utilities Code.
65081.1.  (a) After consultation with other regional and local
transportation agencies, each transportation planning agency whose
planning area includes a primary air carrier airport shall, in
conjunction with its preparation of an updated regional
transportation plan, include an airport ground access improvement
program.
   (b) The program shall address the development and extension of
mass transit systems, including passenger rail service, major
arterial and highway widening and extension projects, and any other
ground access improvement projects the planning agency deems
appropriate.
   (c) Highest consideration shall be given to mass transit for
airport access improvement projects in the program.
   (d) If federal funds are not available to a transportation
planning agency for the costs of preparing or updating an airport
ground access improvement program, the agency may charge the
operators of primary air carrier airports within its planning area
for the direct costs of preparing and updating the program.  An
airport operator against whom charges are imposed pursuant to this
subdivision shall pay the amount of those charges to the
transportation planning agency.
65081.3.  (a) As a part of its adoption of the regional
transportation plan, the designated county transportation commission,
regional transportation planning agency, or the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission may designate special corridors, which may
include, but are not limited to, adopted state highway routes, which,
in consultation with the Department of Transportation, cities,
counties, and transit operators directly impacted by the corridor,
are determined to be of statewide or regional priority for long-term
right-of-way preservation.
   (b) Prior to designating a corridor for priority acquisition, the
regional transportation planning agency shall do all of the
following:
   (1) Establish geographic boundaries for the proposed corridor.
   (2) Complete a traffic survey, including a preliminary
recommendation for transportation modal split, which generally
describes the traffic and air quality impacts of the proposed
corridor.
   (3) Consider the widest feasible range of possible transportation
facilities that could be located in the corridor and the major
environmental impacts they may cause to assist in making the corridor
more environmentally sensitive and, in the long term, a more viable
site for needed transportation improvements.
   (c) A designated corridor of statewide or regional priority shall
be specifically considered in the certified environmental impact
report completed for the adopted regional transportation plan
required by the California Environmental Quality Act, which shall
include a review of the environmental impacts of the possible
transportation facilities which may be located in the corridor.  The
environmental impact report shall include a survey within the
corridor boundaries to determine if there exist any of the following:
   (1) Rare or endangered plant or animal species.
   (2) Historical or cultural sites of major significance.
   (3) Wetlands, vernal pools, or other naturally occurring features.
   (d) The regional transportation planning agency shall designate a
corridor for priority acquisition only if, after a public hearing, it
finds that the range of potential transportation facilities to be
located in the corridor can be constructed in a manner which will
avoid or mitigate significant environmental impacts or values
identified in subdivision (c), consistent with the California
Environmental Quality Act and the state and federal Endangered
Species Acts.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
corridor of statewide or regional priority may be designated as part
of the regional transportation plan only if it has previously been
specifically defined in the plan required pursuant to Section 134 and
is consistent with the plan required pursuant to Section 135 of
Title 23 of the United States Code.
65082.  (a) (1) A five-year regional transportation improvement
program shall be prepared, adopted, and submitted to the California
Transportation Commission on or before December 15 of each
odd-numbered year thereafter, updated every two years, pursuant to
Sections 65080 and 65080.5 and the guidelines adopted pursuant to
Section 14530.1, to include regional transportation improvement
projects and programs proposed to be funded, in whole or in part, in
the state transportation improvement program.
   (2) Major projects shall include current costs updated as of
November 1 of the year of submittal and escalated to the appropriate
year, and be listed by relative priority, taking into account need,
delivery milestone dates, and the availability of funding.
   (b) Except for those counties that do not prepare a congestion
management program pursuant to Section 65088.3, congestion management
programs adopted pursuant to Section 65089 shall be incorporated
into the regional transportation improvement program submitted to the
commission by December 15 of each odd-numbered year.
   (c) Local projects not included in a congestion management program
shall not be included in the regional transportation improvement
program.  Projects and programs adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be consistent with the capital improvement program adopted
pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 65089, and
the guidelines adopted pursuant to Section 14530.1.
   (d) Other projects may be included in the regional transportation
improvement program if listed separately.
   (e) Unless a county not containing urbanized areas of over 50,000
population notifies the Department of Transportation by July 1 that
it intends to prepare a regional transportation improvement program
for that county, the department shall, in consultation with the
affected local agencies, prepare the program for all counties for
which it prepares a regional transportation plan.
   (f) The requirements for incorporating a congestion management
program into a regional transportation improvement program specified
in this section do not apply in those counties that do not prepare a
congestion management program in accordance with Section 65088.3.
   (g) The regional transportation improvement program may include a
reserve of county shares for providing funds in order to match
federal funds.
65084.  In order to insure coordinated planning, development, and
operation of transportation systems of all types and modes, the board
of supervisors of each county may appoint a county director of
transportation, and specify the extent of the responsibilities of
such officer.
65085.  The board of supervisors may designate any county officer
who is properly qualified to serve as the county director of
transportation.
65086.  The Department of Transportation, in consultation with
transportation planning agencies, county transportation commissions,
counties, and cities, shall carry out long-term state highway system
planning to identify future highway improvements.
65086.4.  Projects on the state highway system shall comply with
applicable state and federal standards to ensure systemwide
consistency with operational, safety, and maintenance needs.  The
department may approve exceptions to this requirement that it
determines to be appropriate.
65086.5.  (a) To the extent that the work does not jeopardize the
delivery of the projects in the adopted state transportation
improvement program, the Department of Transportation may prepare a
project studies report for capacity-increasing state highway projects
that are not included in the state transportation improvement
program.  Preparation of the project studies report shall be limited
by the resources available to the department for that work,
supplemented, as appropriate, by regional or local resources.  The
project studies report shall include the project-related factors of
limits, description, scope, costs, and the amount of time needed for
initiating construction.
   (b) Whenever project studies reports are performed by an entity
other than the Department of Transportation, the department shall
review and approve the report.
   (c) The Department of Transportation may be requested to prepare a
project studies report for a capacity-increasing state highway
project which is being proposed for inclusion in a future state
transportation improvement program.  The department shall have 30
days to determine whether it can complete the requested report in a
timely fashion.  If the department determines that it cannot complete
the report in a timely fashion, the requesting entity may prepare
the report.  Upon submission of a project studies report to the
department by the entity, the department shall complete its review
and provide its comments to that entity within 60 days from the date
of submission.  The department shall complete its review and final
determination of a report which has been revised to address the
department's comments within 30 days following submission of the
revised report.
   (d) The Department of Transportation, in consultation with
representatives of cities, counties, and regional transportation
planning agencies, shall prepare draft guidelines for the preparation
of project studies reports by all entities.  The guidelines shall
address the development of reliable cost estimates.  The department
shall submit the draft guidelines to the California Transportation
Commission not later than July 1, 1991.  The commission shall adopt
the final guidelines not later than October 1, 1991.  Guidelines
adopted by the commission shall apply only to project studies reports
commenced after October 1, 1991.