California SB1: Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017 Updates

The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB1), passed on April 6, 2017, adds over $5 billion a year in perpetuity for transportation infrastructure. SB1 is great news for agencies, allowing them to make a dent in the backlog of projects needed to improve local infrastructure.

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Programs for Local Agencies to Focus On

While SB1 is far reaching, we will be focusing our efforts on the programs that will make the most impact to local cities, counties, and agencies and maximize your ability to capture funding for your maintenance and improvement projects:

Local Streets and Roads Program

Overview

The Local Streets and Roads Program provides new revenues so that cities and counties can address the enormous shortfall of funding needed to adequately maintain the existing network of local streets and roads.

The program provides a balance of new revenues and reasonable reforms to ensure efficiency, accountability, and performance from each dollar invested in the transportation system .

Also, the Local Streets and Roads Program provides new funding from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) for monthly apportionment to cities and counties by the State Controller to be used for road maintenance, rehabilitation and critical safety projects.

Annual Project Reporting

The program does require basic annual project reporting to the CTC. Annually, prior to receiving funds, a city or county must submit a proposed project list from a Council-approved budget document containing the following:

• Proposed project description and location
• Proposed schedule for completion, may include multi-year projects
• Estimated useful life of the improvement
• Projects must be in an adopted/amended city/county budget

Also, annually upon completion of the fiscal year, city or county must submit a project expenditure report with contains the following:

• Completed project description and location
• Completed date
• Amount of funds expended on the project
• Estimated useful life of the improvement
• If applicable, a progress update on multi-year projects

Active Transportation Program Augmentation

Overview

SB 1 provides an additional $100 million a year to the ATP through the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) beginning in FY 17-18. This gives increased programming flexibility and an opportunity for project selection enhancements. There is also an emphasis on accountability and transparency. The ATP will be distributed into the three ATP components:

• 50% for the Statewide Component
• 10% for Small Urban and Rural Component
• 40% for Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Component

Unless specified in the 2017 ATP Augmentation Guidelines, the 2017 ATP Guidelines will apply.

ATP Project Eligibility

The following project eligibility requirements apply for the 2017 ATP Augmentation guidelines:

• 2017 ATP (Cycle 3) programmed projects that can be delivered earlier (advanced)
• Projects that applied for funding in the 2017 ATP (Cycle 3) but not selected for funding
  
  • However, the original 2017 ATP consensus score will stand and projects will not be re-scored
• Projects that were awarded funds in the 2017 ATP will remain in the component where they were originally programmed

If there are not enough viable projects submitted in the 2017 ATP to fully utilize the funds available in the 2017 ATP Augmentation, the CTC may hold a 2017 ATP Augmentation supplemental call for projects.

If the MPO determines that there are not enough viable projects from their 2017 ATP MPO contingency list to fully utilize available funds, the MPO may hold a supplemental call for projects, but must submit a letter explaining the basis for this determination.

Submittal Process, Criteria, and Evaluation

Applicants must submit an updated schedule, funding plan, and a letter signed by the Executive Officer. All funds committed to the project must be consistent with the updated schedule.

Projects selected based on the project's 2017 ATP score and project deliverability in the following priority order:

• Projects that can deliver all components in FY 17-18 and FY 18-19
• Projects that can deliver one or more but not all of their components FY17-18 and FY 18-19
• Projects that can only deliver project components in FY 19-20 and FY 20-21 as programming becomes available

It's also of note that programming capacity may become available in FY 19-20 and FY 20-21 through currently programmed Cycle 3 projects advancing.

Local Partnership Program

Overview

The Local Partnership Program of SB1 has funding split 50-50 on both competitive project selection and a formula.

For the competitive portion, a process will be developed to ensure all jurisdictions are able to compete.

The formula portion of funds will include projects that include a project description, costs, scope, schedule, and specific outcomes, including useful life. The project recipients will also be required to report on progress and outcomes for each project.

Eligible Agencies with Modified Language

“... Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account shall be set aside annually for counties a local or regional transportation agency that have has sought and received voter approval of taxes or that have imposed fees, including uniform developer fees...”

Funds are appropriated “for allocation to each eligible county nd each city in the county by the commission..."

“...for road maintenance and rehabilitation, and other transportation improvement projects purposes pursuant to Section 2033.

“Eligible projects... include but are not limited to, sound walls for a freeway that was built prior to 1987 without sound walls and with or without high occupancy vehicle lanes if the completion of the sound walls has been deferred to lack of available funding for t least twenty years and a noise barrier scope summary report has been completed within the last twenty years.”

Contact Us for Guidance

For specific guidance on how your agency can maximize SB1 funding, contact us today!