Background
Section 2452 of the California Streets and Highways (S&H) Code requires the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) to establish the Grade Separation Program Priority List (Priority List) for projects and furnish it to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) by July 1st of each year for use in the fiscal year beginning on that date. The Priority List establishes the relative priorities for allocation of funds to qualified projects of existing crossings at grade, and existing grade separations, and procedures for administering these funds.1 These projects include construction of new grade separations to replace existing at-grade crossings, or alteration or reconstruction of existing grade separations, on city streets, county roads, and state highways, which are not freeways as defined in S&H Code § 257. For a project that eliminates an existing crossing or alters or reconstructs an existing grade separation, an allocation of up to 80% of the estimated cost of the project may be made, with the local agency and railroad each contributing 10%.
The CTC is responsible for allocating (distributing) the funds to qualified projects; a responsibility it has delegated to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).2 Requirements for filing an allocation application for Priority List projects with Caltrans are set out in the California Administrative Code, Title 21, Division 2, Chapter 13, Grade Separation Projects - Applications for Allocations or Supplemental Allocations (Chapter 13). A copy of Chapter 13 is attached as Appendix 1 to this OII. Section 190 of the S&H Code requires the State's annual budget to include $15 million for funding of these Priority List projects.
Every two years, the Commission issues a new Order Instituting Investigation (OII), in which it determines the Priority List for the next two Fiscal Years (FY). The Commission adopts the Priority List for the first fiscal year by interim decision issued before that fiscal year begins, then revises the Priority List for the second FY by deleting projects for which funds were actually allocated in the first, adopting a revised Priority List by final decision before the second FY begins. The two-year funding cycle begins again with the issuance of a new OII for the creation of a new Priority List for the following two fiscal years.
In particular, the procedures adopted by the Commission to process this OII requires local agencies to provide planned grade separation project nominations to this Commission in response to a request for nominations in the ordering paragraphs of the new OII. The Commission then reviews each nominated project to ensure that it is eligible for the Grade Separation Program, and holds a series of hearings so that nominating agencies may present each proposal, answer questions about its content, and confirm its accuracy. Attendance and participation in these hearings is mandatory for any project proponent. The Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD) staff then adjusts the draft Priority List in accordance with evidence received at the hearings. This draft Priority List is then presented to the Commission for adoption by interim decision. Projects for construction of new grade separations for existing crossings at grade, and alteration or reconstructions of existing grade separations are included in the Priority List.
Interim Decision (D.) 10-06-005, dated June 3, 2010, established the 53rd Priority List for FY 2010-2011. By D.11-06-021, we issued our final decision in OII 09-07-028, establishing the 54th Priority List for FY 2011-2012, and furnished the list to Caltrans and CTC before July 1, 2011. That final list will expire on June 30, 2012, necessitating the establishment of a new Priority List for FY 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.
In this OII, we will consider projects nominated by cities, counties, a separation-of-grade district, and any public entity that provides rail passenger transportation services for inclusion on the Priority List for FY 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.
1 S&H Code § 2450 et seq.
2 S&H Code § 2453.
