Background

City of Encinitas, in San Diego County, charges that the North San Diego County Transit Development Board (also known as North County Transit

District, or NCTD) is in violation of Public Utilities Code Section 125260¹ by having authorized the construction of a railroad passing track in the City of Encinitas without having conducted the environmental analysis required by the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) adopted by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). SANDAG is designated and recognized by federal and state agencies as the metropolitan planning organization and regional transportation planning agency for San Diego County.

City would have the Commission direct NCTD to comply with the RTP and commence the necessary environmental analysis, or, in the alternative, enjoin NCTD from any further implementation of the passing track until it has done so.

NCTD was created by Senate Bill 802² in 1975 to acquire, construct, maintain, and operate public transit systems and related facilities within its jurisdictional area in San Diego County. In 1992, NCTD acquired the railroad right-of-way known as the San Diego main line from the Orange County line to the southern Del Mar city limit, and San Diego's Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB) simultaneously acquired the railroad right-of-way within the limits of the City of San Diego. NCTD constructs improvements and maintains and operates the railroad right-of-way within both ownership areas pursuant to a shared-use agreement with MTDB and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF).

Section 125260 provides,

The board shall plan, construct, and operate (or let a contract to operate) public transit systems in conformance with the regional transportation plan developed pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 65080) of Title 7 of the Government Code and the five-year transportation improvement program developed pursuant to Section 134 of Title 23 of the United States Code.

Government Code Section 65080 specifies that actions by transportation agencies, including transportation development boards, must be consistent with the applicable regional transportation plan, which in this case is SANDAG's 2020 RTP.

NCTD has plans to construct and operate a passing track approximately 1.7 miles long, located adjacent to the San Diego main line in the City of Encinitas. NCTD describes the San Diego main line as "part of the interstate rail system extending throughout the United States and [] the only interstate rail line connecting San Diego to Orange County." NCTD operates the Coast Express Rail (Coaster) commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Diego over the San Diego main line. Under the shared-use agreement, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) operates interstate and inter-city passenger service over the line, and BNSF uses it to provide interstate freight service. NCTD says the purpose of the planned passing track is to improve the quality and reliability of interstate freight, inter-city passenger and commuter service on the San Diego main line.

City charges that NCTD's passing track is intended to be part of a larger plan contemplated under the RTP of double-tracking the entire coastal corridor. According to City, the RTP specifically requires that NCTD, in cooperation with MTDB, Amtrak and the state, conduct project-level environmental studies as part of its design and implementation of double-track and other rail improvements in

the coastal railroad corridor. City's complaint and subsequent filings provide additional explanation of SANDAG's intent for such studies in connection with the RTP, but those explanations need not be detailed here. NCTD's decision to proceed with the passing track without complying with the RTP's environmental requirements, City contends, places it squarely in violation of the RTP, and thus Public Utilities Code Section 125260 and Government Code Section 65080.

Assigned Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) McVicar held a prehearing conference in Los Angeles on February 22, 2002, at which he directed the parties to file prehearing briefs and reply briefs on the following threshold issue:

Does the Commission have jurisdiction to enforce North San Diego County Transit Development Board's compliance with Public Utilities Code Division 11.5, the North San Diego County Transit Development Board Act? And, more specifically, does the Commission have jurisdiction to require the Board's compliance with Public Utilities Code Section 125260 which requires the Board to " . . . plan, construct, and operate (or let a contract to operate) public transit systems in conformance with the regional transportation plan . . . "?