Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation

The Assembly Transportation Committee is called to order. Good afternoon and welcome, everyone. The hearing room is open for attendance of this hearing and it can be watched from a live stream on the Assembly website. We encourage the public to provide written testimony by visiting the Committee's website. Please note that any written testimony submitted to the Committee is considered public comment and may be read into the record or reprinted.

We will allow two minutes each for two primary witnesses in support and opposition, and these witnesses must testify in person in the hearing room. Additional witnesses witness comments will be limited to your name, organization, and position. With that, we do not yet have a quorum, so we will begin as an informational hearing. We now have a quorum. Thank you, majority leader. With that secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

All right, we have a quorum with eight Members present today. We have eight bills on consent file, items 1,2,3,4,5,8,9 and 10. That is AB 1953, Villapudua. AB 2116. Grayson. AB 2289, Low. AB 2333, Santiago. AB 2367, Lee. AB 2817, Dixon. AB 3069, Vince Fong. AB 2719, Wilson. Is there a motion on the consent file? A move by Lowenthal and second by Davies. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

All right, hold on 1 second. Okay. All right, we'll hold the roll open for Members to add on. Now, we have two bills to discuss today. Due to scheduling conflicts with their schedule, Assemblymember Luz Rivas has asked Assemblymember Ward to present the Bill on her behalf. So moving on to item six, AB 2400 at your convenience.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members. Assemblywoman Rivas would like to thank ... and the Committee for her thorough evaluation of this measure and for working closely, closely with her staff. AB 2400 is before you today to extend the sunset for the sales and tax exclusion program of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority until January 1, 2031.

The purpose of the program is to promote the creation of California based manufacturing jobs to stimulate the state economy and incentivize the manufacturing of green technologies that will help reduce greenhouse gases, air and water pollution, and energy consumption. Since the program's inception, over 335 projects located throughout the states have been awarded the tax incentives to help spur investment in over $14.8 billion in manufacturing equipment. This Bill is important because without state intervention, the STE program would otherwise sunset on January 1, 2026.

Move the Bill.

And we need to make sure that we are continuing to support the creation of manufacturing jobs and the production of vital green technologies like solar panels, biofuels and wind turbines, all of which are vital to reducing the state's carbon emissions. I have with me to provide testimony Khaim Morton, the Deputy Treasurer with the California State Treasurer's Office, and Lawrence Gayden, the Policy Director of California Manufacturers and Technology Associations.

As stated. Khaim Morton, Deputy Treasurer, California State Treasurer's Office Fiona Ma along with Jennifer Gill, Senior Manager over at CAEATFA and we're here for any questions.

Thank you.

Lawrence Gayden, Policy Director with the California Manufacturers Technology Association in proud support. I'll keep my comments brief, but CAEATFA and sales tax program have provided net benefits to both the state environmentally and economically. The manufacturing and participation in the program have supported projects that have developed the next generation of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, aerospace and aviation technologies, biogas capture, new recycling plastic and medical waste methods. You know, alongside with those environmental benefits, it really is proven a high quality employment opportunities that support jobs in other sectors as well. So we ask for your aye vote, thank you.

Thank you. Now moving on to Members of the community in support for the me too comments.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Matthew Klopfenstein on behalf of the Bioenergy Association of California, MP Materials, and Energy Source Minerals, all in support. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members. Jason Ikerd, on behalf of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, also in support.

Good afternoon. Lindsay Gullahorn with Capital Advocacy on behalf of the Resource Recovery Coalition of California and support. Thanks.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members. Obed Franco, on behalf of the California Biomass Energy Alliance and the California Electric Transportation Coalition in support.

Thank you. Are there any Members of the public who are in opposition? There any witnesses in opposition? All right, seeing none. Moving on to Members, if there were any questions or concerns.

Just a quick comment. I'm just, I'm glad to see that this is coming up. It's been working really well and if you'd let the Member know that I'd be happy to co author this Bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Davies.

Great seeing none other. I appreciate the author for bringing this forward and thank you for representing her so beautifully today. I am supporting this Bill and we recommending a do pass to the Committee on Revenue and Taxation. We have a motion made by Aguiar-Curry and seconded by Sanchez. Secretary. Oh, sorry. Would you like to close.

On behalf of Assemblymember Rivas, respectfully request your ayre vote.

Just gonna keep going. I do. I do. All right. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call].

All right, sounds good. All right, I'll leave that open for further Members to add on. With that moving on to item number seven. AB 2558 Hart. At your convenience, you may begin.

Thank you Madam Chair and Members. I'm pleased to present AB 2558, a bill to restore salmon and steelhead trout habitats. Existing law requires Caltrans to assess and remediate any potential barriers to salmon and steelhead trout passage before commencing a transportation project or road repair.

This requirement focuses on assessing and removing barriers only when there's a stream crossing directly impeding fish passage.

Many transportation projects may not directly impede fish passage, but can still adversely affect the populations of salmon and trout even without a stream crossing present. AB 2558 will require Caltrans to remove and remediate manmade barriers that actively impede and or adversely affect fish habitat and passage, including culverts, grade control structures, and other highway infrastructure.

The bill will also require an annual report to the Legislature with the status of fish barrier removals and justification for any delays.

AB 2558 is necessary to restore salmon and steelhead trout populations and maintain California's ecosystem. Speaking and supported the bill with me today are Analise Rivero, representing California Trout, and Candice Meneghin, representing Coastal Ranches Conservancy.

Wait, the mic.

Good afternoon, Chair Wilson and Committee Members. My name is Candice Meneghin, and I'm the executive director of Coastal Ranches Conservancy, one of the sponsors of AB 2558.

Since 2003, we've supported nature conservation, restoration, and education along the Gaviota coast. And Gaviota Creek, along with many coastal watersheds and Assemblymembers Hart's District and Caltrans District 5 are home to southern steelhead populations that are in danger of extinction.

Transportation infrastructure is a major cause of decline in the majority of the Nadrum species in California, and laws such as SB 857 and its continuation via AB 2558 are necessary to support cell monitor recovery. SB 857 currently requires Caltrans to assess barriers to anadromous fish prior to commencing a project using state or federal transportation funds and to report to the Legislature on progress annually.

However, this reporting requirement will sunset and AB 2558 merely extends SB 857 temporally from 2025 through 2030.

It does not change the intent of the law. Despite having grade control structures prioritized on the Central Coast Fish Pack Advisory Committee priority list, these structures are not technically considered stream crossings by definition, and while they are still a barrier to fish passage, this ambiguity has resulted in Caltrans failing to include them in a recent restoration project.

And so AB 2558 defines a fish passage barrier, ensuring that these transportation projects include fish passage elements.

And AB 2558 also includes manmade infrastructure that lies in stream and has a nexus or lays adjacent to the state highway system, thus ensuring these barriers are not excluded for consideration in transportation projects moving forward. The impact of the state highway system on fish -

Now I need you to wrap up.

Is undeniable, and ensuring that Caltrans considers fish passage and its transportation projects is instrumental in balancing California transportation and biodiversity goals. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. My name is Analise Rivero, and I'm the associate director of policy for California Trout, a statewide freshwater conservation organization with over 60 on the ground projects. As sponsors of the original 2006 piece of legislation, SB 857 that Candice referenced, we're heartened to see that it was directly referenced in Governor Newsom's salmon strategy released earlier this year.

The plan states that by 2026, we will implement a strategy to fulfill SB 857 of 2006, which requires Caltrans to track and remediate all fish passage barriers to salmon and steelhead habitat caused by transportation infrastructure. AB 2558 further strengthens that goal and ensures the Legislature will continue to stay aware of progress by extending the reporting requirement.

Further, the increased connectivity resulting from the removal of Caltrans fish passage barriers underpins biodiversity resilience in the face of climate change over a goal set forth in numerous strategies, including 30 by 30. All to say this bill contributes to the furtherance of numerous state priorities.

Finally, I will note that Cal Trout works actively with Caltrans to remove these barriers, and we look forward to continuing that partnership as project implementers in the system in meeting these important goals. As such, I respectfully request your support today. Thank you.

Thank you. Moving to members of the public who would like to offer me too comments in support of this bill.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members, I'm Kam Bezdek on behalf of California Trout, and I would like to give our support on behalf of California Trout, the Sierra Club California, Sonoma Land Trust, Trout Unlimited, and the Sierra Institute. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no further looking for any members of the public who may be in opposition to the bill. Seeing none. Moving it to see if there's any comments or concerns from Members of the Committee. All right. Seeing none. All right. Transportation infrastructure often presents barriers to salmon mitigation along road stream crossings.

And this bill strengthens the existing requirements for Caltrans to remediate and report on barriers to fish passage and requires Caltrans reporting to include a justification for any reprioritization or delay in the remediation of barriers, which is why I'm supporting your bill today. Do you have any comments to close?

No, I just respectfully request an aye vote. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. There's a motion made by Aguiar-Curry and a second by Papan. Secretary, please call the roll.

AB 2558 the motion is do pass to the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife.

[Roll Call]

All right, we'll leave it open for any Members. We'll confirm. Do we have any? Is that one done? Is there? Okay, so we'll wait for any Members to add. With that, we'll move back to the beginning for consent. There were eight consent bills to add on remaining members.

[Roll Call]

For adding-on purposes, Item Number Six: AB 2400: Rivas.

[Roll Call].

All right. We'll remain as we wait for one of our colleagues to come in and add on. Thank you, everyone.

Okay. All right. Moving back to the beginning to do final add-ons. Starting with consent calendar.

[Roll Call].

That bill is out, 15--that bill--consent calendar is out, 15/zero. Moving on to Item Number Six: AB 2400: Rivas.

[Roll Call].

All right, that bill is out, 15/zero. Moving on to Item Number Seven: AB 2558: Hart.

[Roll Call].

That bill is out with 12 votes. Thank you, sir. There being no further business of the Committee, the Committee is now--the hearing is now adjourned.