Press Release

Senator Wiener Introduces Legislation to Streamline Permitting For Major Transit Projects, Including High Speed Rail

SAN FRANCISCO – Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 445, legislation to contain costs and cut delays on delivering major public transportation projects by streamlining the permitting process. For decades, some transit projects have experienced cost overruns and months- or years-long delays. SB 445 will help get transportation project delivery back on track in California by imposing deadlines on local governments, special districts, telecommunications companies, and public and private utilities to comply with the permitting process, and granting transit agencies authority to begin construction if those deadlines are not met.

SB 445 applies to sustainable transportation projects, and will be especially useful in speeding up completion of California’s High Speed Rail. The California High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified coordinating on permits with third parties like local governments, utilities, and telecommunications companies as a “top risk” that “pose[s] a risk to the overall schedule” for High Speed Rail in California.

“Public transportation is critical to California’s future, but a broken permit process has eroded Californians’ trust in transit agencies’ ability to deliver projects on time and on budget,” said Senator Wiener. “We need to rebuild that trust to deliver the affordable transportation and pollution reductions that public transportation makes possible. That starts by fixing our Rube Goldberg permitting process.”

Delivering a cross-jurisdictional sustainable transportation project requires navigating a maze of legal and regulatory hurdles. Lead agencies – often public transportation agencies who do not own the right-of-way for their proposed project – must navigate a balkanized post-environmental-review permitting and construction process. These agencies often must get permits and approvals to conduct work on right-of-way or a property owned by other local jurisdictions, special districts, public and private utilities, or telecommunications entities. Permitting delays, refusal or failure to grant permits, or demands for unrelated or unnecessary and expensive improvements to such rights-of-way or properties frequently clog up the process, resulting in counterproductive cost escalations. 

Such practices are prevalent on projects of all sizes. However, the larger and more ambitious the project, the more third-party entities are involved and the more chances for delay, unreasonable demands, and greater cost escalation.

SB 445 improves cost-effective sustainable transportation project delivery for projects large and small. The bill sets timelines and requirements on specific third-party entities – local governments, special districts, public and private utilities, and private telecommunications providers – to permit and/or accommodate or approve work on the third-party entity’s right-of-way or property. SB 445 also grants master permitting authority to qualified lead agencies with design standards that are approved by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) if the third-party entity does not adhere to the specified timelines.

Specifically, SB 445 requires third-party entities to do the following:

  • Acknowledge receipt and completeness of a notice by the lead agency of a need to complete specified construction activities on the right-of-way or property of the third-party entity within 30 days of receipt of the notice
  • Within 30 days of acknowledging receipt and completeness of the notice and providing any comments, issue any relevant permits, approvals, or permissions needed for delivery of the scope of work identified in the notice.

For sustainable transportation projects greater than $25 million, the bill also does the following:

  • Require lead agencies to provide notice to third-party entities of their intent to enter into a cooperative agreement that defines the roles and responsibilities of each entity in collaborating on design review, permitting, and other relevant aspects of project delivery
  • Within 60 days of the third-party entity’s determination that such a notice is complete, require third-party entities to enter into such a cooperative agreement with the lead agency

In the event that the timelines dictated in the bill are not met, or if a third-party entity fails to adhere to the terms of a cooperative agreement it is signatory to, SB 445 authorizes lead agencies with design manuals and standards approved by CalSTA to occupy the right-of-way and conduct the necessary scope of work dictated in the notice provided by the lead agency.

To further control project costs, SB 445 prevents third-party entities from insisting on exactions or betterments that are unrelated to ensuring life and safety standards are met, unless otherwise stipulated by the cooperative agreement entered into by the third-party entity and the lead agency, as a condition for permits and approvals.

SB 445 is sponsored by Streets For All.

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