May 25, 2022
The Honorable Laura Friedman
Chair, Assembly Transportation Committee
1021 O Street, Room 112
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 2953 (Salas): Department of Transportation and local agencies: streets and highways: recycled materials.
Notice of OPPOSE (As Amended on March 17, 2022)
Dear Assemblymember Freidman:
The City of San Marcos must respectfully oppose AB 2953 (Salas), which would require local agencies to apply standard specifications that allow for the use of recycled materials in streets and highways at or above the level allowed in the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) most recently published standard specifications, when feasible and cost effective.
The City of San Marcos appreciates the recent amendments, which specify that local agencies have flexibility in determining whether adopting the specifications for the materials outlined in the bill are feasible and cost effective. However, we remain concerned with the exemption for cities and counties that meet arbitrary revenue proportions of statewide annual local government revenues.
Governor Newsom vetoed AB 1035 (Salas, 2021), a substantially similar bill, and highlighted that requiring all local agencies that have jurisdiction over streets and highways to comply with Caltrans' recycling standards may result in increased costs and would create a reimbursable state mandate. The Governor’s veto message also cited objections to forcing local agencies to adopt standards by Caltrans that are specifically designed for larger projects that address a greater volume of traffic and may be inappropriate for all local streets and roads.
San Marcos appreciates the author’s previous engagement with us on AB 1035, and while well-intentioned, AB 2953 does not address any of the aforementioned objections. For these reasons, we respectfully oppose AB 2953.
Sincerely,
Rebecca D. Jones
Mayor
cc: The Honorable Rudy Salas, Jr.
Members, Assembly Committee on Transportation
Catherine Hill, League of California Cities – San Diego and Imperial Counties League of California Cities
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Administration
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