ESSB 6392 -
By Committee on Transportation
ADOPTED AS AMENDED 03/02/2010
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature recognizes that during the
2009 legislative session tolling was authorized on the state route
number 520 corridor. As such, it is the intent of the legislature that
tolling commences in the spring of 2011 on the existing state route
number 520 bridge.
The legislature further recognizes that tolling of the state route
number 520 corridor is integrally related to the issuance of a final
project design resulting from the supplemental draft environmental
impact statement for the state route number 520 bridge replacement and
HOV program released in January 2010. It is the intent of the
legislature that the department of transportation work with affected
neighborhoods and local governments, including the mayor of the city of
Seattle and the Seattle city council, to refine the preferred
alternative design in the supplemental draft environmental impact
statement so that the final design of the state route number 520 bridge
replacement and HOV program will, to the extent required by state and
federal law, include reasonable assurance that project impacts will be
mitigated as much as practicable to protect against further adverse
impacts on neighborhood environmental quality. Within the cost
constraints identified in section 1, chapter 472, Laws of 2009, and
consistent with an opening date to vehicular traffic of 2014, it is
further the intent of the legislature that any final design of the
state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program accommodate
effective connections for transit, including high capacity transit,
including, but not limited to, effective connections for transit to the
university link light rail line, consistent with the requirements of
RCW 47.01.408, and ensure the effective, efficient, and feasible
coordination of bus services and light rail services throughout the
state route number 520 corridor, consistent with the requirements of
RCW 47.01.410. The legislature further intends that any cost savings
applicable to the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV
program stay within the program.
Sec. 2 RCW 47.56.870 and 2009 c 472 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The initial imposition of tolls on the state route number 520
corridor is authorized, the state route number 520 corridor is
designated an eligible toll facility, and toll revenue generated in the
corridor must only be expended as allowed under RCW 47.56.820.
(2) The state route number 520 corridor consists of that portion of
state route number 520 between the junctions of Interstate 5 and state
route number 202. The toll imposed by this section shall be charged
only for travel on the floating bridge portion of the state route
number 520 corridor.
(3)(a) In setting the toll rates for the corridor pursuant to RCW
47.56.850, the tolling authority shall set a variable schedule of toll
rates to maintain travel time, speed, and reliability on the corridor
and generate the necessary revenue as required under (b) of this
subsection.
(b) The tolling authority shall initially set the variable schedule
of toll rates, which the tolling authority may adjust at least annually
to reflect inflation as measured by the consumer price index or as
necessary to meet the redemption of bonds and interest payments on the
bonds, to generate revenue sufficient to provide for:
(i) The issuance of general obligation bonds, authorized in RCW
47.10.879, first payable from toll revenue and then excise taxes on
motor vehicle and special fuels pledged for the payment of those bonds
in the amount necessary to fund the ((replacement state route number
520 floating bridge and necessary landings)) state route number 520
bridge replacement and HOV program, subject to subsection (4) of this
section; and
(ii) Costs associated with the project designated in subsection (4)
of this section that are eligible under RCW 47.56.820.
(4)(a) The proceeds of the bonds designated in subsection (3)(b)(i)
of this section((, which together with other appropriated and
identified state and federal funds is sufficient to pay for the
replacement of the floating bridge segment and necessary landings of
state route number 520,)) must be used only to fund the ((construction
of the replacement state route number 520 floating bridge and necessary
landings)) state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program;
however, two hundred million dollars of bond proceeds, in excess of the
proceeds necessary to complete the floating bridge segment and
necessary landings, must be used only to fund the state route number
520, Interstate 5 to Medina bridge replacement and HOV project segment
of the program, as identified in applicable environmental impact
statements, and may be used to fund effective connections for high
occupancy vehicles and transit for state route number 520, but only to
the extent those connections benefit or improve the operation of state
route number 520.
(b) The program must include the following elements within the cost
constraints identified in section 1, chapter 472, Laws of 2009,
consistent with the legislature's intent that cost savings applicable
to the program stay within the program and that the bridge open to
vehicular traffic in 2014:
(i) A project design, consistent with RCW 47.01.408, that includes
high occupancy vehicle lanes with a minimum carpool occupancy
requirement of three-plus persons on state route number 520;
(ii) High occupancy vehicle lane performance standards for the
state route number 520 corridor established by the department. The
department shall report to the transportation committees of the
legislature when average transit speeds in the two lanes that are for
high occupancy vehicle travel fall below forty-five miles per hour at
least ten percent of the time during peak hours;
(iii) A work group convened by the mayor and city council of the
city of Seattle to include sound transit, King county metro, the
Seattle department of transportation, the department, the University of
Washington, and other persons or organizations as designated by the
mayor or city council to study and make recommendations of alternative
connections for transit, including bus routes and high capacity
transit, to the university link light rail line. The work group must
consider such techniques as grade separation, additional stations, and
pedestrian lids to effect these connections. The recommendations must
be alternatives to the transit connections identified in the
supplemental draft environmental impact statement for the state route
number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program released in January 2010,
and must meet the requirements under RCW 47.01.408, including
accommodating effective connections for transit. The recommendations
must be within the scope of the supplemental draft environmental impact
statement. For the purposes of this section, "effective connections
for transit" means a connection that connects transit stops, including
high capacity transit stops, that serve the state route number
520/Montlake interchange vicinity to the university link light rail
line, with a connection distance of less than one thousand two hundred
feet between the stops and the light rail station. The city of Seattle
shall submit the recommendations by October 1, 2010, to the governor
and the transportation committees of the legislature. However, if the
city of Seattle does not convene the work group required under this
subsection before July 1, 2010, or does not submit recommendations to
the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature by
October 1, 2010, the department must convene the work group required
under this subsection and meet all the requirements of this subsection
that are described as requirements of the city of Seattle by November
30, 2010;
(iv) A work group convened by the department to include sound
transit and King county metro to study and make recommendations
regarding options for planning and financing high capacity transit
through the state route number 520 corridor. The department shall
submit the recommendations by January 1, 2011, to the governor and the
transportation committees of the legislature;
(v) A plan to address mitigation as a result of the state route
number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program at the Washington park
arboretum. As part of its process, the department shall consult with
the governing board of the Washington park arboretum, the Seattle city
council and mayor, and the University of Washington to identify all
mitigation required by state and federal law resulting from the state
route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program's impact on the
arboretum, and to develop a project mitigation plan to address these
impacts. The department shall submit the mitigation plan by December
31, 2010, to the governor and the transportation committees of the
legislature. Wetland mitigation required by state and federal law as
a result of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV
program's impacts on the arboretum must, to the greatest extent
practicable, include on-site wetland mitigation at the Washington park
arboretum, and must enhance the Washington park arboretum. This
subsection (4)(b)(v) does not preclude any other mitigation planned for
the Washington park arboretum as a result of the state route number 520
bridge replacement and HOV program;
(vi) A work group convened by the department to include the mayor
of the city of Seattle, the Seattle city council, the Seattle
department of transportation, and other persons or organizations as
designated by the Seattle city council and mayor to study and make
recommendations regarding design refinements to the preferred
alternative selected by the department in the supplemental draft
environmental impact statement process for the state route number 520
bridge replacement and HOV program. To accommodate a timely
progression of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV
program, the design refinements recommended by the work group must be
consistent with the current environmental documents prepared by the
department for the supplemental draft environmental impact statement.
The department shall submit the recommendations to the legislature and
governor by December 31, 2010, and the recommendations must inform the
final environmental impact statement prepared by the department; and
(vii) An account, created in section 5 of this act, into which
civil penalties generated from the nonpayment of tolls on the state
route number 520 corridor are deposited to be used to fund any project
within the program, including mitigation. However, this subsection
(4)(b)(vii) is contingent on the enactment by June 30, 2010, of either
chapter . . . (Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill No. 6499), Laws of 2010
or chapter . . . (Substitute House Bill No. 2897), Laws of 2010, but if
the enacted bill does not designate the department as the toll penalty
adjudicating agency, this subsection (4)(b)(vii) is null and void.
(5) The department may carry out the ((construction and))
improvements designated in subsection (4) of this section and
administer the tolling program on the state route number 520 corridor.
Sec. 3 RCW 47.01.408 and 2008 c 270 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV project
shall be designed to provide six total lanes, with two lanes that are
for transit and high-occupancy vehicle travel, and four general purpose
lanes.
(2) The state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV project
shall be designed to accommodate effective connections for transit,
including high capacity transit, to the light rail station at the
University of Washington.
(3) The state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV project
shall be designed to provide a total height from the water to the top
of the bridge rail on the floating bridge portion of the project of no
more than twenty feet if any portion of the project is funded by
revenue generated from tolling the state route number 520 corridor.
Sec. 4 RCW 47.56.875 and 2009 c 472 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
A special account to be known as the state route number 520
corridor account is created in the state treasury.
(1) Deposits to the account must include:
(a) All proceeds of bonds issued for ((construction of the
replacement state route number 520 floating bridge and necessary
landings)) the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV
program, including any capitalized interest;
(b) Except as provided in RCW 47.56.870(4)(b)(vii), all of the
tolls and other revenues received from the operation of the state route
number 520 corridor as a toll facility, to be deposited at least
monthly;
(c) Any interest that may be earned from the deposit or investment
of those revenues;
(d) Notwithstanding RCW 47.12.063, proceeds from the sale of any
surplus real property acquired for the ((purpose of building the
replacement state route number 520 floating bridge and necessary
landings)) state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program;
and
(e) All damages, liquidated or otherwise, collected under any
contract involving the ((construction of the replacement state route
number 520 floating bridge and necessary landings)) state route number
520 bridge replacement and HOV program.
(2) Subject to the covenants made by the state in the bond
proceedings authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds for the
((replacement state route number 520 floating bridge and necessary
landings)) state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program,
toll charges, other revenues, and interest received from the operation
of the state route number 520 corridor as a toll facility may be used
to:
(a) Pay any required costs allowed under RCW 47.56.820; and
(b) Repay amounts to the motor vehicle fund as required.
(3) When repaying the motor vehicle fund, the state treasurer shall
transfer funds from the state route number 520 corridor account to the
motor vehicle fund on or before each debt service date for bonds issued
for the ((replacement state route number 520 floating bridge project
and necessary landings)) state route number 520 bridge replacement and
HOV program in an amount sufficient to repay the motor vehicle fund for
amounts transferred from that fund to the highway bond retirement fund
to provide for any bond principal and interest due on that date. The
state treasurer may establish subaccounts for the purpose of
segregating toll charges, bond sale proceeds, and other revenues.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 A new section is added to chapter 47.56 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) A special account to be known as the state route number 520
civil penalties account is created in the state treasury. All state
route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program civil penalties
generated from the nonpayment of tolls on the state route number 520
corridor must be deposited into the account, as provided under RCW
47.56.870(4)(b)(vii). Moneys in the account may be spent only after
appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used to fund any
project within the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV
program, including mitigation.
(2) This section is contingent on the enactment by June 30, 2010,
of either chapter . . . (Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill No. 6499),
Laws of 2010 or chapter . . . (Substitute House Bill No. 2897), Laws of
2010, but if the enacted bill does not designate the department as the
toll penalty adjudicating agency, this section is null and void."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: (1) Limits the expenditure of the identified $200 million
in bond proceeds to projects on the Interstate 5 to Medina portion of
the project, and allows the expenditure of these funds for effective
connections for HOVs and transit to the extent the connections improve
or benefit the operation of SR 520.
(2) Expands each requirement in the bill regarding effective
connections for transit to the light rail station at the University of
Washington to the entire University Link light rail line.
(3) Requires that the additional program elements created by the
bill be consistent with the legislative intent that the bridge open to
vehicular traffic in 2014.
(4) Requires the Seattle Mayor and City Council to convene the work
group making alternative recommendations for transit under section
2(4)(b)(iii), in place of the Washington State Department of
Transportation (WSDOT), and allows the Mayor or City Council to
designate other organizations or persons to join the work group.
(5) Requires the work group making alternative recommendations for
transit to make recommendations that are within the scope of the
supplemental draft environmental impact statement and to consider
techniques such as grade separation, additional stations, and
pedestrian lids; and changes the submission date of the work group's
report from July 5, 2010, to October 1, 2010.
(6) Requires WSDOT to convene the work group making alternative
recommendations for transit in the event that the Mayor does not
convene the work group by July 1, 2010, or submit the work group's
report by October 1, 2010, in which case the work group's report would
be required by November 30, 2010.
(7) Requires the work group making recommendations regarding
options for financing high capacity transit in the SR 520 corridor
under section 2(4)(b)(iv) to also make recommendations regarding
planning for high capacity transit in the SR 520 corridor.
(8) Changes the submission date from July 5, 2010, to December 31,
2010, for the report of the work group created under section
2(4)(b)(vi) to make recommendations regarding design refinements to the
preferred alternative.
(9) Limits the height of the floating bridge portion of the project
to 20 feet from the water to the top of the bridge rail.