light rail safety; ADOT
oversight
SB 1337 requires the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to establish, implement and enforce minimum safety standards for light rail transit systems in a county with a population of more than 1,500,000 persons and provides ADOT with immunity for this purpose.
SB 1337 passed the Transportation Committee unamended. SB 1337 was amended in the Committee of the Whole to make the organization that operates a light rail system responsible for any risk management costs or judgements against the State resulting from the Department’s safety oversight of the light rail transit system.
The Central Phoenix/East Valley Light Rail Transit Project is a partnership between the cities of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. Phoenix and Tempe voters approved a local tax to help fund the project in the area and Mesa plans to use monies from their general fund. Since the project is seeking federal funding, there are federal regulatory compliance and reporting requirements. New Starts’ program is the federal government’s primary financial resource for supporting rail fixed guideway investments. With the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, states with New Starts’ projects must now meet the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) state safety oversight requirements (49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 659). The FTA’s final rule for state safety oversight requires each state with a rail fixed guideway system operating within its borders to designate an oversight agency with sufficient legal authority and technical capacity to comply with the minimum requirements established in 49 CFR 659.
· Requires ADOT to establish, implement and enforce minimum safety standards for light rail systems in a county with a population of more than 1,500,000 persons.
· Extends absolute immunity to ADOT for the establishment, implementation and enforcement of minimum safety standards for light rail systems.
· Requires ADOT to report light rail safety standard violations in writing to the FTA.
· Allows the Director of ADOT to keep certain information related to the safety oversight of the light rail transit system confidential if, in consultation with the FTA, the Director determines the release of that information could threaten the safety and security of the public.
· Requires the organization that operates a light rail transit system to:
1. Include a safety oversight function in the operator’s risk management.
2. Pay for ADOT's administrative costs related to the safety oversight and to pay for ADOT's administrative costs related to safety oversight.
· Makes technical and conforming changes.
SB 1337 was amended
in the Committee of the Whole as follows:
· Makes the organization that operates a light rail system responsible for any risk management costs or judgements against the State resulting from the Department’s safety oversight of the light rail transit system.
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45th Legislature
Second Regular Session 2 May 29, 2002
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