Transportation projects: oversight committees.

Existing law provides various sources of revenue for transportation projects undertaken by state and local agencies. The Public Works Project Peer Review Act of 2013 authorizes a public agency principally tasked with administering, planning, developing, and operating a public works project to establish a peer review group to give expert advice on the scientific and technical aspects of the public works project, as specified. This bill would require a public agency administering a megaproject, which the bill would define as a transportation project with total estimated development and construction costs exceeding $1,000,000,000, to take specified actions to manage the risks associated with the megaproject, including establishing a comprehensive risk management plan and regularly reassessing its reserves for potential claims and unknown risks. The bill would require a public agency administering a megaproject to establish a project oversight committee composed of specified individuals to review the megaproject and perform other specified duties. The bill would require the public agency administering the megaproject to provide quarterly reports to the project oversight committee. The bill would require the project oversight committee to provide annual reports to the California Transportation Commission until the year following the completion of the megaproject. By requiring local agencies to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.