Things To Know: Update on Senator Hill Bills

News Release - Office of Sen. Jerry Hill

Contact: Aurelio Rojas, communications director, 916-747-3199 cell or 916-651-4013 office

Governor Signs Bills by Senator Jerry Hill to Limit High-Speed Rail to Two Tracks on the Peninsula and Protect Non-Threatening Mountain Lions that Wander into Neighborhoods

SB 557 Closes Loophole and Minimizes Disruption to Peninsula Communities; SB 132 Resolves Dilemma that Led to the Fatal Shooting of Two Starving Cubs in Half Moon Bay

SACRAMENTO – Legislation by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, was signed today by the governor to create an additional safeguard that restricts high-speed rail through the Peninsula to a blended, primarily two-track system, minimizing impacts to communities along the Caltrain right-of-way.

Senate Bill 557 puts to rest concerns on the Peninsula that the California High-Speed Rail Authority could revisit a four-track option that disrupts communities. The legislation was supported by a coalition of local governments, including the cities of Palo Alto, Atherton, Redwood City and San Carlos. 

The governor also signed Hill’s SB 132, which authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to partner with wildlife groups and nonprofits when responding to reports of mountain lions near residences that do not involve an imminent threat to human life.

Hill introduced the legislation after two mountain lion cubs were fatally shot on Nov. 30, 2012, in a Half Moon Bay neighborhood. State game wardens and San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies were unable to shoo the cubs from the neighborhood to nearby Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park, and regulations did not permit the officers to pursue other options.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials initially said the female siblings weighed 25 to 30 pounds. But necropsies showed they were only about 4 months old, weighed 13 to 14 pounds and were starving and unlikely to survive in the wild without their mother.

SB 132 requires that nonlethal procedures be used when DFW responds to a mountain lion that has not been designated as an imminent threat to public health or safety, meaning the mountain lion has not exhibited aggressive behaviors toward responders.

Both SB 557 and SB 132 were coauthored by Assemblymen Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, and Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco.

Last year, when the Legislature approved funding for the high-speed rail system, the High-Speed Rail Authority assured Hill that a four-track system would not be built on the Peninsula segment of the project.

SB 557 gives local agencies like Caltrain veto-authority if a four-track option is ever revisited. The bill also closes a potential loophole by ensuring that funds cannot be transferred from the Peninsula segment to other segments of the high-speed project.

In addition, the legislation clarifies the amount of early investment money that will be allocated to electrify Caltrain. The $600 million in bond money will be matched with local funds to electrify Caltrain by 2019.

Under the electrified system, trains from San Francisco to San Jose will provide faster, more reliable, more frequent service to more stations due to the operation of high-performance electric vehicles with quicker acceleration and deceleration.  With improved service, Caltrain will be able to attract and accommodate increased ridership, which will create additional revenue and reduce the subsidy required to operate the system.

Switching from a diesel-based service to electric operations will also reduce the system's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent.

Under the mountain lion bill, “nonlethal options” that may be considered include capturing, pursuing, anesthetizing, marking, transporting, hazing, relocating, providing veterinary care to and rehabilitating the cats.

Current state regulations do not give DFW much flexibility when mountain lions venture into populated areas, as in the incident in Half Moon Bay and another mountain lion shooting in Redwood City in 2011.

Hill said the legislation will allow the DFW to partner with wildlife rescue and rehabilitation groups, veterinarians, zoos, colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations throughout the state that have the capability and experience to assist with mountain lion incidents.

The Peninsula Humane Society, for example, rescues and rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife. Last year, the organization saved 1,450 wild animals in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Quotes for SB 557:

“This bill provides statutory assurance that high-speed rail funding will be used to advance the modernization of the Caltrain system and deliver cleaner, quieter, faster, more frequent rail service to Peninsula residents and business.  By signing this bill, the Governor has made it clear that the State is in lock-step with local communities advocating that the high-speed rail project should be phased to prioritize upgrades to our existing rail system and eventually accommodate high-speed rail service in a way that avoids impacts on local communities.”

-Ken Yeager, Santa Clara County Supervisor and chair of the Caltrain Board or Directors

“The City of Palo Alto is very pleased that the Governor signed SB 557.  Senator Hill’s bill allows us to both modernize Caltrain and keep any future high-speed rail system sustainably within the existing Caltrain right-of-way to protect our community.”

-Nancy Shepherd, City of Palo Alto Vice Mayor and Rail Committee Chair

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Nate Solov

Office of Senator Jerry Hill

916-651-4013

www.senate.ca.gov/hill