Section 182.5.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the transition to the new programs and procedures established in the bill enacting this section shall be fair and equitable and minimize disruptions in the delivery of projects. With specific reference to the transition from county minimums to county shares for regional improvement, no project should be counted twice, no project that would be counted under either the old or new procedures should escape being counted in the transition, shares should be sufficient to fund projects programmed in the 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program for the same period, no incentive or reward should be provided for delaying a project, and no incentive or reward should be provided for allocating funds to a project earlier than the year in which the funds are needed for the project.

(b) At the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1998, the county minimums and county minimum deficits shall be recalculated under the law as it existed prior to the enactment of the bill adding this section.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 164, there shall be set aside sufficient funding for every project that is included in the 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program. This funding shall be set aside in the fund estimate prior to and in addition to the distribution of funding between programs pursuant to Section 164.

(d) The amount of the cumulative county minimum deficit calculated for any county pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be carried forward as a county share for the 1998 State Transportation Improvement Program, prior to and in addition to the computation of county shares pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 188.8.

(e) The commission shall not allocate funds for any project unless the commission has programmed the state transportation improvement program in a manner that complies with the requirements of Sections 188, 188.8, and 188.11.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), for a county within the region defined by Section 66502 of the Government Code where funds were traded in the 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program to another county in that region, the county share for that county for the 1998 State Transportation Improvement Program shall be increased by the amount of the trade in the 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program, as if the share were a county minimum deficit under subdivision (d).

(g) In adopting the 1998 State Transportation Improvement Program, the commission shall, at a minimum, fund all intercity rail projects that are included in the adopted 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program. The amount of funds programmed for each project shall not be less than the amount in the 1996 State Transportation Improvement Program.

(h) The commission, after consulting with the department and the regional planning agencies, shall adopt interim guidelines and procedures relative to fund estimates and project selection in a manner that the first state transportation improvement program, pursuant to the provisions of the act adding this section, is adopted not later than June 1, 1998.

(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 715, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2004.)