Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has the exclusive power to, among other things, determine and prescribe the manner and the terms of installation, operation, maintenance, use, and protection of railroad crossings. Existing law prohibits the construction of a public road, highway, or street across the track of any railroad corporation at grade and other specified actions with regard to railroad crossings without the permission of the commission.

Existing law requires the commission to adopt an expedited review and approval process for ratesetting proceedings for an exempt railroad crossing application, as defined. Existing law requires the commission, upon initiating a ratesetting proceeding, to determine whether the proceeding is for an exempt railroad crossing application, and if so, to issue a proposed resolution pursuant to the expedited review and approval process. Existing law requires the proposed resolution to be publicly noticed on the commission’s voting agenda and to be subject to public comment.

This bill would additionally require the proposed resolution to be publicly noticed on a publicly accessible website.