DALLAS — The Federal Railroad Administration has given California's bullet train authority another 90 days to come up with the state match for federal spending on the $68 billion project to build a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The first payment of state matching funds that was due April 1 for a $2.55 billion grant agreement will be delayed until July 1 under a funding plan approved Feb. 21 by the Federal Railroad Administration.
California had planned to provide the match from proceeds of $8.6 billion of the $10 billion of state bonds for the bullet train project approved by voters in 2008. However, the schedule went awry when the bond sale was blocked by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny in late November 2013.
Kenny said the California High-Speed Rail Authority failed to follow legal requirements in authorizing the bonds. He said the rail project no longer resembled the one approved by voters in 2008 and ordered the state to come up with a new funding plan.
Proposition 1A, which narrowly passed in 2008, authorized $9.95 billion of general obligation bonds as initial funding for a 500-mile rail system with trains that could operate at speeds up to 200 miles per hour.
The state's request for a quick review of the lower court's ruling was approved last week by California's 3rd District Court of Appeal.
The state hopes to have the bond proceeds available for the project in 2015, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales said in the Feb. 20 letter to the FRA seeking the extension.
The state has spent $255 million from the federal grant and matched it with $95 million of its own funds, Morales said.
The additional 90 days may give the California State Legislature time to consider the $250 million of state matching funds for the bullet train project in Gov. Jerry Brown's budget for fiscal 2015. The matching funds would come from revenue generated by California's cap and trade emissions program, which totaled more than $350 million over the past 12 months.
The California high-speed rail project has been awarded $3.9 billion in federal funding, almost 40% of the high speed rail grants authorized by the 2009 stimulus act and fiscal 2010 budget.
The 90-day extension allows the state once again to avoid its obligation for a $180 million match, said Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials.
"The Federal Railroad Administration is protecting the authority yet again and putting California taxpayers at greater risk," Denham said. "In December 2012, the FRA changed their agreement to allow for a tapered match rather than the standard concurrent match. Now they've changed the agreement again."
Denham filed a bill in January that would suspend federal spending for the rail project until the full state match is assured. The bill, HR 3893, is co-sponsored by the Republicans in California's congressional delegation.
"It is obvious that the Authority is determined to build at any cost despite their failure to get court approval and provide a business plan that passes muster," Denham said.
