SB1425 - High-Speed Rail Authority: property: operating right-of-way.

Enrolled August 28, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 26, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 25, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 21, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 13, 2026 Amended IN Assembly July 02, 2026 Amended IN Assembly June 24, 2026 Amended IN Senate May 14, 2026 Amended IN Senate March 25, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1425 Introduced by Senator Cortese February 20, 2026 An act to amend Section 185045 of, and to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520) to Division 19.5 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to high-speed rail. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1425, Cortese. High-Speed Rail Authority: property: operating right-of-way. The California High-Speed Rail Act creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state, with specified powers and duties, including the power to acquire rights-of-way through purchase or eminent domain, as specified. This bill would establish a permit program, administered by the authority, for encroachments on the authority’s operating right-of-way. The bill would make any person who installs or performs an encroachment within the authority’s operating right-of-way, without a permit, guilty of a misdemeanor, except as provided. The bill would also make any person who willfully damages any feature of the high-speed train system or any portion of the authority’s operating right-of-way guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill would provide for civil penalties for specified categories of encroachment and, unless authorized by law or an encroachment permit, would make it unlawful to manage water flows in certain ways that impact the high-speed train system or the authority’s operating right-of-way, as specified. The bill would authorize the authority or the Attorney General to recover these civil penalties. The bill would require all moneys, including moneys from permit fees and civil penalties, collected pursuant to its provisions to be deposited into the High-Speed Rail Property Fund, except for the award of any reasonable attorney’s fees and costs provided to the recovering agency to recoup the cost of litigation, as provided. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, make the penalty moneys available to the authority for use in the development, improvement, and maintenance of the high-speed rail system, and the fee revenues collected under the permit program available to the authority to administer the program. By creating new crimes, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 185045 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 185045. (a) The High-Speed Rail Property Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury for the deposit of both of the following: (1) Revenue received from the sale, lease, or grant of any interest in or use of real property owned or managed by the High-Speed Rail Authority. (2) Moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520). (b) (1) Revenues in the fund described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) and revenues in the fund collected from any penalties imposed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520) shall be available to the authority, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for use in the development, improvement, and maintenance of the high-speed rail system, consistent with appropriate uses for each funding source. (2) Revenues in the fund collected from any fees imposed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520) shall be available to the authority, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520), consistent with the appropriate use for each of those fees. SEC. 2. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 185520) is added to Division 19.5 of the Public Utilities Code, to read: CHAPTER 6. Care and Protection of the High-Speed Train System 185520. Unless the provisions or context requires otherwise, the following definitions govern the construction of this chapter: (a) “Emergency” means a sudden, unexpected occurrence that poses a clear and imminent danger, requiring immediate action to prevent or mitigate the loss or impairment of life, health, property, or essential public services. (b) “Encroachment” means any of the following: (1) Installation of any tower, pole, pipe, fence, building, structure, sign, billboard, vegetation, object, or improvement of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this chapter, that is placed in, on, under, or over any portion of the authority’s operating right-of-way. (2) Performance of any activity, event, use, access, or other intrusion of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this chapter, that occurs in, under, or over any portion of the authority’s operating right-of-way. (c) “Encroachment permit” means the authority’s written authorization for a person to install or perform an encroachment within the authority’s operating right-of-way that is not inconsistent with the function, operation, maintenance, enlargement, rehabilitation, safety, or security of any portion of the authority’s operating right-of-way or any feature of the high-speed train system. (d) “High-speed train system” means the high-speed train system described in subdivision (e) of Section 2704.01 of the Streets and Highways Code. (e) “Operating right-of-way” means any property interest, including, but not limited to, an easement, license, permit, joint-use agreement, or fee ownership, that is acquired by the authority for the function, operation, maintenance, enlargement, rehabilitation, safety, or security of the high-speed train system, including land needed for tracks, stations, maintenance facilities, communications facilities, energy generation and storage facilities, and any other land serving the corridor, such as embankments, drainage, access roads, and safety buffers. “Operating right-of-way” does not include property acquired or held by the authority that is not necessary for the high-speed train system’s construction, operation, or maintenance. (f) “Person” means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, other business entity, nonprofit organization, utility company, or government entity. (g) “Protected agreement” means an agreement entered into, or a permit issued, pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 185500) with respect to a facility located within, or affecting, the authority’s operating right-of-way or high-speed rail property. (h) “Qualified installation” means a crossing, facility, or infrastructure installed on the authority’s operating right-of-way on or after January 1, 2027. (i) “Qualified work” means work necessary to implement a qualified installation on the authority’s operating right-of-way, or to repair, maintain, expand, or relocate an existing crossing or structure. “Qualified work” does not include an emergency response necessary to prevent or mitigate a threat to life, health, property, or essential public services. 185521. (a) This chapter shall not limit the powers and duties vested by law in the Public Utilities Commission, and if there is any conflict with regard to the powers and duties given to the authority by this chapter, those of the Public Utilities Commission shall prevail. (b) This chapter shall not limit the powers and duties vested by federal law in the Federal Railroad Administration or the federal Surface Transportation Board, and if there is any conflict with regard to the powers and duties given to the authority by this chapter, those of the Federal Railroad Administration and the federal Surface Transportation Board shall prevail. (c) This chapter does not alter or impair any right that a person obtained pursuant to an agreement entered into, or a permit issued, pursuant to a protected agreement. 185522. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a person shall not install or perform any encroachment within the authority’s operating right-of-way without first obtaining an encroachment permit from the authority. (b) (1) The requirement to obtain an encroachment permit under this chapter shall apply only to qualified installations and qualified work. (2) A party that has entered into a protected agreement shall be required to obtain a permit under the procedures set forth in the protected agreement, but if the protected agreement does not prescribe a procedure for obtaining a permit, the party shall be required to obtain a permit pursuant to this chapter. (c) Crossings, facilities, or infrastructure that must be relocated to accommodate the high-speed train system shall be relocated pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 185500). (d) (1) A person shall not enter into the authority’s operating right-of-way, including under emergency situations, without the authority’s prior express consent, except where such entry is reasonable and necessary to respond to, and mitigate, an emergency situation and provided that the entry does not further impede public safety. (2) The authority shall establish reasonable notification and coordination rules for emergencies related to encroachments that facilitate an emergency response necessary to protect life, health, property, essential public services, utility reliability, or public safety. A person performing emergency work shall immediately notify the authority of that work. (e) Any person who violates subdivision (a) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 185523. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no person has any franchise rights within the authority’s operating right-of-way. (b) (1) Subject to paragraph (2), this chapter does not do any of the following: (A) Alter or impair any right of a city, county, city and county, or state agency to grant a franchise in a street, highway, or freeway controlled by the city, county, city and county, or state agency. (B) Alter or impair any right of a utility to exercise its franchise rights in a street, highway, or freeway controlled by a city, county, city and county, or state agency. (2) In cases where a street, highway, or freeway crosses the authority’s operating right-of-way and the grades of the authority’s operating right-of-way and the street, highway, or freeway are separated, a franchise shall be exercised only on the street, highway, or freeway, shall not authorize the installation of a facility without the authority’s prior approval in writing, and shall be subject to the requirements of Section 185525 when work is performed on the facility installed pursuant to the franchise. 185524. (a) The authority may issue an encroachment permit, in accordance with this chapter, that authorizes a permittee to install or perform any kind of encroachment that is not inconsistent with the function, operation, maintenance, enlargement, rehabilitation, safety, or security of the high-speed train system or the authority’s operating right-of-way. (b) By issuing an encroachment permit, the authority is not responsible for the competence or reliability of the permittee or the encroachment. 185525. (a) Any person proposing to install or perform an encroachment within the authority’s operating right-of-way shall apply to the authority on a form prescribed by the authority, along with all reports, studies, plans, analyses, and other supporting documents as required by the authority. (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the authority shall approve or deny an application for an encroachment permit no later than 60 days from the date of receipt of the complete application, as determined by the authority. An application for an encroachment permit is complete when all applicable requirements and statutory requirements, including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), have been met. No later than 30 days from the date on which the application is received, the authority shall determine whether the application is complete. (2) An application for an encroachment permit under this chapter that is submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) by a city, county, city and county, or public agency that possesses a real property interest under or over the authority’s right-of-way shall not be denied. Every applicant described in this paragraph is entitled to an encroachment permit as a matter of right, but is otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter and to all reasonable terms and conditions of the permit. (c) If the authority denies an application for an encroachment permit, it shall provide reasons for the denial at the time of notifying the applicant of the denial. (d) The applicant may choose to address the reasons for denial and resubmit a revised encroachment permit application for reconsideration by the authority. The authority shall approve or deny a resubmitted application no later than 60 days from the date of receipt of a complete resubmitted application addressing all the reasons of denial. (e) If the applicant cannot complete the encroachment project design without the authority’s involvement and support, the authority may support the applicant with the project development, notwithstanding the timelines and requirements set forth in subdivision (b). The authority may establish the processes and requirements for those projects, as appropriate. The applicant shall reimburse the authority for all the costs expended by the authority in accordance with the authority’s fee schedule established pursuant to Section 185529. (f) An appeal of a denial of an encroachment permit application shall be made in writing to the authority’s executive director or the designee of the executive director. There shall be a final written determination by the executive director or designee of the executive director within 60 calendar days after receipt of the applicant’s written appeal. The appellant shall pay to the authority a fee of not more than 50 percent of the estimated administrative cost to the authority for conducting the appeal. (g) Nothing in this chapter precludes an applicant and the authority from mutually agreeing to an extension of any time limit provided by this section. 185526. The authority may adopt regulations to implement this chapter, including regulations that provide for the filing of an application for an encroachment permit, related administrative review and inspection, the imposition of fees, the terms and conditions of encroachment permits, an administrative appeal process, and [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]