SECTIONS 215.5-216.5

215.5.  (a) The department shall develop and implement a system ofpriorities for ranking the need for installation of noise attenuationbarriers along freeways in the California freeway and expresswaysystem. In establishing a priority system, the department shall givethe highest consideration to residential areas which were developedprior to the opening of the freeway. If alterations have been made tothe freeway since its original opening which result in a significantand measurable increase in ambient noise levels, the opening datefor that segment of the freeway, for the purposes of determiningpriorities under this section, is the completion date of thatalteration project. Other criteria for determining priorities shallinclude the existing and future intensity of sound generated by thefreeway, the increase in traffic flow since the original constructionof the freeway, the cost of building the soundwall in relation tothe expected noise reduction, the number of persons living in closeproximity to the freeway, and whether a majority of the occupants inclose proximity to the freeway resided there prior to the time thefreeway routing was adopted by the commission. The city or county inwhich the residential area is located shall be responsible forproviding documentation to the department on the percentage oforiginal occupants still residing along the freeway. The actual cost of construction shall be used in determining therelative priority ranking of projects funded and constructed pursuantto subdivision (d). (b) When all freeways have been ranked in priority order, thedepartment shall, consistent with available funding, include in itsproposed state transportation improvement program, a program ofconstruction of noise attenuation barriers beginning with the highestpriority. In preparing the annual priority list, the department shall notadd any new project to the list ahead of a project that has beenfunded by a city or county, or by any other public agency usingpublic funds, and is awaiting state reimbursement pursuant tosubdivision (d). (c) The commission shall include in the estimate adopted pursuantto Section 14525 of the Government Code an annual and five-yearestimate of funds estimated to be available for noise attenuationbarriers along freeways. If any city or county constructs a noiseattenuation barrier along a freeway pursuant to subdivision (d), thecommission shall allocate funds for the project in the fiscal yearthe project would have been eligible for funding based on thedepartment's priority list and the commission's fund estimate at thetime of approval of the project pursuant to subdivision (d). (d) If any city, county, or public agency constructs a noiseattenuation barrier along a freeway using public funds prior to thetime that the barrier reaches a high enough priority for statefunding, then, when the funding priority is reached, the departmentshall reimburse the city, county, or public agency without interestfor the cost of construction, but the reimbursement may not exceedthe cost of the department to construct the barriers. Reimbursementshall be made only if the city, county, or public agency constructsthe noise attenuation barrier to the standards approved bydepartment, follows bidding and contracting procedures approved bythe department, and the project is approved by the commission.215.6.  If any city or county contributes at least 33 percent of theestimated cost of any soundwall project included for the first timein the state transportation improvement program in 1992 or insubsequent years, that project shall be given priority over all othersoundwall projects to be included for the first time in that statetransportation improvement program. If, due to the acceleratedpriority given a project by this section, two or more projects eachqualify for the highest priority, the relative ranking between thetwo projects shall be determined on the basis of their relativeranking prior to being accelerated.215.7.  (a) In the event of the destruction of any segment of astate highway due to a natural disaster, when that segment remainsout of service for five years or more, the department may, forpurposes of mitigating the effects of increased traffic and noise onalternate state highways, use funds from the State Highway Account inthe State Transportation Fund sufficient in amount to meet the state's required matching share of the costs of construction of noiseattenuation barriers on any alternate state highway where traffic hasincreased due to the destruction of that segment if the constructionof those barriers is eligible for at least 25 percent funding fromfederal emergency relief funds and otherwise meets the requirementsof Section 215.5. That amount is hereby appropriated to thedepartment from that account, as a loan, that shall be repaid fromfunds made available under subdivision (d) of Section 215.5 for thatconstruction. (b) For purposes of this section, "natural disaster" has themeaning as defined in Section 8680.3 of the Government Code.216.  (a) The noise level produced by the traffic on, or by theconstruction of, a state freeway shall be measured in the classrooms,libraries, multipurpose rooms, and spaces used for pupil personnelservices of a public or private elementary or secondary school if therooms or spaces are being used for the purpose for which they wereconstructed and they were constructed under any of the followingcircumstances: (1) Prior to the award of the initial construction contract forthe freeway route and prior to January 1, 1974. (2) After December 31, 1973, and prior to the issuance of astatement of present and projected noise levels of the freeway routeby the department pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 65302 of theGovernment Code. (3) Subsequent to the construction of the freeway but prior to anyalteration or expansion of the freeway that results in a significantand perceptible increase in ambient noise levels in the rooms orspaces. (b) The measurements shall be made at appropriate times duringregular school hours and shall not include noise from sources thatexceed the maximum permitted by law. (c) If the noise level produced from the freeway traffic, or theconstruction of the freeway, exceeds 55dBA, L10, or 52dBA, Leq., thedepartment shall undertake a noise abatement program in anyclassroom, library, multipurpose room, or space used for pupilpersonnel services to reduce the freeway traffic noise level thereinto 55dBA, L10, or 52dBA, Leq., or less, by, measures including, butnot limited to, installing acoustical materials, eliminating windows,installing air-conditioning, or constructing sound bafflestructures. (d) If the department determines that the construction of thefreeway will result in a noise level exceeding 55dBA, L10, or 52dBA,Leq., the department shall complete the temporary or permanent noiseabatement program prior to commencing that construction, or as soonas practicable thereafter. (e) If it becomes necessary to convert the classrooms, libraries,multipurpose rooms, or spaces used for pupil personnel services toother school-related purposes because the freeway traffic noise leveltherein exceeds 55dBA, L10, or 52dBA, Leq., the department shall paythe cost of the conversions. (f) If the noise level generated from sources within and withoutthe classrooms, libraries, multipurpose rooms, or spaces used forpupil personnel services exceeds 55dBA, L10, or 52dBA, Leq. prior toconstruction of the freeway or completion of the alteration orexpansion of the freeway, as the case may be, and the noise from thefreeway, or its construction, alteration, or expansion, also exceeds55dBA, L10, or 52dBA, Leq., the department shall undertake a noiseabatement program that will reduce the noise to its preconstruction,prealteration, or preexpansion level. (g) Priority for noise abatement programs shall be given to thosepublic and private elementary and secondary classrooms, libraries,multipurpose rooms, and spaces used for pupil personnel servicesconstructed in conformance with Article 3 (commencing with Section17280) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of theEducation Code or subject to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a). (h) As used in this section, dBA means decibels measured by the "A"weighting described in Section 3.1 of the American National Standardspecification for sound level meters, S1.4-1971, approved April 27,1971, and published by the American National Standards Institute. L10is the sound level that is exceeded 10 percent of the time for theperiod under consideration and is a value which is an indicator ofboth the magnitude and frequency of occurrence of the loudest noiseevents. Leq. is the equivalent steady state sound which in a statedperiod of time would contain the same acoustic energy as thetime-varying sound level during the same time period.216.1.  As used in Section 216, "spaces used for pupil personnelservices" means rooms that are used primarily for counseling,testing, or similar type services involving the presence of pupils.216.5.  (a) The department shall construct at least onedemonstration noise attenuation barrier fabricated from rice strawupon meeting the conditions and requirements of this section. (b) Prior to construction of the barrier specified in subdivision(a), the department shall identify an appropriate location, and shalldevelop separate cost estimates for constructing a barrier at thatlocation using a standard noise attenuation barrier design andconstructing the barrier using the rice straw design. (c) If a noise barrier system fabricated from rice straw appearson the department's list of approved noise barrier systems, thedepartment shall, within one year, identify a suitable regularlyprogrammed transportation project that includes a noise barrierelement for construction of the demonstration noise barrier system.In making its project selection, the department shall considerprojected completion schedules for potential candidate projects withthe intent of completing the demonstration project expeditiously. (d) The department shall not be required to construct the ricestraw barrier specified in subdivision (a) until all the followinghave occurred: (1) A noise barrier system fabricated from rice straw is approvedby the department and appears on the department's list of approvednoise barrier systems. (2) Funding has been secured and made available by themanufacturer of the selected rice straw system to offset anyadditional costs incurred by the department in using the rice strawbarrier design based on the cost estimates prepared pursuant tosubdivision (b). (3) A location has been identified for construction of the ricestraw barrier system that meets safety, environmental, and relatedproject requirements, and sufficient funding has been programmed andis available for construction of the barrier based on the costestimate for the standard noise barrier design. (e) The department may select any approved rice straw barriersystem for use in the demonstration project as long as themanufacturer of the selected system secures and provides the requiredfunding specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d). If nomanufacturer of an approved rice straw barrier system provides therequired funding, the department shall not be required to completethe demonstration project. (f) The department shall, on or before January 1, 2005, transmitto the Legislature a report regarding the implementation of thissection.