State highways: encroachment permits: relocating or removing encroachments: public utility districts: County of Mendocino.

Assembly Member Rogers proposes shifting the financial burden of utility infrastructure relocation from small public utility districts in Mendocino County to the California Department of Transportation when state highway improvements require such changes. The legislation creates an exception to current law requiring permit holders to pay for relocating their infrastructure during highway projects.

Under the measure, public utility districts in Mendocino County serving 5,000 or fewer households would no longer bear the costs of moving their facilities when highway work necessitates relocation. Instead, the Department of Transportation would assume these expenses and must notify affected utility districts at each stage of projects requiring infrastructure changes. The existing requirement for other permit holders to fund their own relocations remains unchanged, except for previously established exemptions like public transit guideways.

The bill's findings cite Mendocino County's distinct geographic features and rural character, noting that state highways divide multiple communities throughout the region. These conditions, according to the legislative declaration, place unique burdens on local entities when relocating utilities for transportation projects - circumstances that warrant specialized treatment through this targeted policy change.