(a) The Central California Railroad Authority is hereby created, having a service area comprised of the Counties of Kern, Kings, Tulare, Fresno, and Merced, to provide rail freight service within those counties.

(b) The Counties of Madera, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin may elect to join the authority and, if that election is made, the service area of the authority is expanded to include those counties.

(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 234, Sec. 1. (SB 325) Effective January 1, 2012.)