13477.6.
(a) The State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Small Community Grant Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury.(b) The following moneys shall be deposited in the grant fund:
(1) Moneys transferred to the grant fund pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2) Notwithstanding Section 16475 of the Government Code, any interest earned upon the moneys deposited in the grant fund.
(3) Any moneys deposited pursuant to Section 79723.
(4) All moneys collected pursuant to subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e).
(c) (1) For any financing made pursuant to Section 13480, the
board may assess an annual charge to be deposited in the grant fund in lieu of interest that would otherwise be charged.
(2) The charge authorized by this subdivision may be applied at any time during the term of the financing, and, once applied, shall remain unchanged unless the board determines that the application of the charge is any of the following:
(A) No longer consistent with federal requirements regarding the fund.
(B) No longer necessary.
(C) Negatively affecting the board’s ability to fund projects that support its water quality goals.
(3) The charge shall not increase the
financing repayment amount as set forth in the terms and conditions imposed pursuant to this chapter.
(4) If the board ceases collecting the charge before the financing repayment is complete, the board shall replace the charge with an identical interest rate.
(d) (1) Moneys in the grant fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be expended, in accordance with this chapter, for grants for wastewater projects described in subdivision (c) of Section 1383 of Title 33 of the United States Code that serve small communities as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 30925 of the Public Resources Code. The board shall expend moneys appropriated from the grant fund within four years from the date of encumbrance.
(2) For the purpose of approving grants, the board shall give priority to projects that serve severely disadvantaged communities.
(3) In addition to the uses set forth in paragraph (1), moneys deposited in the grant fund pursuant to Section 79723, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be expended for technical assistance as authorized by Section 79725.
(e) (1) Within 60 days of awarding a grant under this section, the board shall provide a project proponent that requests an advanced payment with the requested advanced
payment, up to a maximum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or 50 percent of the grant award, whichever is less, provided the project satisfies all of the following criteria:
(A) The project proponent is a nonprofit organization or a disadvantaged community, or the project benefits a disadvantaged community.
(B) The project proponent has demonstrated to the board’s satisfaction a need for an advanced payment.
(C) (i) The project proponent has demonstrated to the board’s satisfaction that the project proponent is sufficiently qualified to manage the project and the finances of the project.
(ii) If the board is not satisfied that the project proponent is sufficiently qualified to manage the project and the finances of the project, the board may impose additional requirements on the project proponent, including requiring additional partners to manage the project, the financing, or both.
(2) Funds advanced pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be handled as follows:
(A) The recipient shall place the funds in a noninterest-bearing account until expended.
(B) The funds shall be spent within six months of the date of receipt, unless the board waives this requirement.
(C) The recipient shall, on a quarterly basis, provide an accountability
report to the board regarding the expenditure and use of any advanced grant funds that provides, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) An itemization as to how advanced payment funds provided under this section have been expended.
(ii) A project itemization as to how any remaining advanced payment funds provided under this section will be expended over the period specified in subparagraph (B).
(iii) Whether the funds are placed in a noninterest-bearing account, and if so, the date that occurred and the dates of withdrawals of funds from that account, if applicable.
(iv) An evaluation of whether the project is on schedule or not. If the project is behind
schedule, the report shall identify what has caused the delay and actions taken or being taken to remedy the delay.
(D) If funds are not expended, the unused portion of the grant shall be returned to the board within 60 days after project completion or the end of the grant performance period, whichever is earlier.
(E) The board may adopt additional requirements for the recipient regarding the use of the advanced payment to ensure that the funds are used properly, including provisions for random audits and other verifications of the authorized use of funds.
(F) The board may impose penalties for misuse of advanced payments as follows:
(i) A recipient may be barred from receipt of financial assistance from the board for a term of years or permanently.
(ii) The board may recover any costs incurred.
(iii) The board may, through the Attorney General, bring an action in superior court to enforce the provisions of this section, whether criminal or civil.
(iv) Any person, including a recipient, recipient’s contractors, consultants, employees, agents, assignees, or grantees who violates any requirement or term of a financial assistance agreement from the board is liable for a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1000) for each day of violation, not to exceed 25 percent of the total amount of the financial assistance agreement.
(v) A person who fails or refuses to furnish information or furnishes false information to the board in connection with a financial assistance agreement, in accordance with the requirements of subparagraph (C), is subject to civil liability of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation described by this clause.
(3) If the project proponent rejects additional requirements imposed by the board pursuant to clause (ii) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) or if the board determines that no additional requirements it may impose could make the project proponent sufficiently qualified to manage the project and the finances of the project, the board may reject the request.
(4) As used in this subdivision, “disadvantaged community” and
“nonprofit organization” have the same meanings as defined in Section 79702.