Bill Text


Add To My Favorites | print page

AB-1341 Financing authorities: grants and loans.(2005-2006)

SHARE THIS: share this bill in Facebook share this bill in Twitter
AB1341:v93#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 1341
CHAPTER 714

An act to amend Section 94212 of the Education Code, to amend Section 15455 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 44526 and 44561 of, and to repeal and amend Section 44525.6 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to community development, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

[ Approved by Governor  September 29, 2006. Filed with Secretary of State  September 29, 2006. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1341, Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. Financing authorities: grants and loans.
(1) The California Educational Facilities Authority Act, the Health Facilities Financing Authority Act, and the California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act each establish an authority to finance facilities as specified in the act. Each of those acts are deemed to provide a complete, additional, and alternative method for doing the things authorized in the respective act, and those acts are required to be regarded as supplemental and additional to powers conferred by other laws. Under those acts, except as otherwise provided, the issuance of bonds and refunding bonds are exempt from other laws applicable to the issuance of bonds, including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), but a project that is financed in accordance with the act is not exempt from any law that is otherwise applicable to the project.
This bill would amend those acts to require a project applicant to provide documentation, before the authority approves the issuance of bonds for the project, that the project has complied with CEQA, or is not a project under CEQA.
The California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act, until January 1, 2007, authorizes the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to provide grants and loans, not to exceed $5,000,000, to cities and counties deemed eligible by the authority, to assist in the development of various programs and policies to, among other things, reduce pollution hazards and the degradation of the environment, or promote infill development to revitalize communities. The authority is required, until that date, to annually report to the Legislature regarding the grant and loan program.
This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2012, and would increase the amount of the grants and loans under the program to $7,500,000. It would also repeal an obsolete provision of law.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 94212 of the Education Code is amended to read:

94212.
 (a) This chapter shall be deemed to provide a complete, additional, and alternative method for doing the things authorized by this chapter, and shall be regarded as supplemental and additional to powers conferred by other laws. The issuance of bonds and refunding bonds under this chapter need not comply with any other law applicable to the issuance of bonds including, but not limited to, Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a), a project that is financed in accordance with this chapter shall not be exempt from any provision of law that is otherwise applicable to the project, and the applicant shall provide documentation, before the authority approves the issuance of bonds for the project, that the project has complied with Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, or is not a project under that division.

SEC. 2.

 Section 15455 of the Government Code is amended to read:

15455.
 (a) This part shall be deemed to provide a complete, additional, and alternative method for doing the things authorized by this part, and shall be regarded as supplemental and additional to powers conferred by other laws. The issuance of bonds and refunding bonds under this chapter need not comply with any other law applicable to the issuance of bonds, including, but not limited to, Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (a), the financing of a project pursuant to this part shall not exempt a project from any requirement of law that is otherwise applicable to the project, and the applicant shall provide documentation, before the authority approves the issuance of bonds for the project, that the project has complied with Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, or is not a project under that division.

SEC. 3.

 Section 44525.6 of the Health and Safety Code, as added by Section 5 of Chapter 914 of the Statutes of 2000, is repealed.

SEC. 4.

 Section 44525.6 of the Health and Safety Code, as added by Section 5.5 of Chapter 914 of the Statutes of 2000, is amended to read:

44525.6.
 (a) Commencing in 2002, and annually thereafter, the authority shall submit a report to the Legislature regarding the loan program described in subdivision (g) of Section 44526 describing the total amount of loans issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 44526 in the previous calendar year, the amount of each loan issued, and a description of the programs awarded funding.
(b) This section shall become operative only if Senate Bill 1986 of the 1999–2000 Regular Session is enacted after Assembly Bill 779 of the 1999–2000 Regular Session and adds subdivision (g) to Section 44526.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 5.

 Section 44526 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44526.
 The authority is authorized to do any of the following:
(a) To determine the location and character of any project to be financed under the provisions of this division, to lend financial assistance to any participating party, to construct, reconstruct, renovate, replace, lease, as lessor or lessee, and regulate the same, and to enter into contracts for the sale of any pollution control facilities, including installment sales or sales under conditional sales contracts, and to make loans to participating parties to lend financial assistance in the acquisition, construction, or installation of a project.
(b) To issue bonds, notes, bond anticipation notes, and other obligations of the authority for any of its corporate purposes, and to fund or refund the same, all as provided in this division.
(c) To fix fees and charges for pollution control facilities, and to revise from time to time those fees and charges, and to collect rates, rents, fees, and charges for the use of and for any facilities or services furnished, or to be furnished, by a project or any part thereof and to contract with any person, partnership, association, corporation, or public agency with respect thereto, and to fix the terms and conditions upon which any pollution control facilities may be sold or disposed of, whether upon installment sales contracts or otherwise.
(d) To employ and fix the compensation of bond counsel, financial consultants, and advisers as may be necessary in its judgment in connection with the issuance and sale of any bonds, notes, bond anticipation notes, or other obligations of the authority; to contract for engineering, architectural, accounting, or other services of appropriate agencies as may be necessary in the judgment of the authority for the successful development of any project; and to pay the reasonable costs of consulting engineers, architects, accountants, and construction experts employed by any participating party if, in the judgment of the authority, those services are necessary to the successful development of any project, and those services are not obtainable from any public agency.
(e) To receive and accept loans, contributions, or grants, of money, property, labor, or other things of value, for, or in aid of, the authority in carrying out the purposes of this division, from any source, including, but not limited to, the federal government, the state, or any agency of the state, any local government or agency thereof, or any nonprofit or for-profit private entity or individual.
(f) To apply for, and accept, subventions, grants, loans, advances, and contributions from any source, of money, property, labor, or other things of value. The sources may include, but are not limited to, bond proceeds, dedicated taxes, state appropriations, federal appropriations, federal grant and loan funds, public and private sector retirement system funds, and proceeds of loans from the Pooled Money Investment Account.
(g) To provide grants and loans to any city or county deemed eligible by the authority. The grants and loans shall be used to assist California neighborhoods suffering from high poverty or unemployment levels, or from low-income levels, to assist cities and counties in developing and implementing growth policies and programs that reduce pollution hazards and the degradation of the environment, or to promote infill development to revitalize these communities. The grants and loans may be used to employ the technical expertise necessary to identify, assess, and complete applications for state, federal, and private economic assistance programs that develop and implement sustainable development and sound environmental policies and programs. Priority shall be given to applicants lacking the resources to identify, assess, and complete applications to economic assistance, and for those lacking the resources to develop and implement sustainable growth and other sound environmental policies and programs. The authority shall fund these grants and loans from any funds available to the authority or set aside for the authority’s administrative expenses. The authority may not award more than seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($7,500,000) in grants and loans pursuant to this subdivision. This subdivision shall remain operative only until January 1, 2012.
(h) (1) To provide a loan directly, or indirectly through one or more public or private sector intermediaries, to any city, county, school district, redevelopment agency, financial institution, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 44559.1, for-profit or not-for-profit organization, or participating party, as defined in Section 44506, to assist in financing, among other things, the costs of performing or obtaining brownfield site assessments, remedial action plans and reports, technical assistance, the cleanup, remediation, or development of brownfield sites, or any other similar or related costs, subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, procedures, and regulations.
(2) The authority shall establish standards and criteria to ensure that a recipient of direct or indirect financing for cleanup or remediation pursuant to this subdivision has the necessary financial resources and expertise to successfully and appropriately complete the cleanup or remediation of the property.
(3) The authority may pay all, or a portion, of the associated program development and implementation costs of any public or private sector intermediaries through which a loan is made. A loan authorized by this subdivision is subject to both of the following:
(A) A loan may be used in connection with a brownfield site prior to a determination of whether the site has a reasonable potential for economically beneficial reuse.
(B) A loan may be made upon the terms determined by the authority and may provide for any rate of interest or no interest.
(4) The authority shall fund a loan made pursuant to this subdivision from any funds available to it, from any funds set aside for the authority’s administrative expenses, or from any small business assistance fund established for these purposes pursuant to Section 44548.
(5) The authority may waive repayment of all, or a portion, of any loan made pursuant to this subdivision upon conditions to be determined by the authority, and the amount so waived shall be deemed a grant to the recipient.
(i) To do all things generally necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this division.

SEC. 6.

 Section 44561 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44561.
 (a) This division provides a complete, additional, and alternative method for the doing of the things authorized by this division, and is supplemental and additional to powers conferred by other laws. The issuance of bonds and refunding bonds under this division need not comply with any other law applicable to the issuance of bonds including, but not limited to, Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code. In the construction and acquisition of a project pursuant to this division, the authority need not comply with any other law applicable to the construction or acquisition of public works, except as specifically provided in this division. Pollution control facilities and projects may be acquired, constructed, completed, repaired, altered, improved, or extended, and bonds may be issued for any of those purposes under this division, notwithstanding that any other law may provide for the acquisition, construction, completion, repair, alteration, improvement, or extension of like pollution control facilities or for the issuance of bonds for like purposes, and without regard to the requirements, restrictions, limitations, or other provisions contained in any other law.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (a), the financing of a project pursuant to this division shall not exempt a project from any requirement of law that is otherwise applicable to the project, and the applicant shall provide documentation, before the authority approves the issuance of bonds for the project, that the project has complied with Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, or is not a project under that division.

SEC. 7.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to resolve crises in development planning for urban communities and ameliorate further pollution or other environmental degradation associated with urban growth, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.