Amended  IN  Senate  June 22, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 18, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 444

Introduced by Assembly Member Addis
(Principal coauthor: Senator Ochoa Bogh)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alvarez, Boerner, Juan Carrillo, Hart, and Wilson)
(Coauthor: Senator Laird)(Coauthors: Senators Grove, Laird, and Roth)

February 06, 2023

An act to add Article 5.6 (commencing with Section 65053) to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, relating to state government.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 444, as amended, Addis. California Defense Community Infrastructure Program.
Existing law establishes within state government the Office of Planning and Research as the comprehensive state planning agency for long-range planning and research. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, establishes within state government a Governor’s Military Council that serves under the direction of the Military Department to advise the Governor on efforts to retain military installations and operations within this state that are necessary for the defense of the nation and to coordinate and focus those efforts.
This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the California Defense Community Infrastructure Program, which would require the Office of Planning and Research to grant funds and provide technical assistance to local agencies to assist with matching fund requirements in applications for funds from the federal Defense Community Infrastructure Program. The bill would require the office, in consultation with the Governor’s Military Council, to develop guidelines for the program that, where possible, align with the guidelines of the federal program.
This bill would require the office to use specified project criteria, define an eligible project, as specified, rank eligible projects, as specified, and award grants based on the available funds. The bill would require the office to give priority to projects located in, or that would provide services to people who live in, a disadvantaged community, as defined.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Article 5.6 (commencing with Section 65053) is added to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:
Article  5.6. California Defense Community Infrastructure Program

65053.
 The California Defense Community Infrastructure Program is hereby established and shall be administered by the office in accordance with this article.

65053.1.
 The office shall develop and administer the California Defense Community Infrastructure Program to issue grants and provide technical assistance for either of the following purposes:
(a) To provide a full or partial grant to assist a community with any matching fund requirement in its application for funds from the federal Defense Community Infrastructure Program, as authorized by Section 2809 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (10 U.S.C. Sec. 2391).
(b) To provide grant funds to a local government to aid in identifying, planning, analyzing, or performing an environmental review or other activities, as defined by the office, to assist in identifying or securing grant funding for potential community infrastructure projects that may qualify for funding under subdivision (a).

65053.2.
 (a) The office shall develop guidelines for the program pursuant to this article in consultation with the Governor’s Military Council and, where possible, align these guidelines to match those in the federal program. The guidelines shall not be subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2.
(b) For a project pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 65053.1, the office shall establish a minimum set of requirements for eligibility that shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The proposed project is not located on a military installation or is on federal property subject to a long-term real estate agreement, including, but not limited to, a lease or easement.
(2) The applicant has site control over the area for the proposed project.
(3) The proposed project has a letter of support from the applicable military installation commander.
(4) The proposed project is any of the following:
(A) A transportation project.
(B) A school, hospital, police, fire, emergency response, or other community support facility.
(C) A water, wastewater, telecommunications, electric, gas, or other utility infrastructure project.
(5) The proposed project demonstrates a benefit to the local community and the United States Department of Defense installation proposed in the application.
(c) The office shall determine the appropriate number and timing for soliciting and awarding grants.
(d) In developing the guidelines to administer this program, the office shall review and take into account the federally adopted guidelines for the California Defense Community Infrastructure Program, as established under Section 2391 of Title 10 of the United States Code, and shall ensure that the program qualifies to serve as state matching requirements established therein.

65053.3.
 (a) The office shall rank proposed projects based on criteria established by the program and shall award grants based on the funds available.
(b) The office shall give priority to projects located in, or that can be shown to provide services to people who live in, a disadvantaged community. For the purposes of this subdivision, “disadvantaged community” means a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income based on current data identified by the office.

65053.4.
 (a) The office may, upon approval by the Department of Finance, award grants pursuant to this article without regard to fiscal year only for the purposes specified in this article.
(b) The office shall not distribute grant funds for a project pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 65053.1 prior to the awarding of grant funds from the federal Defense Community Infrastructure Program.
(c) Amounts appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose of issuing grants pursuant to this article shall remain available until expended. Appropriated amounts shall include reasonable administration costs for the office to administer the program.

65053.5.
 This article shall become operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.