BILL NUMBER: SB 208 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 675
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 9, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lara
(Coauthor: Senator Hueso)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dodd, Jones-Sawyer, and Weber)
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
An act to add and repeal Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10551)
of Part 2.2 of Division 6 of the Water Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 208, Lara. Integrated regional water management plans: grants:
advanced payment.
Existing law, the Integrated Regional Water Management Planning
Act, authorizes a regional water management group to prepare and
adopt an integrated regional water management plan with specified
components relating to water supply and water quality. Existing law
provides that an integrated regional water management plan is
eligible for funding allocated specifically for implementation of
integrated regional water management.
Existing law, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure
Improvement Act of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at
the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, authorizes the
issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,545,000,000
to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement
program. The act provides that the sum of $810,000,000 is to be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditures
on, and competitive grants and loans to, projects that are included
in and implemented in an adopted integrated regional water management
plan and respond to climate change and contribute to regional water
security.
This bill would require a regional water management group, within
90 days of notice that a grant has been awarded, to provide the
Department of Water Resources with a list of projects to be funded by
the grant funds where the project proponent is a nonprofit
organization, as defined, or a disadvantaged community, as defined,
or the project benefits a disadvantaged community. This bill would
require the department, within 60 days of receiving the project
information, to provide advanced payment of 50% of the grant award
for those projects that satisfy specified criteria and would require
the advanced funds to be handled, as prescribed. This bill would
authorize the department to adopt additional requirements for the
recipient regarding the use of the advanced payment to ensure that
the funds are used properly. This bill would repeal these provisions
on January 1, 2025.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10551) is added to
Part 2.2 of Division 6 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER 7. ADVANCED PAYMENT OF GRANT FUNDS
10551. (a) Within 90 days of notice that a grant for projects
included and implemented in an integrated regional water management
plan has been awarded, the regional water management group shall
provide the department with a list of projects to be funded by the
grant funds where the project proponent is a nonprofit organization
or a disadvantaged community, or the project benefits a disadvantaged
community. The list shall specify how the projects are consistent
with the adopted integrated regional water management plan and shall
include all of the following information:
(1) Descriptive information concerning each project identified.
(2) The names of the entities that will receive the funding for
each project, including, but not limited to, an identification as to
whether the project proponent or proponents are nonprofit
organizations or a disadvantaged community.
(3) The budget of each project.
(4) The anticipated schedule for each project.
(b) Within 60 days of receiving the project information pursuant
to subdivision (a), the department shall provide advanced payment of
50 percent of the grant award for those projects that satisfy both of
the following criteria:
(1) The project proponent is a nonprofit organization or a
disadvantaged community, or the project benefits a disadvantaged
community.
(2) The grant award for the project is less than one million
dollars ($1,000,000).
(c) Funds advanced pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be handled as
follows:
(1) The recipient shall place the funds in a noninterest-bearing
account until expended.
(2) The funds shall be spent within six months of the date of
receipt, unless the department waives this requirement.
(3) The recipient shall, on a quarterly basis, provide an
accountability report to the department regarding the expenditure and
use of any advanced grant funds that provides, at a minimum, the
following information:
(A) An itemization as to how advanced payment funds provided under
this section have been expended.
(B) A project itemization as to how any remaining advanced payment
funds provided under this section will be expended over the period
specified in paragraph (2).
(C) 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.
(4) If funds are not expended, the unused portion of the grant
shall be returned to the department within 60 days after project
completion or the end of the grant performance period, whichever is
earlier.
(5) The department may adopt additional requirements for the
recipient regarding the use of the advanced payment to ensure that
the funds are used properly.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Disadvantaged community" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (j) of Section 79702.
(2) "Nonprofit organization" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (p) of Section 79702.
10552. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2025, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2025, deletes or extends
that date.