(a) The California Transportation Commission may allocate available federal and state transportation funds to the Department of Transportation, consistent with all applicable state and federal laws governing the use of those funds, to implement the purposes of, and to operate and manage, the Transportation Finance Bank as provided in accordance with the provisions of Section 350 of Public Law 104-59 and Section 1511 of Public Law 105-178 using only funds made available to the department through the annual budget act.
(b) The department shall act as a lender in administering the Transportation Finance Bank and in entering into enforceable commitments to implement, operate, and manage the program created by this section to achieve the purposes of the Transportation Finance Bank.
(c) The department shall develop, and may amend as necessary, the guidelines and loan documents for the program, which shall be presented to the commission for adoption.
(d) An allocation of funds by the commission to meet capital and interest obligations created by the Transportation Finance Bank as those obligations become due shall be construed as an expenditure of those funds in the county or counties where the project is located. In the event of default on the loan, an amount equivalent to the remaining loan balance plus all accrued interest and penalties shall be deducted from the STIP county share of the affected county or counties pursuant to Sections 14524 and 14525 and an amount equivalent to the remaining loan balance plus all accrued interest and penalties shall be transferred from the State Highway Account to the Transportation Finance Bank. Interest shall continue to accrue up to the date that the fund transfer is actually made.
(e) An eligible entity requesting loan funds under this section shall first receive approval of the project from the applicable regional transportation planning agency or county transportation commission where the project is located prior to the execution of a loan agreement with the department and the receipt of any funding.
(f) Only projects that have a dedicated revenue source and are eligible for assistance under Section 1511 of Public Law 105-178 are entitled to funding under this section.
(g) The Local Transportation Loan Account is hereby created in the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund for the management of funds for loans to local entities pursuant to this section. All funds for transportation loans in the Federal Trust Fund are hereby transferred to the Local Transportation Loan Account. The department shall deposit in the Local Transportation Loan Account all money received by the department from repayments of and interest and penalties on existing and future transportation loans from the Transportation Finance Bank. Interest on money in the Local Transportation Loan Account shall be credited to that account as it accrues.
(h) Notwithstanding Section 13340, the money in the Local Transportation Loan Account is continuously appropriated to the department without regard to fiscal years for purposes of loans to eligible projects as defined by Section 1511 of Public Law 105-178.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 728, Sec. 78. (SB 71) Effective January 1, 2013.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018