Amended in Senate May 11, 2015

Amended in Senate May 6, 2015

Amended in Senate April 7, 2015

Amended in Senate April 6, 2015

Senate Bill No. 718

Introduced by Senators Leno and Hancock

( begin delete Coauthor: end delete begin insert Coauthors: end insert Assembly begin delete Member Dodd end delete begin insert Members Dodd and Gordon end insert )

February 27, 2015

An act to add Section 8670.48.4 to the Government Code, relating to fish and wildlife, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 718, as amended, Leno. Hazardous Materials Response and Restoration Subaccount.

Existing law establishes the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for, among other purposes, providing funds to cover promptly the costs of response, containment, and cleanup of oil spills into waters of the state, including damage assessment costs and wildlife rehabilitation. Existing law establishes the Hazardous Materials Response and Restoration Subaccount, a continuously appropriated subaccount in the Fish and Wildlife Pollution Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, for, among other purposes, the protection, preservation, and restoration of fish and wildlife impacted by discharges of hazardous materials into the environment of the state.

This bill would authorize the administrator for oil spill response begin insert , upon making a specified finding, end insert to loan moneys from the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund to the Hazardous Materials Response and Restoration Subaccount in an amount, not exceeding $500,000 annually, necessary to reimburse organizations providing wildlife rescue and rehabilitation services for expenses incurred by rescue and rehabilitation begin delete stations end delete begin insert operations end insert for wildlife injured by spill events of nonoil materials, thereby making an appropriation. begin insert The bill would prohibit the administrator from making a loan if the total amount of moneys made from these loans that has not been repaid exceeds $2,500,000. end insert The bill would require the administrator to notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the loan. The bill would require the administrator, through a public process, to develop and adopt guidelines identifying expenses eligible for reimbursement.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 8670.48.4 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

8670.48.4.  

(a) (1) At the discretion of the administrator,
moneys may be loaned from the fund to the Hazardous Materials
Response and Restoration Subaccount, created pursuant to Section
13010 of the Fish and Game Code, in an amount, not exceeding
five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually, that is
necessary to reimburse organizations providing wildlife rescue
and rehabilitation services for expenses incurred by rescue and
rehabilitation begin delete stations end delete begin insert operations end insert for wildlife injured by spill events
of nonoil materials.

begin insert

(2) The administrator shall not make a loan pursuant to
paragraph (1) unless the administrator makes a public finding
that the proposed loan will not impair the ability of the state to
respond promptly to oil spills.

end insert begin insert

(3) The administrator shall not make a loan pursuant to
paragraph (1) if the total amount of moneys from loans made
pursuant to paragraph (1) that has not been repaid pursuant to
subdivision (b) exceeds two million five hundred thousand dollars
($2,500,000), excluding interest owed on those loans.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  The administrator shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee of any loans made pursuant to paragraph (1) at the time
of the loan.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  The administrator shall, through a public process, develop
and adopt guidelines identifying expenses eligible for
reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (1).

(b) A loan made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
shall be repaid no later than begin delete 10 end delete begin insert five end insert years after the date the loan
was made, with interest at the rate earned by the Pooled Money
Investment Account at the time of the loan, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, from either of the following:

(1) Moneys recovered from a party responsible for the spill
event of nonoil materials.

(2) If no responsible party is found, the General Fund.

begin insert

(c) If the administrator makes a loan pursuant to paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) and moneys are recovered from a party
responsible for the spill event of nonoil materials more than five
years after the date the loan was made, those moneys shall be
deposited in the General Fund.

end insert begin insert

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Fish
and Wildlife use moneys available in the Fish and Wildlife
Pollution Account to reimburse organizations providing wildlife
rescue and rehabilitation services for expenses incurred by rescue
and rehabilitation operations for wildlife injured by spill events
of nonoil materials before the administrator makes a loan pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

end insert