BILL NUMBER: AB 1105	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 25460) to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, relating to energy, and
making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1105, as introduced, Blakeslee. Energy: Building Energy
Retrofit Revolving Loan Program.
   (1) Existing law establishes various grant, loan, and loan
guarantee programs that are administered by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission to provide
assistance to private and public entities to maximize energy use
savings in existing and planned buildings and facilities.
   This bill would require the commission to implement the Building
Energy Retrofit Revolving Loan Program to provide loans for energy
conservation projects retrofitting nonresidential buildings built
before July 1, 1978. The bill would create the Building Energy
Retrofit Revolving Loan Program Fund in the State Treasury that would
be continuously appropriated to the commission for the
implementation of the program, thereby making an appropriation. The
bill would require that moneys from the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 that are appropriated to the commission be
transferred to the fund as authorized by federal law.
   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.  Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 25460) is added to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 5.6.  BUILDING ENERGY RETROFIT REVOLVING LOAN


   25460.  As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the following meanings:
   (a) "Allocation" means a loan of funds by the commission pursuant
to the procedures specified in this chapter.
   (b) "Eligible building" means a nonresidential building built
prior to July 1, 1978.
   (c) "Energy conservation measure" means an installation or
modification of an installation in a building that is primarily
intended to retrofit the building to meet the standards established
pursuant to Section 25402.
   (d) "Energy conservation project" means an undertaking to acquire
and to install one or more energy conservation measures in a building

   25460.1.  The commission shall implement a Building Energy
Retrofit Revolving Loan Program to provide a source of funding for an
owner of an eligible building to implement energy conservation
measures.
   25460.2.  (a) The Building Energy Retrofit Revolving Loan Fund is
hereby created in the State Treasury and shall be administered by the
commission. Notwithstanding Section 13350 of the Government Code,
moneys from the fund shall be continuously appropriated to the
commission for the purposes of this chapter.
   (b) Any moneys or portion of moneys received from the federal
government and appropriated to the commission for purposes of the
federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 shall be
deposited into the fund.
   (c) The moneys from any loan repayment and fees, including, but
not limited to, principal and interest repayments, fees and points,
recovery of collection costs, income earned on any asset recovered
pursuant to a loan default, and money collected through foreclosure
actions, shall be deposited into the fund.
   (d) All interest accruing on interest payments from loan
applicants shall be deposited into the fund.
   (e) The commission may set aside moneys in the fund for the
purposes of paying costs necessary to protect the state's position as
a lender-creditor. These costs shall be broadly construed to
include, but not be limited to, foreclosure expenses, auction fees,
title searches, appraisals, real estate brokerage fees, attorney's
fees, mortgage payments, insurance payments, utility costs, repair
costs, removal and storage costs of repossessed equipment and
inventory, and additional expenditures to purchase a senior lien in
foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings.
   25460.3.  (a) An owner or operator of an eligible building to
which an allocation has been made under this chapter shall repay the
principal amount of the allocation, plus interest over time in
accordance with terms established by the commission, but in no event
may the term exceed 15 years.
   (b) Notwithstanding other laws, the commission shall periodically
set interest rates on the allocations based on surveys of existing
financial markets, unless it determines that the purpose of this
chapter would be better served by establishing an alternative
schedule, and shall set rates at not less than 3 percent per annum.
   25460.4.  The loan agreement between the commission and the owner
of an eligible building shall have terms that include, but are not
limited to, all of the following:
   (a) A description of the energy conservation project being funded
by the allocation.
   (b) A payment schedule for the repayment of the allocation plus
interest.
   (c) A term requiring the repayment of the allocation regardless of
the success of the energy conservation project.
   25460.5.  (a) An allocation made by the commission shall be
secured by a lien on the building in which the energy conservation
measure is being implemented.
   (b) Upon the provision of an allocation to an owner of an eligible
building, the commission shall record a lien on the building with
the county recorders office of the county in which the building is
located.
   (c) Upon the full repayment of the principal and interest, the
commission shall release the lien filed pursuant to subdivision (b).
   25460.6.  Upon the discovery that the owner receiving an
allocation pursuant to this chapter has used the allocation or
portions of the allocation for purposes other than the implementation
of the energy conservation project, the outstanding principal and
accrued interest shall immediately be due and owed to the commission.

   25460.7.  The commission shall establish and collect a fee for
each application for an allocation authorized by the chapter. The
application fee shall be set at a level that is sufficient to fund
the commission's costs of processing the applications for
allocations. In addition, the commission shall establish a schedule
of fees, or points for loans that are entered into by the commission,
to fund the commission's administration of the program.