SECTIONS 26000-26003 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 26000-26003

26000. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing
Authority Act.

26001. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is essential that the state, in cooperation with the
federal government, use all practical and commercially feasible means
to promote the prompt and efficient development of energy sources
which are renewable or which more efficiently utilize and conserve
scarce energy resources.
(b) The promotion of energy sources which reduce the degradation
of the environment and which protect the health, welfare, and safety
of the people of this state is in the public interest and serves a
public purpose.
(c) It is essential that the state, in cooperation with the
federal government, use all practical and commercially feasible means
to promote the development and commercialization of advanced
transportation technologies to conserve energy, reduce air pollution,
promote economic development and jobs, and protect the health,
welfare, and safety of the people of the state.

26001.5. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
Senate Bill 1754 of the 2008-09 Regular Session, to only provide
authority for the California Alternative Energy and Advanced
Transportation Financing Authority to use bonds to finance power
purchase agreement arrangements, and not to alter or supersede other
provisions of law addressing criteria associated with energy
generation or advanced transportation technologies, such as
direct-access, the use, size, or statewide caps, or the net-metering
or feed-in tariff provisions.
(b) When the authority uses bonds to finance the power purchase
agreements, the construction, alteration, demolition, installation,
repair, and maintenance work on the projects financed by the
arrangements are subject to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720)
of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code and the authority shall
incorporate reference to that provision in its agreements with
participating parties.

26002. (a) It is the purpose of this division to carry out and make
effective the findings of the Legislature pursuant to Sections
25004, 25004.2, 25004.3, 25007, and 26001, and to that end to provide
industry within this state with an alternative method of financing
in providing and promoting the establishment of both of the
following:
(1) Facilities utilizing alternative methods and sources of
energy.
(2) Facilities needed for the development and commercialization of
advanced transportation technologies.
(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the facilities
specified in subdivision (a) are necessary to meet the energy and
transportation needs of this state and to guarantee the health and
welfare of the citizens of this state.

26002.5. This division is necessary for the welfare of the state
and its inhabitants, and shall be liberally construed to effect its
purposes.

26003. As used in this division, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(a) "Authority" means the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority established pursuant to
Section 26004, and any board, commission, department, or officer
succeeding to the functions of the authority, or to which the powers
conferred upon the authority by this division shall be given.
(b) "Cost" as applied to a project or portion of the project
financed under this division means all or part of the cost of
construction and acquisition of all lands, structures, real or
personal property or an interest in the real or personal property,
rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and interests acquired
or used for a project; the cost of demolishing or removing any
buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of
acquiring any lands to which those buildings or structures may be
moved; the cost of all machinery, equipment, and furnishings,
financing charges, interest prior to, during, and for a period after,
completion of construction as determined by the authority; the cost
of the purchase or sale of energy derived from an alternative source
pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011; provisions for working
capital; reserves for principal and interest and for extensions,
enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements;
the cost of architectural, engineering, financial, accounting,
auditing and legal services, plans, specifications, estimates,
administrative expenses, and other expenses necessary or incident to
determining the feasibility of constructing any project or incident
to the construction, acquisition, or financing of a project.
(c) (1) "Alternative sources" means the application of
cogeneration technology, as defined in Section 25134; the
conservation of energy; or the use of solar, biomass, wind,
geothermal, hydroelectricity under 30 megawatts, or any other source
of energy, the efficient use of which will reduce the use of fossil
and nuclear fuels.
(2) "Alternative sources" does not include a hydroelectric
facility that does not meet state laws pertaining to the control,
appropriation, use, and distribution of water, including, but not
limited to, the obtaining of applicable licenses and permits.
(d) "Advanced transportation technologies" means emerging
commercially competitive transportation-related technologies
identified by the authority as capable of creating long-term, high
value-added jobs for Californians while enhancing the state's
commitment to energy conservation, pollution reduction, and
transportation efficiency. Those technologies may include, but are
not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Intelligent vehicle highway systems.
(2) Advanced telecommunications for transportation.
(3) Command, control, and communications for public transit
vehicles and systems.
(4) Electric vehicles and ultralow-emission vehicles.
(5) High-speed rail and magnetic levitation passenger systems.
(6) Fuel cells.
(e) "Financial assistance" includes, but is not limited to,
either, or any combination, of the following:
(1) Loans, loan loss reserves, interest rate reductions, proceeds
of bonds issued by the authority, insurance, guarantees or other
credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, contributions of money,
property, labor, or other items of value, or any combination thereof,
as determined by, and approved by the resolution of, the board.
(2) Any other type of assistance the authority determines is
appropriate.
(f) "Participating party" means either of the following:
(1) A person or an entity or group of entities engaged in business
or operations in the state, whether organized for profit or not for
profit, that does either of the following:
(A) Applies for financial assistance from the authority for the
purpose of implementing a project in a manner prescribed by the
authority.
(B) Participates in the purchase or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
(2) A public agency or nonprofit corporation that does either of
the following:
(A) Applies for financial assistance from the authority for the
purpose of implementing a project in a manner prescribed by the
authority.
(B) Participates in the purchase or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
(g) (1) "Project" means a land, building, improvement to the land
or building, rehabilitation, work, property, or structure, real or
personal, stationary or mobile, including, but not limited to,
machinery and equipment, whether or not in existence or under
construction, that utilizes, or is designed to utilize, an
alternative source, or that is utilized for the design, technology
transfer, manufacture, production, assembly, distribution, or service
of advanced transportation technologies, or an arrangement for the
purchase, including prepayment, or sale of energy derived from an
alternative source pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 26011.
(2) "Project," for the purposes of Section 26011.8, means any
tangible personal property that is utilized for the design,
manufacture, production, or assembly of advanced transportation
technologies or alternative source products, components, or systems.
(h) "Public agency" means a federal or state agency, department,
board, authority, state or community college, university, or
commission, or a county, city and county, city, regional agency,
public district, school district, or other political entity.
(i) (1) "Renewable energy" means a device or technology that
conserves or produces heat, processes heat, space heating, water
heating, steam, space cooling, refrigeration, mechanical energy,
electricity, or energy in any form convertible to these uses, that
does not expend or use conventional energy fuels, and that uses any
of the following electrical generation technologies:
(A) Biomass.
(B) Solar thermal.
(C) Photovoltaic.
(D) Wind.
(E) Geothermal.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "conventional energy fuel"
means any fuel derived from petroleum deposits, including, but not
limited to, oil, heating oil, gasoline, fuel oil, or natural gas,
including liquefied natural gas, or nuclear fissionable materials.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of this section,
"renewable energy" also means ultralow-emission equipment for energy
generation based on thermal energy systems such as natural gas
turbines and fuel cells.
(j) "Revenue" means all rents, receipts, purchase payments, loan
repayments, and all other income or receipts derived by the authority
from a project, or the sale, lease, or other disposition of
alternative source or advanced transportation technology facilities,
or the making of loans to finance alternative source or advanced
transportation technology facilities, and any income or revenue
derived from the investment of money in any fund or account of the
authority.