SECTIONS 3340-3347 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 3340-3347

3340. The authority is authorized and empowered to do any of the
following:
(a) Adopt an official seal.
(b) Sue and be sued in its own name.
(c) Employ or contract with officers and employees to administer
the authority. The authority may contract for the services of a chief
executive officer, who shall serve at the pleasure of the board. If
the chief executive officer contracts for the services of any other
officer or employee, the contract shall be subject to the approval of
the board.
(d) Exercise the power of eminent domain.
(e) Adopt rules and regulations for the regulation of its affairs
and the conduct of its business.
(f) Do all things generally necessary or convenient to carry out
its powers under, and the purposes of, this division.

3341. In connection with the purposes of this division, the
authority may do any or all of the following:
(a) Issue bonds, from time to time, as further provided in Chapter
5 (commencing with Section 3380.1), to pay all or part of the cost
of any enterprise, project, or program, or to otherwise carry out the
purposes of this division.
(b) Enter into joint powers agreements with eligible public
agencies pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of
Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
(c) Subject to any statutory or constitutional limitation on their
use, do any of the following as may, in the determination of the
authority, be necessary or convenient for the successful development,
conduct, or financing of a project, program, or enterprise, or for
carrying out the purposes of this division:
(1) Engage the services, including, without limitation, the
services of private consultants; attorneys; financial professionals
and advisors; engineers; architects; construction, land use and
environmental experts; and accountants, to render professional and
technical assistance and advice.
(2) Contract for engineering, architectural, accounting, or other
services of appropriate state agencies.
(3) Pay the reasonable costs, including, without limitation, costs
of consulting engineers, architects, accountants, and construction,
land use, and environmental experts employed by the authority or any
participating party. Except as otherwise provided in Section 3341.5,
those costs shall be recovered from participating parties.
(d) Acquire, lease, take title to, and sell by installment sale or
otherwise, lands, structures, real or personal property, rights,
rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and other interests in lands
that are located within the state, as the authority determines to be
necessary or convenient for an enterprise or the financing of a
project, upon terms and conditions the authority considers to be
reasonable.
(e) Make, receive, or serve as a conduit for the making of, or
otherwise provide for, grants, contributions, guarantees, insurance,
credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, or other financial
enhancements to a participating party as financial assistance for a
project or program. The sources may include bond proceeds, dedicated
taxes, state appropriations, federal appropriations, federal grants
and loan funds, public and private sector retirement system funds,
and proceeds of loans from the Pooled Money Investment Account, or
any other source of money, property, labor, or other things of value.
(f) Make loans to any participating party, either directly or by
making a loan to a lending institution or other financial
intermediary, in connection with the financing of a project or
program in accordance with an agreement between the authority and a
participating party, either as a sole lender or in participation with
other lenders.
(g) Make loans to any participating party, either directly or by
making a loan to a lending institution, in accordance with an
agreement between the authority and the participating party to
refinance indebtedness incurred by the participating party in
connection with projects undertaken and completed prior to any
agreement with the authority or expectation that the authority would
provide financing, either as a sole lender or in participation with
other lenders. The power generated by those projects shall be subject
to the terms and conditions specified by the authority in the
agreement and pursuant to Section 3351.
(h) Mortgage all or any portion of the authority's interest in a
project or enterprise and the property on which any project or
enterprise is located, whether owned or thereafter acquired,
including the granting of a security interest in any property,
tangible or intangible.
(i) Assign or pledge all or any portion of the authority's
interest in assets, things of value, mortgages, deeds of trust,
bonds, bond purchase agreements, loan agreements, indentures of
mortgage or trust, or similar instruments, notes, and security
interests in property, tangible or intangible and the revenues
therefrom, of a participating party to which the authority has made
loans, and the revenues therefrom, including payment or income from
any interest owned or held by the authority, for the benefit of the
holders of bonds.
(j) Lease the project being financed to a participating party,
upon terms and conditions that the authority deems proper; charge and
collect rents therefor; terminate any lease upon the failure of the
lessee to comply with any of the obligations thereof; include in any
lease, if desired, provisions that the lessee shall have options to
renew the lease for a period or periods, and at rents determined by
the authority; purchase any or all of the project; or, upon payment
of all the indebtedness incurred by the authority for the financing
of the project, the authority may convey, any or all of the project
to the lessee or lessees. The power generated by those projects shall
be subject to the terms and conditions specified by the authority in
the agreement and pursuant to Section 3351.
(k) (1) Issue, obtain, or aid in obtaining, from any department or
agency of the United States, from other agencies of the state, or
from any private company, any insurance or guarantee to or for, or
any letter or line of credit regarding, the payment or repayment of
interest or principal, or both, or any part thereof, on any bond,
loan, lease, or obligation or any instrument evidencing or securing
the same, made or entered into pursuant to this division.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, enter
into any agreement, contract or other instrument regarding any
insurance, guarantee, letter or line of credit specified in paragraph
(1), and accept payment in the manner and form provided therein in
the event of default by a participating party.
(3) Assign any insurance, guarantee, letter or line of credit
specified in paragraph (1) as security for bonds issued by the
authority.
(l) Enter into any agreement or contract, execute any instrument,
and perform any act or thing necessary or convenient to, directly or
indirectly, secure the authority's bonds or a participating party's
obligations to the authority, including, but not limited to, bonds of
a participating party purchased by the authority for retention or
sale, with funds or moneys that are legally available and that are
due or payable to the participating party by reason of any grant,
allocation, apportionment, or appropriation of the state or agencies
thereof, to the extent that the Controller shall be the custodian at
any time of these funds or moneys, or with funds or moneys that are
or will be legally available to the participating party, the
authority, or the state or any agencies thereof by reason of any
grant, allocation, apportionment, or appropriation of the federal
government or agencies thereof; and in the event of written notice
that the participating party has not paid or is in default on its
obligations to the authority, direct the Controller to withhold
payment of those funds or moneys from the participating party over
which it is or will be custodian and to pay the same to the authority
or its assignee, or direct the state or any agencies thereof to
which any grant, allocation, apportionment, or appropriation of the
federal government or agencies thereof is or will be legally
available to pay the same upon receipt to the authority or its
assignee, until the default has been cured and the amounts then due
and unpaid have been paid to the authority or its assignee, or until
arrangements satisfactory to the authority have been made to cure the
default.
(m) Purchase, with the proceeds of the authority's bonds, bonds
issued by, or for the benefit of, any participating party in
connection with a project, pursuant to a bond purchase agreement or
otherwise. Bonds purchased pursuant to this division may be held by
the authority, pledged or assigned by the authority, or sold to
public or private purchasers at public or negotiated sale, in whole
or in part, separately or together with other bonds issued by the
authority, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, may be
bought by the authority at private sale.
(n) Enter into purchase and sale agreements with all entities,
public and private, including state and local government pension
funds, with respect to the sale or purchase of bonds.

3341.1. In connection with an enterprise, the authority may do any
or all of the following:
(a) Acquire any enterprise by gift, purchase, or eminent domain as
necessary to achieve the purposes of the authority pursuant to
Sections 3310 and 3352.
(b) Construct or improve any enterprise. By gift, lease, purchase,
eminent domain, or otherwise, it may acquire any real or personal
property, for an enterprise, except that no property of a state
public body may be acquired without its consent. The authority may
sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, or otherwise dispose of any
real or personal property or any interest in such property. It may
lay out, open, extend, widen, straighten, establish, or change the
grade of any real property or public rights-of-way necessary or
convenient for any enterprise.
(c) Operate, maintain, repair, or manage all or any part of any
enterprise, including the leasing for commercial purposes of surplus
space or other space that is not economic to use for such enterprise.
(d) Adopt reasonable rules or regulations for the conduct of the
enterprise.
(e) Prescribe, revise, and collect charges for the services,
facilities, or energy furnished by the enterprise. The charges shall
be established and adjusted so as to provide funds sufficient with
other revenues and moneys available therefor, if any, to (1) pay the
principal of and interest on outstanding bonds of the authority
financing such enterprise as the same shall become due and payable,
(2) create and maintain reserves, including, without limitation,
operating and maintenance reserves and reserves required or provided
for in any resolution authorizing, or trust agreement securing such
bonds, and (3) pay operating and administrative costs of the
authority.
(f) Execute all instruments, perform all acts, and do all things
necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers granted by this
article.

3341.2. In connection with a project, the authority may do any or
all of the following:
(a) Determine the location and character of any project to be
financed under this division.
(b) Acquire, construct, enlarge, remodel, renovate, alter,
improve, furnish, equip, own, maintain, manage, repair, operate,
lease as lessee or lessor, or regulate any project to be financed
under this division.
(c) Contract with any participating party for the construction of
a project by such participating party.
(d) Enter into leases and agreements, as lessor or lessee, with
any participating party relating to the acquisition, construction,
and installation of any project, including real property, buildings,
equipment, and facilities of any kind or character.
(e) Establish, revise, charge and collect rates, rents, fees and
charges for a project. The rates, rents, fees, and charges shall be
established and adjusted in respect of the aggregate rates, rents,
fees, and charges from all projects so as to provide funds sufficient
with other revenues and moneys available therefor, if any, to (1)
pay the principal of and interest on outstanding bonds of the
authority financing such project as the same shall become due and
payable, (2) create and maintain reserves, including, without
limitation, operating and maintenance reserves and reserves required
or provided for in any resolution authorizing, or trust agreement
securing such bonds, and (3) pay operating and administrative costs
of the authority.
(f) Enter into contracts of sale with any participating party
covering any project financed by the authority.
(g) As an alternative to leasing or selling a project to a
participating party, finance the acquisition, construction, or
installation of a project by means of a loan to the participating
party.
(h) Execute all instruments, perform all acts, and do all things
necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers granted by this
article.

3341.5. In connection with the purposes of this division, the
authority shall charge and equitably apportion among participating
parties or other public or private entities the authority's
administrative costs and expenses, including operating and
financing-related costs incurred in the exercise of the powers and
duties conferred by this division, except to the extent that those
costs are related to one of the authority's own enterprises or
projects, in which case costs shall be included in the cost of
generating that electricity as provided in Section 3351.

3342. The fiscal powers granted to the authority by this division
may be exercised without regard or reference to any other department,
division, or agency of the state, except the Legislature or as
otherwise stated in this division. This division shall be deemed to
provide an alternative method of doing the things authorized by this
division, and shall be regarded as supplemental and additional to
powers conferred by other laws.

3343. No member of the board or any person executing bonds of the
authority pursuant to this division shall be personally liable on the
bonds or subject to any personal liability or accountability by
reason of the issuance thereof.

3344. All expenses incurred in carrying out this division shall be
payable solely from funds provided under the authority of this
division and no liability or obligation shall be imposed upon the
State of California and, none shall be incurred by the authority
beyond the extent to which moneys shall have been provided under this
division. Under no circumstances shall the authority create any
debt, liability, or obligation on the part of the State of California
payable from any source whatsoever other than the moneys provided
under this division.

3345. The authority's operating budget shall be subject to review
and appropriation in the annual Budget Act. For purposes of this
section, the authority's operating budget shall include the costs of
personnel, administration, and overhead.

3346. The authority shall, on or before January 1 of each year,
prepare and submit to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee, and the chairperson of the committee in
each house that considers appropriations, a report regarding its
activities and expenditures pursuant to this division.

3347. The Bureau of State Audits shall perform an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the authority's efforts in achieving its purposes
as described in Section 3310. The evaluation shall include
recommendations as to whether there is a continued need for the
authority beyond January 1, 2007. The evaluation shall be submitted
to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2005.