86000.

 This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the Climate Resiliency and Flood Protection Bond Act of 2024.

86001.

 The people of California find and declare all of the following:

(a) A series of atmospheric river and arctic storms impacted California at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 with rounds of heavy rain and mountain snow that caused flooding and mudslides with each passing storm. Surging water levels on local rivers and streams led to loss of life and property damage in both protected and unprotected areas. State, regional, and local highways and roads were inundated and impassable. Rising waters tested levee systems in urban areas, breached levees in rural areas, and caused rivers and streams to overflow their banks throughout the state.

(b) Climate change is impacting California in unprecedented ways, including intensifying wildfires, mud slides, floods and drought, sea level rise, and extreme heat, that threaten jobs and economic security, the safety of our communities, and cultural and natural resources.

(c) Actions must be accelerated to enable the state to adapt and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change, including investing in flood system improvements and expanding nature-based solutions.

(d) The Department of Water Resources projects wetter, warmer future conditions and estimates that runoff from historical record storm events will significantly increase by up to 56 percent in the Sacramento River and 116 percent in the San Joaquin River. Projections for a simulated one in 200-year event predict peaks flows five times greater flowing towards the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from the San Joaquin River alone.

(e) Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have concluded that climate change has already doubled the likelihood of an event capable of producing catastrophic flooding, and that even larger future increases are likely due to continued warming. River and stream runoff in a future extreme storm scenario is two to four times greater than historical values in the Sierra Nevada Mountains due to increased precipitation rates and decreased amounts of snow.

(f) More than 95 percent of the State Plan of Flood Control levee miles have failed federal inspections, which at one time this decade resulted in nearly one-half of the levee miles being ineligible for federal rehabilitation assistance. The 2022 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan update calls for a total investment of $25 billion to $30 billion over 30 years. Without adequate investment in the flood system, California may expect as much as $3.2 billion in damages within the Central Valley and 500 deaths on average per year by 2072.

(g) More than 1,320,000 people are at risk in Central Valley floodplains, and that population is projected to grow to 1,700,000 by 2072. State and local funding for flood control facility operations and maintenance, as well as flood control system improvements, remain well below the total projected costs necessary to protect lives and property and the natural environment.

86002.

 For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Board” means the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

(b) “Delta” means the area of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as defined in Section 12220.

(c) “Department” means the Department of Water Resources.

(d) “Disadvantaged community” means a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income.

(e) “Facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control” means the levees, weirs, channels, and other features of the federal and state authorized flood control facilities located in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River drainage basin for which the board or the department has given the assurances of nonfederal cooperation to the United States required for the project, and those facilities identified in Section 8361.

(f) “Nonprofit organization” means any nonprofit corporation formed pursuant to the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code) and qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

(g) “Nonurbanized area” means a developed area or an area outside a developed area as defined under subdivision (f) of Section 65007 of the Government Code.

(h) “Project levees” means the levees that are part of the Facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control.

(i) “State Plan of Flood Control” means the state and federal flood control works, lands, programs, plans, conditions, and mode of maintenance and operations of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project described in Section 8350 of the Water Code, and of flood control projects in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds authorized pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 12645) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 6 for which the board or the department has provided the assurances of nonfederal cooperation to the United States, which shall be updated by the department and compiled into a single document entitled “The State Plan of Flood Control.”

(j) “Undeveloped area” means an area as defined under paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 8307.

(k) “Urban area” means any contiguous area in which more than 10,000 residents are protected by project levees.

86003.

 (a) Prior to disbursing grants pursuant to this division, the department shall develop project solicitation and evaluation guidelines. The guidelines may include a limitation on the size of grants to be awarded.

(b) The department shall conduct three public meetings to consider public comments before finalizing the guidelines. The department shall publish the draft solicitation and evaluation guidelines on its internet website at least 30 days before the public meetings. One meeting shall be conducted at a location in northern California, one meeting shall be conducted at a location in the San Joaquin Valley of California, and one meeting shall be conducted at a location in southern California. The department shall provide outreach to disadvantaged communities to promote access and participation in those meetings. Upon adoption, the department shall transmit copies of the guidelines to the fiscal committees and the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.

86004.

 (a) The department may authorize advance payments to local agencies for projects that have at least one of the following project purposes: restoring habitat for threatened and endangered species under state or federal law or improving flood protection. The amount of funds advanced by the department to the local agency at any one time shall not exceed 25 percent of the entire amount authorized to be provided under the funding agreement between the department and the local agency. The department may exceed the 25-percent limit if it determines that the project requires a larger advance, and the local agency provides sufficient justification and documentation to the department. In light of the state’s interest in these projects, the department may reduce or eliminate any retention that would otherwise be withheld under the funding agreement.

(b) For purposes of this section, “advance payments” are funds that are provided to a local agency before the local agency has incurred expenses in furtherance of a project described in subdivision (a) and that are provided by the department to allow the local agency to fund the project on a cash flow basis.

(c) The department shall do all of the following:

(1) Prioritize recipients and projects serving disadvantaged, low-income, and under-resourced communities with modest reserves and potential cashflow problems.

(2) Stipulate an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract between the department and local agency.

(3) Adopt requirements regarding the use of the advance payment to ensure that the funds are used properly.

86005.

 An amount that equals not more than 5 percent of the funds allocated for a grant program pursuant to this division may be used to pay the administrative costs of that program.

86006.

 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), up to 10 percent of funds allocated for each program funded by this division may be expended, including, but not limited to, by grants, for planning and monitoring necessary for the successful design, selection, and implementation of the projects authorized under that program. This section shall not otherwise restrict funds ordinarily used by an agency for “preliminary plans,” “working drawings,” and “construction” as defined in the annual Budget Act for a capital outlay project or grant project. Planning may include feasibility studies for environmental site cleanup that would further the purpose of a project that is eligible for funding under this division. Monitoring may include measuring greenhouse gas emissions reductions and carbon sequestration associated with program expenditures under this division.

(b) Funds used for planning projects that benefit disadvantaged communities may exceed 10 percent of the funds allocated if the department determines that there is a need for the additional funding.

86007.

 (a) The Department of Finance shall provide for an independent audit of expenditures pursuant to this division. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall publish a list of all program and project expenditures pursuant to this division not less than annually, in written form, and shall post an electronic form of the list on the agency’s internet website in a downloadable spreadsheet format. The spreadsheet shall include information about the location and footprint of each funded project, the project’s objectives, the status of the project, anticipated outcomes, any matching moneys provided for the project by the grant recipient, and the applicable chapter of this division pursuant to which the grant recipient received moneys.

(b) If an audit, required by statute, of any entity that receives funding authorized by this division is conducted pursuant to state law and reveals any impropriety, the California State Auditor or the Controller may conduct a full audit of any or all of the activities of that entity.

(c) The department shall require adequate reporting of the expenditures of the funding from the grant.

(d) The costs associated with the publications, audits, statewide bond tracking, cash management, and related oversight activities provided for in this section shall be funded from this division. These costs shall be shared proportionally by each program through this division.

86100.

 The sum of four billion five hundred million dollars ($4,500,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for flood protection and climate resiliency projects pursuant to this chapter.

86101.

 Of the funds made available by Section 86100, two billion five hundred million dollars ($2,500,000,000) shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature from the fund, for the following purposes:

(a) The evaluation, repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, expansion, or replacement of levees, weirs, bypasses, and facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Restoring the design capacity of bypasses.

(2) Repairing erosion sites and removing sediment from channels or bypasses.

(3) Evaluating and repairing levees and any other facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control.

(4) Implementing mitigation measures for a project undertaken pursuant to this subdivision, including funding for an endowment to maintain such measures. The department may fund participation in a natural community conservation plan pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, or a habitat conservation plan under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), to facilitate projects authorized by this subdivision.

(5) Improving or adding facilities that are not a part of the State Plan of Flood Control that protect areas that are also protected by the State Plan of Flood Control.

(b) Improving or adding facilities to the State Plan of Flood Control to increase levels of flood protection and climate resiliency, including all related costs for mitigation and infrastructure relocation. Funds made available by this subdivision may be expended for state financial participation in federal and state authorized flood control projects, feasibility studies and design of federal flood damage reduction and related projects, improving the capacity of bypasses, reservoir reparation, and flood managed aquifer recharge projects. Not more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) may be expended on a single project.

(c) Of the funds provided in this section, not less than two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) shall be available to increase flood protection and climate resiliency for the repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, replacement, or improvement of levees that protect nonurbanized areas and undeveloped areas, including the repair, improvement, or setback of bypass levees.

(d) Of the funds provided in this section, not less than two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) shall be available to increase flood protection and climate resiliency for the repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, replacement, or improvement of levees of the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.

(e) In expending funds provided in this section, the department shall do both of the following:

(1) Collaborate with local agencies to secure the maximum feasible amounts of federal and local matching funds to fund disaster preparedness and flood prevention projects in order to ensure prudent and cost-effective use of these funds to the extent that this does not prohibit timely implementation of this division.

(2) Prioritize project selection and project design to achieve maximum public benefits from the use of these funds.

86110.

 (a) Of the funds made available by Section 86100, five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for projects in the Delta to increase flood protection and climate resiliency. The funds shall be expended for both of the following purposes:

(1) Local assistance under the delta levee maintenance subventions program under Part 9 (commencing with Section 12980) of Division 6, as that part may be amended.

(2) Special flood protection projects under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12310) of Part 4.8 of Division 6, as that chapter may be amended.

(b) Projects that are undertaken pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall have as their principal purpose the preservation, protection, rehabilitation, and improvement of existing levees to better protect against the threat of earthquake and sea level rise with improved engineering standards to allow for progressive rehabilitation and improvement to maintain an adequate factor of safety. Other project purposes may include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Improving the protection for quality of drinking water supplies derived from the Delta.

(2) Reducing salts contained in Delta water and delivered to, and often retained in, agricultural areas.

(3) Maintaining water quality for Delta users.

(4) Assisting in preserving Delta lands, including terrestrial and aquatic habitats important for listed or candidate species under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), the California Endangered Species Act, and waterfowl of the Pacific flyway.

(5) Protecting water rights of the “area of origin” and the environments of the Sacramento-San Joaquin river systems.

(6) Protecting highways, utility facilities, and other infrastructure located within the Delta.

(7) Preventing the disruption of water supplies derived from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

(8) Protecting the critical evacuation and national defense routes for the region.

86120.

 Of the funds made available by Section 86100, the sum of one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for payment for the state’s share of the nonfederal costs, and related costs, of flood protection and climate resiliency projects authorized under any of the following:

(a) The State Water Resources Law of 1945 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 12570) and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) of Part 6 of Division 6).

(b) The Flood Control Law of 1946 (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12800) of Part 6 of Division 6).

(c) The California Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 12850) of Part 6 of Division 6).

(d) The costs described in subdivision (a) include costs incurred in connection with either of the following:

(1) The granting of credits or loans to local agencies, as applicable, pursuant to Sections 12585.3 and 12585.4 of, subdivision (d) of Section 12585.5 of, and Sections 12866.3 and 12866.4 of, the Water Code.

(2) The implementation of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 12840) of Part 6 of Division 6.

(e) The funds made available by this section shall be allocated only to projects that are not part of the State Plan of Flood Control.

86125.

 (a) Of the funds made available by Section 86100, five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for flood management projects that are components of multiple benefit flood management system improvements that reduce risks to public safety and provide improvement to aquatic and wildlife habitat. The department shall coordinate the expenditure of multibenefit funds with the board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Where practical, the department shall collaborate with nonprofit organizations and nongovernmental organizations to inform the expenditure of these funds. Eligible project types include, but are not limited to, levee setbacks, projects connecting rivers with flood plains, enhancement of flood plains and bypasses, groundwater recharge, and land acquisitions and easements necessary for these project types. Eligible projects include any of the following:

(1) Multiple benefit flood management projects that reduce the impacts of climate change on inland or coastal infrastructure, communities, or ecosystems, and provide ecosystem, wildlife, or groundwater recharge benefits.

(2) Natural infrastructure projects to reduce flood intensity and slow watershed runoff.

(3) Projects that provide matching grants for, or otherwise leverage funding from, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, or other federal mitigation and resilience funding.

(4) Projects that provide benefits to fish, waterfowl, wildlife, and anadromous and other native fish species along migratory corridors.

(5) Projects that restore streams to a more natural state by removing drainage obstructions, culverts, and paved channels to enable more stormwater to be absorbed and gradually released by soil and plants.

(6) Acquiring easements and other interests in real property to protect or enhance flood protection corridors and bypasses while preserving or enhancing the agricultural use of the real property.

(7) Constructing new levees necessary for the establishment of a flood protection corridor or bypass.

(8) Setting back existing flood control levees, and in conjunction with undertaking those setbacks, strengthening or modifying existing levees and weirs.

(9) Relocating or floodproofing structures necessary for the establishment of a flood protection corridor.

(10) Acquiring interests in, or providing incentives for maintaining agricultural uses of, real property that is in a flood plain that cannot reasonably be made safe from future flooding.

(11) Acquiring easements and other interests in real property to protect or enhance flood protection corridors while preserving or enhancing the wildlife value of the real property.

(b) Of the funds made available pursuant to this section, one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be allocated for multiple benefit flood management projects in urban coastal watersheds.

86130.

 (a) Bonds in the total amount of four billion five hundred million dollars ($4,500,000,000), and any additional bonds authorized, issued, and appropriated in accordance with this division pursuant to other provisions of law, not including the amount of any refunding bonds issued in accordance with Section 86142, may be issued and sold to provide a fund to be used for carrying out the purposes expressed in this division and to reimburse the General Obligation Bond Expense Revolving Fund pursuant to Section 16724.5 of the Government Code. The bonds, when sold, issued, and delivered, shall be and constitute a valid and binding obligation of the State of California, and the full faith and credit of the State of California is hereby pledged for the punctual payment of both the principal of, and interest on, the bonds as the principal and interest become due and payable.

(b) The Treasurer shall sell the bonds authorized by the committee pursuant to this section in the amount determined by the committee to be necessary or desirable pursuant to Section 86133. The bonds shall be sold upon the terms and conditions specified in a resolution to be adopted by the committee pursuant to Section 16731 of the Government Code.

86131.

 The bonds authorized by this division shall be prepared, executed, issued, sold, paid, and redeemed as provided in the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), as amended from time to time, and all of the provisions of that law apply to the bonds and to this division and are hereby incorporated in this division as though set forth in full in this division.

86132.

 (a) Solely for the purpose of authorizing the issuance and sale, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), of the bonds authorized by this division, the California Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Finance Committee is hereby created. For purposes of this division, the California Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Finance Committee is the “committee” as that term is used in the State General Obligation Bond Law.

(b) The committee consists of the Director of Finance, the Treasurer, and the Controller. Notwithstanding any other law, any member may designate a representative to act as that member in the member’s place for all purposes, as though the member were personally present.

(c) The Treasurer shall serve as the chairperson of the committee.

(d) A majority of the committee may act for the committee.

86133.

 The committee shall determine whether or not it is necessary or desirable to issue bonds authorized by this division in order to carry out the actions specified in this division and, if so, the amount of bonds to be issued and sold. Successive issues of bonds may be authorized and sold to carry out those actions progressively, and it is not necessary that all of the bonds authorized to be issued be sold at any one time.

86134.

 For purposes of the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), “board,” as defined in Section 16722 of the Government Code, means the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.

86135.

 There shall be collected each year and in the same manner and at the same time as other state revenue is collected, in addition to the ordinary revenues of the state, a sum in an amount required to pay the principal of, and interest on, the bonds each year. It is the duty of all officers charged by law with any duty in regard to the collection of the revenue to do and perform each and every act that is necessary to collect that additional sum.

86136.

 Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund in the State Treasury, for the purposes of this division, and without regard to fiscal years, an amount that will equal the total of the following:

(a) The sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and interest on, bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division, as the principal and interest become due and payable.

(b) The sum that is necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 86139.

86137.

 The board may request the Pooled Money Investment Board to make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account, including other authorized forms of interim financing that include, but are not limited to, commercial paper, in accordance with Section 16312 of the Government Code for the purpose of carrying out this division. The amount of the request shall not exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that the committee has, by resolution, authorized to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this division, excluding refunding bonds authorized pursuant to Section 86142, less any amount loaned and not yet repaid pursuant to this section and withdrawn from the General Fund pursuant to Section 86139 and not yet returned to the General Fund. The board shall execute those documents required by the Pooled Money Investment Board to obtain and repay the loan. Any amounts loaned shall be deposited in the fund to be allocated in accordance with this division.

86138.

 Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, or of the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), if the Treasurer sells bonds pursuant to this chapter that include a bond counsel opinion to the effect that the interest on the bonds is excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes under designated conditions or is otherwise entitled to any federal tax advantage, the Treasurer may maintain separate accounts for the bond proceeds invested and for the investment earnings on those proceeds, and may use or direct the use of those proceeds or earnings to pay any rebate, penalty, or other payment required under federal law or take any other action with respect to the investment and use of those bond proceeds, as may be required or desirable under federal law in order to maintain the tax-exempt status of those bonds and to obtain any other advantage under federal law on behalf of the funds of this state.

86139.

 For the purposes of carrying out this division, the Director of Finance may authorize the withdrawal from the General Fund of an amount or amounts not to exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that have been authorized by the committee to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this division, excluding refunding bonds authorized pursuant to Section 86142, less any amount loaned pursuant to Section 86137 and not yet repaid and any amount withdrawn from the General Fund pursuant to this section and not yet returned to the General Fund. Any amounts withdrawn shall be deposited in the fund to be allocated in accordance with this division. Any moneys made available under this section shall be returned to the General Fund, with interest at the rate earned by the moneys in the Pooled Money Investment Account, from proceeds received from the sale of bonds for the purpose of carrying out this division.

86140.

 All moneys deposited in the fund that are derived from premium and accrued interest on bonds sold pursuant to this division shall be reserved in the fund and shall be available for transfer to the General Fund as a credit to expenditures for bond interest, except that amounts derived from premiums may be reserved and used to pay the cost of bond issuance prior to any transfer to the General Fund.

86141.

 Pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the cost of bond issuance shall be paid or reimbursed out of the bond proceeds, including premiums, if any. To the extent the cost of bond issuance is not paid from premiums received from the sale of bonds, these costs shall be allocated proportionally to each program funded through this division by the applicable bond sale.

86142.

 The bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division may be refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section 16780) of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, which is a part of the State General Obligation Bond Law. Approval by the voters of the state for the issuance of the bonds under this division shall include approval of the issuance, sale, or exchange of any bonds issued to refund any bonds originally issued under this division or any previously issued refunding bonds. Any bond refunded with the proceeds of a refunding bond as authorized by this section may be legally defeased to the extent permitted by law in the manner and to the extent set forth in the resolution, as amended from time to time, authorizing that refunded bond.

86143.

 The proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this division are not “proceeds of taxes” as that term is used in Article XIII B of the California Constitution, and the disbursement of these proceeds is not subject to the limitations imposed by that article.