Section 25395.21 Of Article 8.5. Cleanup Loans And Environmental Assistance To Neighborhoods From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.8. >> Article 8.5.
25395.21
. (a) The department, with the approval of the secretary,
shall establish an Investigating Site Contamination Program to
provide loans to eligible persons to conduct preliminary endangerment
assessments of brownfields and underutilized properties. A loan
provided pursuant to this section shall not be used for the cost of a
phase I environmental assessment or the department's oversight of
the preparation and approval of the preliminary endangerment
assessment.
(b) The department shall develop a loan application form for an
investigating site contamination program loan and shall include, in
the form, any provisions that the department considers to be
appropriate. The application form shall be signed by the loan
applicant and shall be submitted to the department with all of the
following documentation:
(1) The phase I environmental assessment for the property that is
the subject of the loan application.
(2) Information that demonstrates that the property is a
brownfield or an underutilized property.
(3) If the owner of the property that is the subject of the loan
application is not the loan applicant, one of the following:
(A) Documentation that demonstrates that the owner consents to the
performance of the preliminary endangerment assessment of the
property.
(B) A copy of an agreement between the property owner and the loan
applicant that gives the loan applicant an option to purchase the
property.
(C) If the loan applicant is a local government entity, or a
developer or prospective purchaser acting together with a local
government entity pursuant to an enforceable agreement, a
demonstration to the department that the local government entity, or
developer or prospective purchaser acting together with the local
government entity pursuant to an enforceable agreement, has legal
access to perform the preliminary endangerment assessment at the
property, or will have legal access, prior to receiving loan funds.
(4) Any other information the department deems necessary.
(c) The department shall determine whether to approve a loan
application pursuant to this section based upon the information
submitted pursuant to subdivision (b). In making a decision regarding
whether to approve a loan application, the department shall approve
a loan pursuant to this section for a property only if the department
determines the property is a brownfield or an underutilized
property.
(d) The maximum amount of a loan granted pursuant to this section
shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) and in subdivision
(f), upon approval of the loan application by the department, the
loan recipient shall execute an agreement with the department to
repay the loan over a period not to exceed three years.
(2) If the loan is to a local government entity, or to a developer
or prospective purchaser acting together with a local government
entity pursuant to an enforceable agreement, the department may delay
the beginning of the loan repayment period.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the agreement made
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall require that if the loan recipient
recovers from a responsible party any costs incurred in taking a
response action at the site that is the subject of the loan
application, any money so recovered, except for reasonable costs and
the fees incurred to recover that money, shall be used first to repay
the loan or repay the grant.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a loan recipient is not
required to first use the money recovered to repay the loan or grant,
if the recipient can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the
department, that the recovered money is necessary to, and is being
applied to, the total environmental remediation of the property, and
that the total of the recovered money and the loan amount does not
exceed the cost of remediation.
(f) If a loan recipient who is not the owner of the property and
the department determine, after the completion of the preliminary
endangerment assessment, that the sum of the cost of remediation and
the property purchase price makes the redevelopment of the property
not economically feasible, the department may waive the repayment of
up to 75 percent of the loan, and the amount waived shall be deemed a
grant to the loan recipient. If the department waives the repayment
of part of the loan, the recipient shall repay the remaining portion
of the loan within one year of that waiver.
(g) Upon approval of a loan, the recipient shall enter into an
agreement with the department for the department to provide
regulatory oversight of the preparation and approval of the
preliminary endangerment assessment.
(h) Notwithstanding any requirement of this division regarding
cost recovery or reimbursement for oversight costs, a loan recipient
is not liable for paying the department's cost associated with the
oversight of the preparation and approval of the preliminary
endangerment assessment if the department determines there are
sufficient funds in the account to reimburse the department for that
oversight. If the department determines that the account has
insufficient funds to pay for the oversight costs associated with the
oversight of the preparation and approval of the preliminary
endangerment assessment, the loan recipient shall pay the department
the amount of those costs.