Chapter 20.5. Implementation Of The Safe, Reliable High-speed Passenger Train Bond Act For The 21st Century of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 3. >> Chapter 20.5.

(a) An eligible recipient for funds pursuant to Section 2704.095 may apply to the California Transportation Commission for a letter of no prejudice for a project or a component of a project to be undertaken with those funds. The commission may approve the letter of no prejudice for one or more projects or project components that the commission has programmed or otherwise approved for funding. The letter of no prejudice shall reference the project or component thereof and the amount of bond funding that is programmed or otherwise approved for that project or project component. The commission may approve a letter of no prejudice regardless of whether bond funding has been previously appropriated for purposes of the project or project component.
  (b) Expenditures for the costs, up to the amount set forth in the letter of no prejudice, of a project or project component for which a letter of no prejudice has been issued shall be eligible for reimbursement from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund if all of the following apply:
  (1) The project or project component for which the letter of no prejudice was requested has commenced and expenditures have been incurred by the eligible recipient.
  (2) The expenditures made by the eligible recipient are eligible for reimbursement in accordance with state and federal laws and procedures and are permitted expenditures under Section 2704.095. If expenditures made are determined to be ineligible, then the state has no obligation to reimburse for those expenditures.
  (3) The eligible recipient complies with all legal requirements for the project, including the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
  (4) The expenditures were incurred after the project or project component was programmed or otherwise approved for funding by the commission.
  (5) There is in the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund an appropriated amount sufficient to make the reimbursement payment. Nothing in this section requires the fund to be funded at any particular time or in any particular amount.
  (c) The commission and an eligible recipient may enter into an agreement or agreements governing reimbursement as described in this section.
  (d) The commission, in consultation with eligible recipients, may develop guidelines to implement this section. If the commission develops guidelines, the commission shall, to the extent practicable, use the guidelines developed for letters of no prejudice under Section 8879.501 of the Government Code.
  (e) Nothing in this section modifies any requirement under Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 2704).
  (f) For the purposes of this section, "letter of no prejudice" means an agreement between an eligible recipient and the commission that makes eligible for future reimbursement from bond proceeds the expenditure of funds under the control of the eligible recipient, subject to the availability of bond funds, as provided in this section. The timing and final amount of reimbursement are dependent on the terms of the agreement and the availability of bond funds. The final amount of reimbursement may be less than the amount stated in the letter of no prejudice.

(a) (1) Of the one billion one hundred million dollars ($1,100,000,000) appropriated pursuant to Item 2665-104-6043 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2012, six hundred million dollars ($600,000,000) shall be allocated solely for purposes of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Memorandum of Understanding, as approved by the High-Speed Rail Authority on April 12, 2012, in High-Speed Rail Authority Resolution 12-11, and five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) shall be allocated for purposes of the Southern California Memorandum of Understanding, as approved by the High-Speed Rail Authority on April 12, 2012, in High-Speed Rail Authority Resolution 12-10.
  (2) Transfers from Item 2665-104-6043 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2012 pursuant to Provision 2 of that item to Item 2665-004-6043 or Item 2665-306-6043 shall be limited to temporary transfers for account management purposes. Funds appropriated by Item 2665-104-6043 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2012 shall not otherwise be used in high-speed rail project segments other than the segments that are the subjects of the two memoranda of understanding referenced in paragraph (1).
  (b) Funds appropriated pursuant to Items 2660-104-6043, 2660-304-6043, and 2665-104-6043 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2012, to the extent those funds are allocated to projects in the San Francisco to San Jose segment, shall be used solely to implement a rail system in that segment that primarily consists of a two-track blended system to be used jointly by high-speed rail trains and Peninsula Joint Powers Board commuter trains (Caltrain), with the system to be contained substantially within the existing Caltrain right-of-way.
  (c) This section shall remain in effect as long as the appropriation in Item 2665-104-6043 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2012 remains available for encumbrance or liquidation, and shall be inoperative thereafter.

Any track expansion for the San Francisco to San Jose segment of the high-speed rail system beyond the blended system approach identified in the April 2012 California High-Speed Rail Program Revised 2012 Business Plan and approved by the High-Speed Rail Authority in April 2012 shall require approval from all nine parties to the Bay Area High-Speed Rail Early Investment Strategy Memorandum of Understanding, as follows:
  (a) The High-Speed Rail Authority.
  (b) The Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
  (c) The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.
  (d) The San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
  (e) The San Mateo County Transportation Authority.
  (f) The Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority.
  (g) The City of San Jose.
  (h) The City and County of San Francisco.
  (i) The Transbay Joint Powers Authority.