Section 2099.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Eligible project" means a solar thermal powerplant, photovoltaic powerplant, wind powerplant, or geothermal powerplant meeting the requirements of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 2069 or meeting the definition of a "covered activity" in the final Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, as approved by the department.

(2) "Energy Commission" means the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.

(b) (1) The Renewable Energy Resources Development Fee Trust Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. The department shall collect a fee from the owner or developer of an eligible project that elects to use mitigation actions developed and approved by the department pursuant to Section 2069, and all moneys received for purposes of mitigation actions pursuant to Section 2069 shall be deposited in the fund and shall be held in trust and be expended solely for the purposes of, and in conformity with, that section, applicable permit or certification requirements for eligible projects, and any contractual agreement between the Energy Commission or department and the owner or developer of an eligible project. The department may contract with, or award grants to, third parties to implement mitigation actions in conformity with Section 2069 and this section.

(2) Upon direction by the department, the Controller shall create any accounts or subaccounts within the fund that the department determines are necessary or convenient to facilitate management of the fund.

(3) The fund shall serve, and be managed, as an optional, voluntary method for developers or owners of eligible projects to deposit fees to complete mitigation actions meeting the conditions of subdivision (c) of Section 2069 and for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this chapter or the requirements of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15 of the Public Resources Code by funding mitigation actions implemented by the department or third parties in a contractual relationship with the department. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the department, without regard to fiscal years, for the purposes enumerated in this section and Section 2069. An expenditure shall not be made from the fund except as authorized by the department.

(4) The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) previously transferred, as a loan, from the Renewable Resource Trust Fund to the fund shall be repaid from the fund to the Renewable Resource Trust Fund no later than December 31, 2013. The department shall use these funds, pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 2069, to purchase mitigation lands or conservation easements, and to cover related restoration, monitoring, and transaction costs incurred in advance of the receipt of fees pursuant to paragraph (5) and to cover the department's administrative costs for the program.

(5) A developer or owner of an eligible project that elects to use mitigation actions developed and authorized by the department pursuant to Section 2069 shall remit fees to the department for deposit into the fund for those mitigation actions in an amount that reflects the determination by the Energy Commission, with respect to a solar thermal or geothermal powerplant subject to its jurisdiction, or the department, with respect to a renewable energy powerplant not subject to the Energy Commission's jurisdiction, of the costs attributable to the mitigation actions that meet the standards of this chapter. The amount of fees to be paid by a developer or owner of an eligible project to meet the standards of this chapter shall be calculated on a per acre basis, using total cost accounting, and shall include, as applicable, land acquisition or conservation easement costs, monitoring costs, restoration costs, transaction costs, the amount of a perpetual endowment account for land management or easement stewardship costs by the department or other management entity, and administrative costs and funds sufficient to repay any expenditure of state funds made pursuant to paragraph (4). To ensure the funds deposited pursuant to this section are sufficient to meet the standards of this chapter, the project developer or owner, in addition to payment of those funds, shall provide security, in a form and amount, not to exceed 5 percent of the amount of the funds, excluding any portion of the funds to be used for a perpetual endowment, to be determined by the Energy Commission, with respect to a solar thermal or geothermal powerplant subject to its jurisdiction, or to be determined by the department, with respect to a renewable energy powerplant not subject to the Energy Commission's jurisdiction.

(c) The department shall monitor the implementation of the mitigation actions and the progress of the construction of the eligible projects. The department shall report all deposits, and the source of those deposits, on its Internet Web site. The department shall also report all expenditures from the fund on its Internet Web site and identify the mitigation activities or programs that each expenditure funded and its relationship to the permitted project. The Energy Commission, with respect to a solar thermal or geothermal powerplant subject to its jurisdiction, and the department, with respect to a renewable energy powerplant not subject to the Energy Commission's jurisdiction, shall ensure that moneys paid pursuant to this section are used only for purposes of satisfying the standards of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 2081. Where moneys are used to fund mitigation actions, including the acquisition of lands or conservation easements, or the restoration of lands, that use shall be in addition to, and not duplicative of, mitigation obtained through any other means.

(d) The department and the Energy Commission shall not allow any use of the interim mitigation strategy subsequent to a determination by the department that the time and extent of mitigation actions are not being implemented in rough proportion to the impacts of those projects. The department shall reinstitute the use of the interim mitigation strategy when the department determines the rough proportionality between mitigation actions and impacts of eligible projects has been reestablished by the completion of additional mitigation actions.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 559, Sec. 18. Effective January 1, 2013.)