(a) A project sponsor may apply to the authority for bond issuance by the authority or project sponsor for a transportation project that has been approved by the department and the commission for construction.
(b) The authority shall also ensure that the following requirements are met for a project to be financed or refinanced under this division to the extent these criteria have not already been met through approval of the project by the commission:
(1) The project complies with all relevant statutes applicable to planning, programming, and construction of transportation improvement projects, and is contained in the constrained portion of a conforming regional transportation plan prepared pursuant to Section 65080 and identified as a project proposed to be funded under the authority provided by this division. For purposes of this subdivision, a regional transportation plan must be consistent with greenhouse gas reduction targets assigned by the State Air Resources Board, pursuant to Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 35800) of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) For projects on the state highway system, the project sponsor has cooperated with the department to secure its support for the project and to ensure that the project is consistent with the needs and requirements of the state highway system.
(3) The project is technically feasible in that it conforms to federal standards and meets or exceeds environmental requirements.
(4) The project is financially feasible, as determined pursuant to Section 64111.
(5) Performance measures have been developed for the project to enable the commission to track and report on the project’s performance to the Legislature in the commission’s annual report prepared pursuant to Section 14535.
(6) The project has support in the communities adjacent to or affected by the project. To ensure that such support can be demonstrated, the project sponsor shall, at a minimum, make available for public review and comment the proposed project, including any proposed toll schedule, no less than 30 days prior to approval by the governing body with jurisdiction over the project.
(7) In the case of highway projects, the project sponsor submits to the commission and to the authority a plan that demonstrates how transit service or alternative modes of transportation will be enhanced in the corridor concurrent with the operation of a toll facility for the purpose of ensuring that the corridor provides for multiple modes of transport that accommodate all users. Nothing in this section may be construed to require that toll revenues be used to finance the enhancement of transit or alternative means of transportation in the project corridor.
(c) The authority shall have no power to plan projects, or to approve projects other than provided in this division. The authority shall have no power to assume any of the planning, programming, or allocation authority of the department or the commission.
(d) Beginning June 30, 2011, and annually thereafter, the authority shall provide to the commission a summary of actions taken in the previous calendar year, including the number of project sponsors who sought financing through the authority, a description of each project, a summary of the sources of funding used to finance or refinance the project, and any recommendations the authority may have to improve the financing of transportation infrastructure, to be included in the commission’s annual report to the Legislature as required by Section 14535.
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 198, Sec. 5. (AB 1070) Effective January 1, 2014.)