(a) The administrator of the fund shall annually, on a fiscal year basis, pay claims for reimbursement from the fund filed by potentially responsible parties under subdivision (a) of Section 80025, in accordance with the following procedures:
(1) Claims for funds available during each fiscal year shall be filed with the administrator by July 30 of that fiscal year.
(2) For sites with multiple responsible parties, all potentially responsible parties that have entered into the cleanup agreement specified in subdivision (c) of Section 80040 shall file a single claim.
(3) (A) The administrator shall allocate the money available in the fund for the fiscal year among the claims filed by the July 30 deadline. The allocation shall be based on the determination of the orphan share percentage at the facility under the process set forth in Section 80070, the long-term financial stability and short-term resources available in the fund, and the administrator’s fiduciary duty with respect to the fund. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the administrator shall pay claims for funds in the order in which they are received.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if an appropriation from the General Fund is made to the fund in any fiscal year, the administrator may alter the order of payment of claims required by subparagraph (A) by using funds appropriated from the General Fund to pay claims based on the threat to public health or the environment posed by a site or the need to improve economic and environmental conditions in redeveloping communities.
(4) The total amount allocated to any one site shall not exceed 10 percent of the total amount available each fiscal year in the fund. If, due to this limit or to the unavailability of funds, a claimant receives only partial or no reimbursement of the orphan share paid by that claimant, the claim shall be paid in the following fiscal year and shall be given priority over all claims filed after the claim was initially received, subject to the discretion of the administrator set forth in paragraph (3).
(5) The administrator’s proposed allocation shall be subject to public review and comment for 30 days.
(b) The state and the fund have no obligation to provide full reimbursement to a claimant. The fund shall be allocated at the discretion of the administrator, subject to the requirements of this chapter. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature intends that claimants be reimbursed only to the extent that money is available in the fund and is allocated to the claimant by the administrator.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257. Conditionally operative pursuant to Sec. 80100.)