BILL NUMBER: SB 63 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 23, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hall
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and O'Donnell)
JANUARY 5, 2015
An act to amend Sections 53398.52, 53398.62, 53398.69, 53398.80,
and 53398.81 of, and to add Section 53398.80.5 to, the Government
Code, and to amend Sections 1690 and 1698 of, to add Section 1699 to,
and to add Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1710) to Part 1 of
Division 6 of, the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to seaport
infrastructure financing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 63, as amended, Hall. Seaport infrastructure financing
districts.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county
to establish an enhanced infrastructure financing district, adopt an
infrastructure financing plan, and issue bonds, for which only the
district is liable, upon approval by 55% of the voters and to finance
public capital facilities or other specified projects of
communitywide significance, including, but not limited to, among
other things, environmental mitigation, military base reuse,
low-income housing, and specified housing and transit projects.
Existing law authorizes an enhanced infrastructure financing district
to fund infrastructure projects through tax increment financing,
pursuant to the infrastructure financing plan and the agreement of
affected taxing entities.
This bill would additionally include port or harbor
infrastructure, as defined, among the projects that may be financed
by an enhanced infrastructure financing district. The bill would
require a harbor agency to prepare an infrastructure financing plan
for a seaport infrastructure financing district, defined as an
enhanced infrastructure financing district that finances port or
harbor infrastructure. The bill would increase the vote threshold for
a seaport infrastructure financing district to issue bonds to 2/3 of
the voters, and would provide that for purposes of these voters, a
"landowner" means the entity paying possessory interest tax on
state-owned land. The bill would prescribe additional procedures and
requirements for the establishment of a seaport enhanced
infrastructure financing district, including approval by the harbor
agency and the State Lands Commission before the proposal is
submitted to the voters for approval. The bill would specify that the
commission shall retain absolute discretion over the determination
of whether or not investment of local resources in port or harbor
infrastructure, the actions of a harbor agency, or any other action
taken by a seaport infrastructure financing district is consistent
with the state's interest in tidelands and submerged lands.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) It is equitable and in the public interest to provide
alternative procedures for financing public works and services needed
to support new commercial, environmental, and industrial development
in the state's ports and harbors that would generate significant new
employment opportunities and economic development, increase state
and local tax revenues, enhance port competitiveness in the
international trade community, reduce congestion and delay in the
supply chain, and result in improved environmental quality.
(2) Ports and harbors in California generally do not levy or
expend any funds generated by local taxes, as most of their
operations are funded directly through fees, tariffs, leases, and
other revenue the ports and harbors generate from their users and
tenants, in addition to the occasional state or federal grant.
(3) There is significant opportunity for development in our state'
s ports and harbors. However, the state lacks the public
infrastructure funding and financing necessary to support all of the
new development that is demanded.
(4) Our state's waterfront has infrastructure needs that cannot be
met by private investment alone, and therefore public financing
mechanisms are required to finance the remediating of deteriorating
conditions. The absence of practical and equitable methods for
financing both regional and local public works leads to a declining
standard of port infrastructure, a failure to construct new public
works needed to support new commercial and industrial development in
our ports and harbors, and increased congestion and environmental
degradation.
(5) The ports and harbors of California are valuable assets of the
state that provide special maritime, navigational, recreational,
cultural, and historical benefits to the people of the state and the
management and development of these ports and harbors are matters of
statewide significance. Remediating any condition that will otherwise
result in underinvestment in the state's ports and harbors by
providing a financing mechanism, through the use of incremental
property tax revenues, is a matter of statewide importance that will
further the purposes of the public trust. Public facilities along the
state's waterfront that are eligible for financing pursuant to the
enhanced infrastructure financing district law will increase public
access to, or use or enjoyment of, public trust lands and are,
therefore, facilities of statewide significance.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that in order to
adapt the provisions of Chapter 2.99 (commencing with Section
53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code,
relating to enhanced infrastructure financing districts, to the
unique circumstances that surround the state's ports and harbors,
this special act is necessary.
(c) Due to the extraordinary capital needs of ports and harbors,
it is the intent of the Legislature to provide local governments that
may benefit from additional investment in the ports and harbors in
their jurisdiction the authority to create and fund enhanced
infrastructure financing districts in the manner that provides the
optimal financing options to construct needed public facilities on
public trust waterfront lands in order to meet the stated goals of
statewide significance.
SEC. 2. Section 53398.52 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53398.52. (a) (1) A district may finance any of the following:
(A) The purchase, construction, expansion, improvement, seismic
retrofit, or rehabilitation of any real or other tangible property
with an estimated useful life of 15 years or longer that satisfies
the requirements of subdivision (b).
(B) The planning and design work that is directly related to the
purchase, construction, expansion, or rehabilitation of property.
(C) The costs described in Sections 53398.56 and 53398.57.
(2) The facilities are not required to be physically located
within the boundaries of the district. However, any facilities
financed outside of a district shall have a tangible connection to
the work of the district, as detailed in the infrastructure financing
plan adopted pursuant to Section 53398.69.
(3) A district shall not finance routine maintenance, repair work,
or the costs of an ongoing operation or providing services of any
kind.
(b) The district shall finance only public capital facilities or
other specified projects of communitywide significance that provide
significant benefits to the district or the surrounding community,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Highways, interchanges, ramps and bridges, arterial streets,
parking facilities, and transit facilities.
(2) Sewage treatment and water reclamation plants and interceptor
pipes.
(3) Facilities for the collection and treatment of water for urban
uses.
(4) Flood control levees and dams, retention basins, and drainage
channels.
(5) Child care facilities.
(6) Libraries.
(7) Parks, recreational facilities, and open space.
(8) Facilities for the transfer and disposal of solid waste,
including transfer stations and vehicles.
(9) Brownfield restoration and other environmental mitigation.
(10) The development of projects on a former military base,
provided that the projects are consistent with the military base
authority reuse plan and are approved by the military base reuse
authority, if applicable.
(11) The repayment of the transfer of funds to a military base
reuse authority pursuant to Section 67851 that occurred on or after
the creation of the district.
(12) The acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of housing
for persons of low and moderate income, as defined in Section 50093
of the Health and Safety Code, for rent or purchase.
(13) Acquisition, construction, or repair of industrial structures
for private use.
(14) Transit priority projects, as defined in Section 21155 of the
Public Resources Code, that are located within a transit priority
project area. For purposes of this paragraph, a transit priority
project area may include a military base reuse plan that meets the
definition of a transit priority project area and it may include a
contaminated site within a transit priority project area.
(15) Projects that implement a sustainable communities strategy,
when the State Air Resources Board, pursuant to Chapter 2.5
(commencing with Section 65080) of Division 1 of Title 7, has
accepted a metropolitan planning organization's determination that
the sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning
strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission
reduction targets.
(16) Port or harbor infrastructure, as defined by Section 1698 of
the Harbors and Navigation Code.
(c) The district shall require, by recorded covenants or
restrictions, that housing units built pursuant to this section shall
remain available at affordable housing costs to, and occupied by,
persons and families of low- or moderate-income households for the
longest feasible time, but for not less than 55 years for rental
units and 45 years for owner-occupied units.
(d) The district may finance mixed-income housing developments,
but may finance only those units in such a development that are
restricted to occupancy by persons of low or moderate incomes as
defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, and those
onsite facilities for child care, after-school care, and social
services that are integrally linked to the tenants of the restricted
units.
(e) A district may utilize any powers under the Polanco
Redevelopment Act (Article 12.5 (commencing with Section 33459) of
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code),
and finance any action necessary to implement that act.
SEC. 3. Section 53398.62 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53398.62. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), after
adopting the resolution pursuant to Section 53398.59, the legislative
body shall designate and direct the city or county engineer or other
appropriate official to prepare an infrastructure financing plan
pursuant to Section 53398.63.
(b) In the case of a district proposed for port or harbor
infrastructure, the legislative body shall designate and direct the
harbor agency to prepare an infrastructure financing plan pursuant to
Section 53398.63.
SEC. 4. Section 53398.69 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53398.69. (a) At the conclusion of the hearing, the legislative
body may adopt a resolution proposing adoption of the infrastructure
financing plan, as modified, and formation of the enhanced
infrastructure financing district in a manner consistent with Section
53398.68, or it may abandon the proceedings.
(b) The infrastructure financing plan and the formation of the
enhanced infrastructure financing district shall take effect upon the
legislative body's adoption of the resolution. The infrastructure
financing plan shall specify if the district shall be funded solely
through the district's share of tax increment, governmental or
private loans, grants, bonds, assessments, fees, or some combination
thereof. However, the public financing authority shall not issue
bonds or levy assessments or fees that may be included in the
infrastructure financing plan before one or more of the following:
(1) An affirmative vote, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
53398.81 and, if applicable, subdivision (c) of Section 53398.80.5,
to issue bonds to finance the infrastructure financing plan.
(2) Without compliance with the procedures required in subdivision
(f) of Section 53398.75, to levy assessments or fees to finance the
infrastructure financing plan.
(c) In addition, the district may expend up to 10 percent of any
accrued tax increment in the first two years of the effective date of
the enhanced infrastructure financing district on planning and
dissemination of information to the residents within the district's
boundaries about the infrastructure financing plan and planned
activities to be funded by the district.
SEC. 5. Section 53398.80 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53398.80. (a) The public financing authority shall submit the
proposal to issue the bonds to the voters who reside within the
district. If the public financing authority adopts a resolution
proposing initiation of proceedings to issue bonds pursuant to
Section 53398.77, it shall then submit that proposal, together with
the information specified in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, of
Section 53398.78, to the qualified electors of the district in the
next general election or in a special election to be held,
notwithstanding any other requirement, including any requirement that
elections be held on specified dates, contained in the Elections
Code, at least 90 days but not more than 180 days following the
adoption of the resolution of bond issuance. The public financing
authority shall provide the resolution of bond issuance, a certified
map of sufficient scale and clarity to show the boundaries of the
district, and a sufficient description to allow the election official
to determine the boundaries of the district to the official
conducting the election within three business days after the adoption
of the resolution of bond issuance. The assessor's parcel numbers
for the land within the district shall be included if it is a
landowner election or the district does not conform to an existing
district's boundaries and if requested by the official conducting the
election. If the election is to be held less than 125 days following
the adoption of the resolution of bond issuance, the concurrence of
the election official conducting the election shall be required.
However, any time limit specified by this section or requirement
pertaining to the conduct of the election may be waived with the
unanimous consent of the qualified electors of the proposed district
and the concurrence of the election official conducting the election.
(b) (1) If at least 12 persons have been registered to vote within
the territory of the district for each of the 90 days preceding the
close of the hearing, the vote shall be by the registered voters of
the district, who need not necessarily be the same persons, with each
voter having one vote. Otherwise, the vote shall be by the
landowners of the district and each landowner who is the owner of
record at the close of the protest hearing, or the authorized
representative thereof, shall have one vote for each acre or portion
of an acre of land that he or she owns within the district. The
number of votes to be voted by a particular landowner shall be
specified on the ballot provided to that landowner.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, for an entity paying
possessory interest tax on state-owned land, "landowner" means the
entity that is paying the possessory interest tax.
(c) Ballots for the special election authorized by subdivision (a)
may be distributed to qualified electors by mail with return postage
prepaid or by personal service by the election official. The
official conducting the election may certify the proper mailing of
ballots by an affidavit, which shall be exclusive proof of mailing in
the absence of fraud. The voted ballots shall be returned to the
election officer conducting the election not later than the hour
specified in the resolution calling the election. However, if all the
qualified voters have voted, the election shall be closed.
SEC. 6. Section 53398.80.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
53398.80.5. (a) If the public financing authority adopts a
resolution proposing initiation of proceedings to issue bonds
pursuant to Section 53398.77 for port or harbor infrastructure, it
shall, before submitting the proposal to the voters pursuant to
Section 53398.80, submit the proposal, together with the information
specified in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, and (e) and (f) of
Section 53398.78, to the affected harbor agency pursuant to Section
1713 of the Harbors and Navigation Code for its preliminary approval.
(b) If the harbor agency grants preliminary approval, the proposal
shall be considered by the State Lands Commission for final approval
pursuant to Section 1714 of the Harbors and Navigation Code.
(c) If the State Lands Commission votes in favor of the issuance
of the bonds as provided in Section 1714 of the Harbors and
Navigation Code, the public financing authority shall proceed with
the submission of the proposal to the voters.
SEC. 7. Section 53398.81 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53398.81. (a) (1) Except as specified in paragraph (2), the bonds
may be issued if 55 percent of the voters voting on the proposition
vote in favor of issuing the bonds.
(2) For a seaport infrastructure financing district, the bonds may
be issued if two-thirds of the voters voting on the proposition vote
in favor of issuing the bonds.
(b) If the voters approve the issuance of the bonds as provided by
subdivision (a), the public financing authority shall proceed with
the issuance of the bonds by adopting a resolution that shall provide
for all of the following:
(1) The issuance of the bonds in one or more series.
(2) The principal amount of the bonds that shall be consistent
with the amount specified in subdivision (b) of Section 53398.78.
(3) The date the bonds will bear.
(4) The date of maturity of the bonds.
(5) The denomination of the bonds.
(6) The form of the bonds.
(7) The manner of execution of the bonds.
(8) The medium of payment in which the bonds are payable.
(9) The place or manner of payment and any requirements for
registration of the bonds.
(10) The terms of call or redemption, with or without premium.
SEC. 8. Section 1690 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
1690. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The state has a compelling interest in the success of its
ports and harbors because they provide significant economic benefit
to the state in terms of jobs, personal income, business revenue, and
taxes. It is the policy of the state that, because of that
compelling interest, legislation in this area is a matter of
statewide concern and is necessary to develop the harbors and ports
of this state for the benefit of the people.
(b) Ports and harbors are the vital interface between water and
land transportation for trade with the Pacific Rim countries and
other trade. In this respect, the specific management of the state's
ports and harbors by specific harbor and port districts established
pursuant to Division 8 (commencing with Section 5800) are of equal
statewide concern and importance as the management of granted lands
held in trust for the state by a local port or harbor district.
(c) Historically, California's ports and harbors have been
self-supporting. Most port and harbor districts do not levy or expend
funds generated by local taxes, as most of their operations are
funded directly through fees and other revenue the ports generate
from their users or tenants, in addition to occasional state and
federal grants.
(d) The report of the California Transportation Commission
entitled "Improving Access to California's Ports," dated February
1990, found that $897 eight hundred
ninety-seven million dollars ($897,000,000) is
needed for port access transportation projects. By December 2014, the
"California Freight Mobility Plan" report of the Department of
Transportation identified a comprehensive list of freight projects in
the state, including port access transportation projects, with an
estimated total cost of one hundred thirty-eight billion dollars
($138,000,000,000).
(e) In addition to port access transportation projects, there is a
need for new harbor facilities and infrastructure investments that
will enhance California's competitiveness for international cargoes,
grow employment, yield significant economic development, increase
state and local tax revenues, and reduce impacts to environmental
quality from goods movement.
(f) Because of limited revenues from port operations, shrinking
federal and state funding and the increasing demand for those limited
funds, ports and harbors are no longer able to finance projects of
this magnitude without new funding mechanisms. One such mechanism
that can be used to finance port and harbor development projects is
the enhanced infrastructure financing district.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to assist in the reduction
of local borrowing costs, help accelerate the construction, repair,
and maintenance of port capital improvements, and promote greater use
of existing and new financial instruments and mechanisms.
(h) It is further the intent of the Legislature to assert the
state's plenary power over the financing of port and harbor
infrastructure by harbor agencies as matters of statewide concern and
to authorize the use of tax increment financing, as provided
by in Chapter 2.99 (commencing with Section
53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code,
to support investment of tax revenues in port and harbor
infrastructure.
(i) The Legislature empowers local legislative bodies with
specific and exclusive delegated authority to manage the state's
ports and harbors by legislative grant and by establishment of
special districts pursuant to this code. In addition, the Legislature
delegates to public financing authorities the power to establish
seaport infrastructure financing districts for the purpose of
leveraging investment in support of the statewide interest in
improving port and harbor infrastructure.
SEC. 9. Section 1698 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
1698. (a) "Port or harbor infrastructure" means any of the
following, if its primary or predominant use is of direct benefit to
the port or harbor:
(1) Streets, roads, highways, bridges, sidewalks, curbs, gutters,
tunnels, subways, alleyways, viaducts, pipelines, rail lines, or
other facilities for the transportation or movement of people,
vehicles, equipment, or goods.
(2) Piers, docks, wharves, slips, quays, platforms, decks, cranes,
or other facilities for the mooring, docking, loading, or unloading
of vessels.
(3) Lands, tidelands, submerged lands, easements, port access
routes, channel improvements, rights-of-way, dredge disposal sites,
safety zones, breakwaters, levees, bulkheads, or walls of rock or
other material to protect property or traffic.
(4) Parking, warehouse, or storage facilities.
(5) Parks, recreation, or open space facilities.
(6) Remediation or any capital improvement that improves
environmental quality.
(7) Water, wastewater, drainage, electric, or telecommunication
systems or facilities.
(8) Buildings, structures, facilities, improvements, or equipment
necessary or convenient to any of paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive,
or to the operation of a port or harbor.
(9) Public improvements authorized pursuant to the Improvement Act
of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Streets
and Highways Code), the Improvement Bond Act of 1915 (Division 10
(commencing with Section 8500) of the Streets and Highways Code), and
the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 (Chapter 2.5
(commencing with Section 53311) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of
the Government Code).
(b) Any port or harbor infrastructure may be privately operated.
Except for any port or harbor infrastructure financed or subsidized
with public trust revenues, any privately owned port or harbor
infrastructure may be eligible in whole or in part for financing or
other support or subsidy from money deposited in the infrastructure
fund pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1701.
(c) If a port or harbor infrastructure financed wholly or partly
with public funds is privately owned and if the use for which the
port or harbor infrastructure was originally constructed changes or
is incompatible with the port authority's master plan, the private
owner shall pay the public agency the percentage of the full
appreciated value of the port or harbor infrastructure that was
originally financed with public funds.
(d) Any port or harbor infrastructure may be located within,
partly within and partly outside, or outside the boundaries of any
harbor agency.
(e) Any port or harbor infrastructure that has been purchased,
constructed, expanded, improved, or rehabilitated by the expenditure
or use of public trust revenues shall be held as an asset of the
trust in a share proportionate to the investment of public trust
revenues.
SEC. 10. Section 1699 is added to the Harbors and Navigation Code,
to read:
1699. "Seaport infrastructure financing district" means an
enhanced infrastructure financing district that finances port or
harbor infrastructure created in accordance with Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 1710) of this part and Chapter 2.99
(commencing with Section 53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5
of the Government Code.
SEC. 11. Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1710) is added to Part
1 of Division 6 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3. SEAPORT INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING DISTRICTS
1710. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In addition to the findings and declarations in Section
53398.50 of the Government Code, the ability to capture property tax
increment revenues to finance needed port and harbor infrastructure
projects will provide direct benefits to the state. When harbor
agencies are better funded to further the objectives of the state,
its ports and harbors, and the public trust and enjoyment of those
trust lands by the people of the state, local economies and the local
environment will also be improved.
(b) A port or harbor or its operation frequently generates large
local tax benefits directly as a result of the possessory interest
taxes paid on the value of leased port and harbor real property.
(c) The tax increment increases in possessory interest taxes that
will result from the improvement of port and harbor infrastructure
should be captured, whenever possible, and reinvested to support the
state's significant interest in the successful operation of its ports
and harbors.
(d) The unique nature of the state's public seaports and harbors,
including the nature of the statewide interest in their operations,
requires special rules if these ports and harbors are to be allowed
to participate in a seaport infrastructure financing district.
(e) The seaport infrastructure financing district is specifically
developed to include publicly owned property, to improve that public
property, and to achieve the public goals of improving the state's
waterborne commerce, enhancing economic prosperity, and financing the
costs of environmental mitigation and improvement.
(f) This chapter is intended to maintain and enforce the state's
retained rights, statewide interests, obligations and sovereign
duties in its ports, harbors, and tidelands, including protecting
these same assets from local control or excise, while simultaneously
creating an opportunity for public financing authorities to
participate in facilitating investment in the state's public seaport
infrastructure and finance projects that will have the anticipated
effect of not only providing statewide benefits, but also local
benefits such as boosting local employment, local secondary economic
development, local environmental improvement, and increased local tax
revenues.
1711. As used in this chapter, "public financing authority" has
the same meaning as provided in Section 53398.51 of the Government
Code.
1712. When designated by the legislative body pursuant to Section
53398.62 of the Government Code, the harbor agency shall prepare a
proposed infrastructure financing plan, as provided in Section
53398.63 of the Government Code, for a seaport infrastructure
financing district covering a port or harbor infrastructure.
1713. (a) Upon receipt of a resolution from the public financing
authority promulgated under subdivision (a) of Section 53398.80.5 of
the Government Code, the harbor agency shall have 60 days to consider
the proposal. During this time, the harbor agency's governing body
shall act at a duly noticed meeting to either vote to give
preliminary approval of the proposal, subject to the provisions of
this section, or disapprove the proposal and return it to the public
financing authority.
(b) A harbor agency may give preliminary approval under this
section only if it makes all of the following affirmative findings:
(1) The harbor agency has
prepared an infrastructure financing plan pursuant to Section 1712.
(2) The improvements to the harbor agency's property to be
financed through the proceeds of a seaport infrastructure financing
district are solely for the support of port or harbor infrastructure.
(3) All publicly owned property that is leased to private parties
within the boundaries of the seaport infrastructure financing
district has been reported by the harbor agency to the local county
assessor to facilitate possessory interest taxation.
(4) (A) If the harbor agency is acting on granted lands, all of
the projects and uses proposed in the seaport infrastructure
financing district are consistent with the state tidelands trust and
the conditions of the harbor agency grant.
(B) If the harbor agency was formed pursuant to this code, all of
the projects and uses proposed in the seaport infrastructure
financing district are consistent with its charter and the statewide
interests in the operation of harbors and ports.
(c) (1) The harbor agency shall not grant preliminary approval
under this section unless both of the following apply:
(A) The seaport infrastructure financing district will operate
independently of any other prior or concurrent agreements between the
harbor agency and the public financing authority, or the local
governments that make up the public financing authority.
(B) No transfers of funds or obligations, or future transfers of
funds or obligations contingent on the approval of the seaport
infrastructure financing district, its financing, or projects within
the district, are created between the harbor agency and the public
financing authority, or the local governments that make up the public
financing authority.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "transfers of funds or
obligations" includes any direct or indirect transfer of harbor
agency resources to the public financing authority, or the local
governments that make up the public financing authority, except for
any of the following if agreed to between the harbor agency and the
public financing authority in writing:
(A) Harbor agency reimbursements of a public financing authority
for its direct administrative costs of establishing the seaport
infrastructure financing district.
(B) Public financing authority expenses for underwriting the bond
issuance for the identified projects in the seaport infrastructure
financing district.
(C) Any other administrative expenses or direct operating expenses
that are incurred as the direct result of creating the seaport
infrastructure financing district that are identified by both parties
at the time of preliminary approval and in advance of the expense
being incurred by the public financing authority.
(d) If a harbor agency votes to give preliminary approval to the
proposal, it shall immediately forward its preliminary approval to
the State Lands Commission for its consideration.
1714. (a) Upon receipt of a preliminary approval from a harbor
agency granted pursuant to Section 1713, the State Lands Commission
shall consider the proposal and either grant or deny final approval.
(b) Prior to granting final approval the State Lands Commission
shall do both of the following:
(1) Review the infrastructure financing plan prepared by the
harbor agency pursuant to Section 1712.
(2) Review the findings of the harbor agency made in its
preliminary approval.
(c) The State Lands Commission shall grant final approval only if
it makes all of the following findings:
(1) The state's interests in its tidelands and its ports and
harbors are furthered by the funding of the seaport infrastructure
financing district.
(2) The principal purposes of the seaport infrastructure financing
district are to further port and harbor infrastructure.
(3) The execution of the financing section of the infrastructure
finance plan is more likely than not to result in the outcomes
proposed.
(4) No revenues shall be made available to local governments as a
result of the approval of the seaport infrastructure financing
district from state revenues, revenues derived from granted lands, or
from ports or harbors created under this code, except as otherwise
allowed under paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 1713.
(5) The harbor agency and the public financing authority
participating in the seaport infrastructure financing district have
each completed all procedural requirements, financial due diligence,
and made all findings required by this chapter and Chapter 2.99
(commencing with Section 53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5
of the Government Code.
(6) All of the projects and uses proposed in the seaport
infrastructure financing district are consistent with the state
tidelands trust and the conditions of any grants, if applicable, and
the statewide interests in the operation of harbors and ports.
(7) No agreements by the harbor agency that may control the
discretion of the harbor agency to maintain its port or harbor
operations or to cede any such control to the discretion of a third
party were made as a condition of participation in the seaport
infrastructure financing district.
(d) If the State Lands Commission gives final approval to the
proposal, it shall immediately forward its approval to the public
financing authority for further action pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 53398.80.5 of the Government Code.
1715. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), Chapter 2.99
(commencing with Section 53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5
of the Government Code shall apply to this chapter.
(b) To the extent that any provision of this chapter conflicts
with any provision of Chapter 2.99 (commencing with Section 53398.50)
of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code with
respect to a seaport infrastructure financing district, this chapter
shall prevail.
1716. All permanent fixtures and capital improvements to the real
property of a harbor agency that administers public trust tidelands
made pursuant to a seaport infrastructure district's approved
infrastructure financing plan shall be a trust asset once completed.
This provision does not apply to fixtures and improvements otherwise
agreed as nonpermanent in a lease between the harbor agency and a
private tenant.
1717. If a harbor agency administering granted public trust
property is a department of a local governmental body, any
negotiations between the two entities with respect to any
infrastructure financing, operations, or any other activity requiring
action by the harbor agency shall be undertaken at arm's length in
recognition of the duties of the harbor agency to effectuate
statewide interests.
1718. (a) Pursuant to Section 6009 of the Public Resources Code,
the State Lands Commission shall retain absolute discretion over the
determination of whether or not investment of local resources in port
or harbor infrastructure, the actions of a harbor agency, or any
other action taken by a seaport infrastructure financing district is
consistent with the state's interests in its tidelands and submerged
lands. Nothing in this chapter, including a finding made pursuant to
Section 1714, or Chapter 2.99 (commencing with Section 53398.50) of
Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, shall
preclude the State Lands Commission from enforcing the state's
interests in its tidelands.
(b) Pursuant to Section 6009.1 of the Public Resources Code, a
harbor agency that manages granted state tidelands retains its status
as a trustee whether or not it is located within a seaport
infrastructure financing district. Nothing in this chapter, including
a finding made pursuant to Section 1714, or Chapter 2.99 (commencing
with Section 53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
Government Code, shall preclude the harbor agency from conducting its
duties as a trustee of state tidelands.
(c) Nothing in this chapter or in Chapter 2.99 (commencing with
Section 53398.50) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
Government Code grants any authority to any public financing
authority, or the local governments that compose the public finance
authority, in any manner whatsoever to manage, direct, control, or
exercise jurisdiction over a harbor agency and its management of port
or harbor infrastructure.