2005 California Public Resources Code Sections 26000-26003 Article 1. General Provisions and Definitions

26000.  This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing
Authority Act.
26001.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) It is essential that the state, in cooperation with the
federal government, use all practical and commercially feasible means
to promote the prompt and efficient development of energy sources
which are renewable or which more efficiently utilize and conserve
scarce energy resources.
   (b) The promotion of energy sources which reduce the degradation
of the environment and which protect the health, welfare, and safety
of the people of this state is in the public interest and serves a
public purpose.
   (c) It is essential that the state, in cooperation with the
federal government, use all practical and commercially feasible means
to promote the development and commercialization of advanced
transportation technologies to conserve energy, reduce air pollution,
promote economic development and jobs, and protect the health,
welfare, and safety of the people of the state.
26002.  (a) It is the purpose of this division to carry out and make
effective the findings of the Legislature pursuant to Sections
25004, 25004.2, 25004.3, 25007, and 26001, and to that end to provide
industry within this state with an alternative method of financing
in providing and promoting the establishment of both of the
following:
   (1) Facilities utilizing alternative methods and sources of
energy.
   (2) Facilities needed for the development and commercialization of
advanced transportation technologies.
   (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the facilities
specified in subdivision (a) are necessary to meet the energy and
transportation needs of this state and to guarantee the health and
welfare of the citizens of this state.
26002.5.  This division is necessary for the welfare of the state
and its inhabitants, and shall be liberally construed to effect its
purposes.
26003.  As used in this division, unless the context otherwise
requires:
   (a) "Authority" means the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority established pursuant to
Section 26004, and any board, commission, department, or officer
succeeding to the functions of the authority, or to which the powers
conferred upon the authority by this division shall be given.
   (b) "Cost" as applied to a project or portion thereof financed
under this division means all or any part of the cost of construction
and acquisition of all lands, structures, real or personal property
or an interest therein, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements,
and interests acquired or used for a project; the cost of
demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so
acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which those
buildings or structures may be moved; the cost of all machinery,
equipment, and furnishings, financing charges, interest prior to,
during, and for a period after, completion of construction as
determined by the authority; provisions for working capital; reserves
for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements,
additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements; the cost of
architectural, engineering, financial, accounting, auditing and legal
services, plans, specifications, estimates, administrative expenses,
and other expenses necessary or incident to determining the
feasibility of constructing any project or incident to the
construction, acquisition, or financing of any project.
   (c) (1) "Alternative sources" means the application of
cogeneration technology, as defined in Section 25134; the
conservation of energy; or the use of solar, biomass, wind,
geothermal, hydroelectricity under 30 megawatts and meeting the
criteria set forth in  paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section
15351 of the Government Code, or any other source of energy, the
efficient use of which will reduce the use of fossil and nuclear
fuels.
   (2) "Alternative sources" does not include any hydroelectric
facility that does not meet state laws pertaining to the control,
appropriation, use, and distribution of water, including, but not
limited to, the obtaining of applicable licenses and permits.
   (d) "Advanced transportation technologies" means emerging
commercially competitive transportation-related technologies
identified by the authority as capable of creating long-term, high
value-added jobs for Californians while enhancing the state's
commitment to energy conservation, pollution reduction, and
transportation efficiency.  Those technologies may include, but are
not limited to, any of the following:
   (1) Intelligent vehicle highway systems.
   (2) Advanced telecommunications for transportation.
   (3) Command, control, and communications for public transit
vehicles and systems.
   (4) Electric vehicles and ultralow emission vehicles.
   (5) High-speed rail and magnetic levitation passenger systems.
   (6) Fuel cells.
   (e) "Financial assistance" includes, but is not limited to,
either, or any combination, of the following:
   (1) Loans, loan loss reserves, interest rate reductions, proceeds
of bonds issued by the authority, insurance, guarantees or other
credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, contributions of money,
property, labor, or other items of value, or any combination thereof,
as determined by, and approved by the resolution of, the board.
   (2) Any other type of assistance the authority determines is
appropriate.
   (f) "Participating party" means either of the following:
   (1) Any person or any entity or group of entities engaged in
business or operations in the state, whether organized for profit or
not for profit, that applies for financial assistance from the
authority for the purpose of implementing a project in a manner
prescribed by the authority.
   (2) Any public agency or nonprofit corporation that applies for
financial assistance from the authority for the purpose of
implementing a project in a manner prescribed by the authority.
   (g) "Project" means any land, building, improvement thereto,
rehabilitation, work, property, or structure, real or personal,
stationary or mobile, including, but not limited to, machinery and
equipment, whether or not in existence or under construction, that
utilizes, or is designed to utilize, an alternative source, or that
is utilized for the design, technology transfer, manufacture,
production, assembly, distribution, or service of advanced
transportation technologies.
   (h) "Public agency" means any federal or state agency, board, or
commission, or any county, city and county, city, regional agency,
public district, or other political subdivision.
   (i) (1) "Renewable energy" means any device or technology that
conserves or produces heat, processes heat, space heating, water
heating, steam, space cooling, refrigeration, mechanical energy,
electricity, or energy in any form convertible to these uses, that
does not expend or use conventional energy fuels, and that uses any
of the following electrical generation technologies:
   (A) Biomass.
   (B) Solar thermal.
   (C) Photovoltaic.
   (D) Wind.
   (E) Geothermal.
   (2) For purposes of this subdivision, "conventional energy fuel"
means any fuel derived from petroleum deposits, including, but not
limited to, oil, heating oil, gasoline, fuel oil, or natural gas,
including liquefied natural gas, or nuclear fissionable materials.
   (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of this section,
"renewable energy" also means ultralow emission equipment for energy
generation based on thermal energy systems such as natural gas
turbines and fuel cells.
   (j) "Revenue" means all rents, receipts, purchase payments, loan
repayments, and all other income or receipts derived by the authority
from the sale, lease, or other disposition of alternative source or
advanced transportation technology facilities, or the making of loans
to finance alternative source or advanced transportation technology
facilities, and any income or revenue derived from the investment of
any money in any fund or account of the authority.