Transportation: bond-funded projects: letter of no prejudice.

Existing law, the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, authorizes the issuance of $19.925 billion of general obligation bonds for various transportation purposes. Existing law designates the state agency responsible for programming bond funds under the act as the administrative agency for those purposes. This bill would authorize a regional or local agency that is a lead agency for a project or project component for which bond funding has been programmed or otherwise approved by the administrative agency or is otherwise targeted to be available, as specified, to apply to the administrative agency for a letter of no prejudice that would make the regional or local agency eligible to be subsequently reimbursed from bond funds for expenditures of funds under its control for the project or project component under certain conditions, as specified. Existing law requires the California Transportation Commission to establish the funding shares for applicants for funds from the State-Local Partnership Account in the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Fund of 2006. This bill would require the commission, prior to the commencement of each funding cycle, to calculate the amount of bond funds designated to be deposited in the account that have not been appropriated and would require the commission to establish projected targets for the distribution of those funds for purposes of planning projects for which letters of no prejudice may be issued, as specified.