California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority: participating party.

(1) Existing law, the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act, establishes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority and requires the authority to establish programs to provide financial assistance to participating parties for projects, as defined, related to sustainable and renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and advanced transportation projects. The act provides financial assistance, in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion, to participating parties for these types of projects. This bill would redefine "project" to include, but not be limited to, machinery and equipment utilized in the state, and, for purposes of the sales and use tax exclusion, would redefine "project" to mean tangible personal property that is utilized in the state for the design, manufacture, production, or assembly of advanced manufacturing, advanced transportation technologies, or alternative source products, components, or systems. The bill would clarify that for purposes of the sales and use tax exclusion, an entity located outside of the state, including an entity located overseas, is considered to be a participating party and is eligible to apply for financial assistance if the participating party commits to, and demonstrates that the participating party will be opening a manufacturing facility in the state. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. (2) Existing law requires the authority to evaluate project applications based on certain criteria, including, but not limited to, the extent to which the project will create new, permanent jobs in California and the extent to which the project results in a reduction in greenhouse gases, a reduction in air or water pollution, an increase in energy efficiency, or a reduction in energy consumption. Existing law requires the authority to work with the University of California or the California State University to perform a peer review of these criteria, as specified. This bill would repeal the requirement to perform a peer review. (3) Existing law requires the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to review and identify efficient and cost-effective methods for the state to create jobs in advanced manufacturing, as specified, and to report its findings to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. This bill would repeal this reporting requirement.