Coastal resources: State Coastal Conservancy: advance payments.

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the State Coastal Conservancy. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to award certain grants for specified purposes. Existing law establishes a pilot program, which is repealed on July 1, 2025, to explore possible improvements to the state's existing advance payment practices for state-funded local assistance grants. Existing law authorizes an administering state agency of a grant program to advance a payment to a recipient entity, which means a local agency or a nongovernmental entity that is awarded a grant by an administering state agency and with whom the administering state agency has entered into a contract pursuant to that grant, in accordance with specified procedures. These procedures include stipulating an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract and ensuring that the advance payment to the recipient entity does not exceed 25% of the total grant amount awarded to the recipient entity, except in specified circumstances. This bill would permit the conservancy to authorize advance payments on a contract or grant awarded in accordance with the pilot program. The bill would repeal this authorization on the date the pilot program is repealed.