Due to the importance of issuing permits and otherwise expediting all elements of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program in a timely and balanced manner, the following procedures apply to the use of funds authorized by this chapter:
(a) After the requirements set forth in Section 78684.10 are met, funds in the account shall become available for use in accordance with the schedule for eligible projects set forth in the final programmatic EIS/EIR, unless and until the Secretary of the Resources Agency determines that the schedule established in the final programmatic EIS/EIR has not been substantially adhered to.
(b) Prior to November 15 of each year, the Secretary of the Resources Agency, in consultation with state and federal CALFED representatives and other interested persons and agencies, shall review adherence to the schedule.
(c) The absence of funding from nonfederal or nonstate sources shall not be a basis for a determination that the schedule has not been adhered to.
(d) If, at the conclusion of each annual review, the Secretary of the Resources Agency determines that the schedule established in the final programmatic EIS/EIR, or a revised schedule prepared pursuant to this subdivision, has not been substantially adhered to, the secretary, after notice to, and consultation with, state and federal CALFED representatives and other interested persons and agencies, shall prepare a revised schedule that ensures that balanced solutions in all identified problem areas, including ecosystem restoration, water supply, water quality, and system integrity are achieved, consistent with the intent of the final programmatic EIS/EIR. Funds shall be available for expenditure unless a revised schedule has not been developed within six months from the date on which the secretary determines that the prior schedule has not been substantially adhered to. Upon the preparation of any revised schedule under this subdivision, funds shall be expended in accordance with that revised schedule.
(e) Specific project and program decisions involving the expenditure of funds in the account shall be made in accordance with the procedures established by CALFED for the ecosystem restoration program.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 135, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 204 at the November 5, 1996, election.)