(a) For purposes of this section, “school district” means a school district as defined in Section 80 of the Education Code, or a county office of education.

(b) The School District Account is hereby created in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, for expenditure by the board to pay a claim filed by a district that is a school district and has a priority based on paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52. Notwithstanding Section 25299.52, in the 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 fiscal years, the board shall pay a claim filed by a district that is a school district and has a priority based on paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52 only from funds appropriated from the School District Account.

(c) (1) The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) per year shall be transferred, in the 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 fiscal years, from the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to the School District Account, for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the payment of claims filed by a district that is a school district with a priority based on paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52. The ten million dollars ($10,000,000) shall be transferred to the School District Account prior to allocating the remaining available funds to each priority ranking in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52.

(2) The board shall consult with the Department of Toxic Substances Control in allocating the funds transferred to the School District Account.

(3) The board shall pay claims from a school district with a priority based on paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52 from the School District Account in the order of the date of the filing of the claim application to the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund. In each of the fiscal years identified in subdivision (b), if the board estimates that money will be available in the School District Account after the board has allocated funding for all submitted claims from school districts with a priority based on paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52, School District Account funds may be used to fund school district claims with a priority based on paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52.

(d) (1) Funds in the School District Account that are not expended in a fiscal year shall remain in the School District Account. Funds remaining in the School District Account on January 1, 2026, shall be transferred to the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund.

(2) Notwithstanding Section 16304.1 of the Government Code, the board shall encumber the funds appropriated pursuant to this section within three years of the appropriation and the board may make a disbursement in liquidation of an encumbrance before or during the three years following the last day the appropriation is available for encumbrance.

(e) The board shall include information on the expenditure of the funds transferred to the School District Account, as well as the amount of all claims filed by districts that are school districts and the amount of reimbursements made to districts that are school districts from the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, in its annual report, and shall, in consultation with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, estimate the amount of funds needed to reimburse anticipated future claims by districts that are school districts. The board shall provide a copy of this report to the State Allocation Board and the State Department of Education.

(f) This section does not affect the priority of a district that is a school district and has a priority based on paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52.

(g) The board shall waive the requirements of paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Section 25299.57 for a claim that is reimbursed from the School District Account pursuant to this section, if the superintendent of the school district receiving the reimbursement certifies to the board that petroleum was not delivered on or after January 1, 2003, to the tank that is the subject of the claim or that the tank was removed before January 1, 2003.

(h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2026, deletes or extends that date.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 547, Sec. 7. (SB 445) Effective September 25, 2014. Repealed as of January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)