(a) The Expedited Claim Account is hereby created in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund for expenditure by the board to pay claims that have been selected to participate in the pilot project established by this section.

(b) The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be transferred in the 2015–16 fiscal year from the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to the Expedited Claim Account for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the payment of claims pursuant to this section. Claims shall be paid from the Expedited Claim Account until moneys in the account are exhausted.

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

(d) The board shall, with stakeholder input, establish the Expedited Claim Pilot Project to reduce the overall cost for site cleanup and the time to reach closure by increasing coordination with the responsible party, consultant, regulator, and the fund and by using multiyear budgets.

(1) The board shall, with stakeholder input, investigate potential methods for reducing the overall cost for site cleanup and the time to reach closure including, but not limited to, establishment of multiyear funding for claims, increased collaboration between fund staff, regulatory staff, and claimants and their contractors, establishment of project milestones and cost estimates, and establishment of reimbursement submission schedules.

(2) The board shall solicit fund claims from all priority rankings for participation in the pilot project to implement potential improvement methods. The board shall select a limited number of claims to participate in the project.

(3) The board shall develop criteria for the selection of claims to participate in the pilot project and, at a minimum, shall consider the threat to human health, safety, or the environment caused by contamination at the site that is the subject of the claim, the priority ranking assigned to the claim pursuant to Section 25299.52, and the progress of cleanup at the site that is the subject of the claim.

(4) The development of criteria and procedures pursuant to this subdivision shall not be considered as regulations subject to, and shall be exempt from, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(e) The board shall include information on the expenditure of funds transferred to the Expedited Claim Account, as well as the amount of all claims filed by claimants participating in the Expedited Claim Pilot Project and the amount of reimbursements made to claimants in the pilot project, in its annual report.

(f) On or before January 1, 2018, the board shall prepare a report analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Expedited Claim Pilot Project in expediting the funding of claims and completions of site cleanups. The board, in consultation with stakeholders, shall work to develop metrics to forecast long-term demand on the fund and shall include this information in the report. This report shall be posted on the board’s Internet Web site, and updated periodically.

(g) 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.

(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 547, Sec. 10. (SB 445) Effective September 25, 2014. Repealed as of January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)