(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in this act to create and fund the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is not the intent of the Legislature to assist the physical expansion of small businesses that includes modifications that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The program shall be administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority and follow the terms and conditions for the Capital Access Loan Program for Small Businesses in this article with the additional program requirements specified under this section.

(b) For purposes of this section, unless the context requires otherwise, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Americans with Disabilities Act” means the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) and amendments thereto.

(2) “California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program Fund” or “fund” means a fund established and administered by the authority pursuant to Sections 44548 and 44549 to be used for purposes of this program.

(3) (A) “Eligible cost” means and includes all or any part of the price of construction, purchase price of real or personal property, the price of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures, the price of all machinery and equipment, the amount of financing charges and interest before, during, and for a period not to exceed the later of one year or one year following completion of construction, as determined by the authority, the price of insurance during construction, the amount of funding or financing noncapital expenses, the amount of reserves for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements, the price of engineering, financial, and legal services and other service contracts, the price of plans, specifications, studies, surveys, estimates, administrative expenses, and any other expenses of funding or financing, that are necessary and allocable to the eligible project.

(B) “Eligible cost” shall not include costs not directly related to physical alterations necessary for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(4) “Eligible project” means the physical alterations or retrofits to an existing small business facility of less than 10,000 square feet necessary to ensure that facility is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the financing necessary to pay eligible costs of the project.

(5) “Qualified loan” means a loan or portion of a loan as defined in subdivision (j) of Section 44559.1, where the proceeds of the loan or portion of the loan are limited to the eligible costs for an eligible project under this program, and where the loan or portion of the loan does not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

(6) “Small business” or “qualified business” means a business that is independently owned and operated and not dominant in its field that meets both of the following additional criteria:

(A) It has 30 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, or it has less than five million dollars ($5,000,000) in total gross annual income from all sources.

(B) It does not provide overnight accommodations.

(c) (1) The California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program Fund is established in the State Treasury for, and shall be administered by the authority pursuant to Sections 44548 and 44549 for, this program. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the authority for carrying out the purposes of this section. The authority may divide the fund into separate accounts. All moneys accruing to the authority pursuant to this section from any source shall be deposited into the fund.

(2) All moneys in the fund derived from any source shall be held in trust for the life of this program, subject to the program expenditures and costs of administering this section, as follows:

(A) Program expenditures shall include all of the following:

(i) Contributions paid by the authority in support of qualified loans.

(ii) Payments made to borrowers enrolling loans to participate in the program, to the extent that moneys other than the initial appropriation are deposited into the fund by the authority and are authorized for that use pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d).

(iii) Reasonable costs to educate the small business community and participating lenders about the program, including travel within the state.

(B) Administrative expenditures shall be limited to 5 percent of the initial appropriation plus 5 percent of all moneys recaptured, and shall include all of the following:

(i) Personnel costs.

(ii) Service and vending contracts necessary to carry out the program.

(iii) Other reasonable direct and indirect administrative costs.

(3) The authority may direct the Treasurer to invest moneys in the fund that are not required for its current needs in the eligible securities specified in Section 16430 of the Government Code as the authority shall designate. The authority may direct the Treasurer to deposit moneys in interest-bearing accounts in state or national banks or other financial institutions having principal offices located in the state. The authority may alternatively require the transfer of moneys in the fund to the Surplus Money Investment Fund for investment pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 16470) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. All interest or other increment resulting from an investment or deposit shall be deposited into the fund, notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government Code. Moneys in the fund shall not be subject to transfer to any other fund pursuant to any provision of Part 2 (commencing with Section 16300) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, excepting the Surplus Money Investment Fund.

(d) The authority shall adopt regulations pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 44520 to implement the program, including provisions specific to this program as described in this section and further including provisions to:

(1) Establish a new loss reserve account for each participating lender enrolling loans in this program.

(2) Obtain a certification from each participating lender and small business upon enrollment of a qualified loan that the proceeds of the loan will be used for the eligible costs of an eligible project.

(3) Contribute an additional incentive from the fund for each loan enrolled for a qualified business located in a severely affected community, or make nonreimbursable payments from other moneys to participating borrowers to offset all or a portion of the reasonable costs of architectural inspections obtained from a person who is certified as an access specialist pursuant to the program described in Section 4459.5 of the Government Code.

(4) Restrict the enrollment of a qualified loan in any other Capital Access Loan Program for small business offered by the authority as long as funds are available for this program.

(5) Limit the term of loss coverage for each qualified loan to no more than five years.

(6) Recapture from the loss reserve account the authority’s contribution for each enrolled loan upon the maturation of such loan or after five years from the date of enrollment, whichever happens first, to be deposited in the fund and applied to future program and administrative expenditures.

(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 644, Sec. 2) by Stats. 2018, Ch. 645, Sec. 13. (AB 1547) Effective September 21, 2018.)