Five million dollars ($5,000,000) of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter in Item 2240-114-0001 of the Budget Act of 2000 shall be transferred to the Rental Housing Construction Fund created pursuant to Section 50740 to be used for predevelopment loans pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 50530), subject to the following provisions:

(a)  All projects shall be located within one-half mile of an existing or planned transit station proposed for development. For these purposes, a transit station is a site where two or more mass transit modes, or one transit mode with three or more mass transit lines, are accessible to the public.

(b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may establish interest rates between 3 and 7 percent based on the department’s analysis of project need.

(c)  In addition to the activities eligible under the Predevelopment Loan Program, funds awarded pursuant to this section may be used for master environmental impact reports or other environmental documents that would access potential impacts in advance and propose measures to mitigate negative impacts.

(d)  Awards made pursuant to this section shall require a 50 percent match from the local agency in which the site is located.

(e)  In addition to those eligible sponsors specified in subdivision (e) of Section 50530.5, eligible sponsors shall include limited liability companies and limited partnerships where all managing members or general partners are nonprofit organizations.

(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 593, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2004.)