(a) Subject to the availability of funds and in accordance with subdivision (b), the department shall expend the moneys set aside in the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the purposes of this section in the following manner:

(1) For each fiscal year, the department may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee payment pursuant to Section 14585.

(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.

(3) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000) may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is greater, for those activities.

(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include, but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing curbside programs, neighborhood dropoff programs, public education promoting beverage container recycling, litter prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container recycling programs.

(C) These funds shall not be used for activities unrelated to beverage container recycling or litter reduction.

(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county shall fill out and return a funding request form to the department. The form shall specify the beverage container recycling or litter reduction activities for which the funds will be used.

(E) The department shall annually prepare and distribute a funding request form to each city, county, or city and county. The form shall specify the amount of beverage container recycling and litter cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is eligible. The form shall not exceed one double-sided page in length, and may be submitted electronically. If a city, county, or city and county does not return the funding request form within 90 days of receipt of the form from the department, the city, county, or city and county is not eligible to receive the funds for that funding cycle.

(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within its jurisdiction.

(4) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may be expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction programs.

(5) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575, or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section 14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the following:

(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage container material type pursuant to Section 14575.

(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause (i) and the amount of the processing payments established in subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (e) of Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.

(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to Section 14575.

(6) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be annually expended by the department for the purposes of undertaking a statewide public education and information campaign aimed at promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.

(7) Up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may be expended annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty glass beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.

(8) (A) For the 2019–20 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, the department may expend up to ten million dollars ($10,000,000) each fiscal year for market development payments to reclaimers and product manufacturers, pursuant to Section 14549.2.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the definitions in subdivision (a) of Section 14549.2 apply.

(9) (A) For the 2019–20 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, the department may expend up to a total of five million dollars ($5,000,000) to support the pilot projects created pursuant to Section 14571.9.

(B) Taking into consideration the recent closure of many of California’s recycling centers, the Legislature finds and declares that the appropriation provided for in the act that added this paragraph during the 2019–20 Regular Session is necessary in order to ensure the continued support of, and to bolster, consumer redemption opportunities.

(b) (1) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made pursuant to Section 14556, that there may be inadequate funds to pay the payments required by this division, the department shall immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.

(2) On or before 180 days, but not less than 80 days, after the notice is sent pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may reduce or eliminate expenditures, or both, from the funds as necessary, according to the procedure set forth in subdivision (c).

(c) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section 14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.

(d) Before making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 793, Sec. 4. (AB 54) Effective October 12, 2019.)