(a) The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project is hereby renamed the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. The commission shall independently execute the duties described in this section, and the State Water Resources Control Board shall provide administrative services to the commission. Any reference in any statute to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project shall be deemed to be a reference to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

(b) (1) The Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Secretary of the Resources Agency, and the Chair of the Bay Watershed Council of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission shall enter into a memorandum of understanding that ensures the coordination of state programs affecting Santa Monica Bay, and that delineates the authority of that commission, and its governance structure with respect to the implementation of those state programs. The commission membership shall be prescribed in the memorandum of understanding, and shall include federal, state, and local public agency officials and employees, and representatives of other stakeholder interests.

(c) The commission may do all of the following:

(1) Request and receive federal, state, local, and private funds from any source, and expend those moneys for the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(2) Award and administer grants for the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(3) Enter into contracts and joint powers authority agreements, as necessary, to carry out the purposes of the commission.

(4) Monitor, assess, and coordinate activities among federal, state, and local agencies and, where appropriate, private firms, to restore and enhance Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(d) (1) The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Account is hereby created in the State Treasury, and moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support the activities of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

(2) The balance of any funds previously appropriated by the Legislature, prior to January 1, 2003, from the General Fund or from bond proceeds to support the activities of the former Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project shall be transferred into the account.

(3) (A) Funds transferred to the account that are derived from an appropriation from the General Fund are available for expenditure only for the duration originally authorized and only for a purpose authorized by this division as it read on December 31, 2002.

(B) Funds transferred to the account that are derived from an appropriation of bond proceeds are available for expenditure only for the duration originally authorized and may be expended for any purpose authorized by this division on and after January 1, 2003.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 598, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2003.)