The commission has all of the following powers:

(a) To sue and be sued in its own name.

(b) To adopt a seal.

(c) To lay out, establish, construct, and maintain projects for separation of grade by underpass, overpass, or tunnel, or any combination thereof, over or under one or more city streets, county roads or highways, state highways, railroads, street railroads, or other intersecting means of transportation, or any combination thereof, within the district and, for this purpose, to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation, or otherwise, and pay for and hold real and personal property and rights of way within the district. As to any project that would involve a state highway, the commission shall obtain the approval of the department as to the plans, and the project shall be constructed pursuant to an agreement between the commission and the department, as may be provided in the agreement. As to any project that would involve a railroad or street railroad, the district shall be governed by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1201) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code and by any other applicable provisions of law; and for the purposes and within the meaning of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1201) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, and for those purposes and meaning only, a “separation-of-grade district” is a “political subdivision” and the “commission” of a separation-of-grade district is the “legislative body” of a political subdivision. For the purposes of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2450) of Division 3, a separation-of-grade district is a “local agency” and the commission of a separation-of-grade district is the “legislative body” of a local agency.

(d) To enter into an agreement with any city or county to provide for the relocation, redesign, or improvement of any street in the city or county directly affected by, or that is an integral part of, a separation-of-grade project. The district may expend funds pursuant to such an agreement.

(e) To remove an obstacle to traffic flow that otherwise would require constructing a separation of grade.

(f) To exercise the power of eminent domain to the full extent necessary to carry out this part.

(g) To make and accept all contracts, deeds, releases, and documents of any kind that are necessary or proper to the exercise of any of the powers of the district.

(h) To direct the payment of all lawful claims and demands against the district.

(i) To levy and collect taxes as provided.

(j) To borrow for the purpose of defraying general administrative and preliminary engineering expenses of the district prior to the time the money to be raised by the first tax levy for the district will be available, and to evidence that borrowing by nonnegotiable notes bearing interest at a rate to be fixed by the commission. The notes shall be signed by the president, and countersigned by the secretary, of the commission. The notes shall be payable from the first tax levy made by the district, and that tax levy shall contain a sum sufficient to provide for the payment of the notes and the interest on those notes.

(k) To issue bonds as provided and to provide for their payment.

(l) To employ all necessary engineers, surveyors, agents, and workers to do the work on, or in connection with, the project or projects in the district, and to contract for engineering services with any city within the district or with the county.

(m) To do any and all things necessary or proper for the complete exercise of its powers and the accomplishment of the purpose for which it was formed.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 137, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1999.)