(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission may advance unallocated funds in the State Highway Account, in the form of loans, to transportation planning agencies, county transportation commissions, transit districts, city and county governments, and local transportation authorities for the advancement of projects eligible under the state transportation improvement program that are included within an adopted regional transportation plan. (2) No application for a loan may be approved under this section for an agency that is not the approving authority for the countyâs submission to the state transportation improvement program unless the agency applies jointly with the approving authority. (b) When considering loan applications, the commission shall ensure that all of the following conditions are met: (1) Projects shall comply with the environmental impact report certification requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) and associated rules and regulations, and have prepared an environmental impact report under that act. (2) Total project costs shall be greater than ten million dollars ($10,000,000). In counties with populations of less than 500,000 persons, the commission may waive this requirement if 50 percent of a countyâs share for the current county share period made under Section 188.8 of the Streets and Highways Code is equal to or greater than the amount of project costs to be loaned. (3) A fiscal assessment of the applicantâs ability to repay a loan shall be made by an independent fiscal consultant selected by the applicant from a pre-qualified list of fiscal consultants approved jointly by the department and the commission. The department shall make a recommendation to the commission based on the analysis conducted by the independent fiscal consultant regarding each specific loan. Costs incurred for this assessment shall be paid by the applicant. (4) The maximum amount of funds that may be loaned to any single county in any single loan for one or more projects shall be not more than 50 percent of the most recent regional-choice funding allocation made pursuant to Section 188.8 of the Streets and Highways Code, in an amount of not more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000). (5) Loan repayments shall be made in cash from nonstate sources. (6) Loans shall be repaid within four years from the date the loan is made. (7) If a default occurs, 100 percent repayment of the principal and interest, plus a penalty charge of 5 percent of the outstanding principal, shall be required in the form of a reduction in the countyâs next allocation of county share funding made under Section 188.8 of the Streets and Highways Code. If that reduction is not sufficient to pay the principal, interest, and penalty due, further reduction shall be made from subsequent allocations until the outstanding amount is paid in full. Additionally, the defaulting county shall be ineligible for regional choice fund programming made under Section 188.8 of the Streets and Highways Code until the outstanding amount is paid in full. (8) Interest rates on loans shall be set at the rate paid on money in the Pooled Money Investment Account during the period of time that the money is loaned. (9) The commission shall approve or disapprove all loan applications not more than 30 days after the application is submitted. (10) When approved by the commission, the money for the loan shall be transmitted by the department directly to the applicant not later than 30 days after approval. (11) The total amount of outstanding loans approved under this program may not exceed five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) at any one time. (12) All payments on the principal of any loan plus interest or penalties paid shall be deposited in the State Highway Account. (13) The department shall require in writing that projects funded under this section be under
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