This division shall be known and may be cited as the California Transportation Financing Authority Act.

The California Transportation Financing Authority is hereby created in state government. The authority constitutes a public instrumentality, and the exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this division shall be deemed and held to be the performance of an essential public function.

As used in this division, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates or requires another or different meaning or intent:

for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements, the cost of engineering, architectural, financial, legal, and other necessary services, plans, specifications, studies,

surveys, estimates, administrative expenses, and other expenses of funding or financing, that are necessary or incident to determining the feasibility of any project, or that are incident to the construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, or financing of any project.

lease, operation, or maintenance of highway, public street, rail, bus, or related facilities supplemental to or improvements upon existing facilities currently owned or operated by the department or other project sponsor. A rail project may consist of, or include, rolling stock.

county transportation plan, with the consent of a transportation planning agency or a county transportation commission for the jurisdiction in which the transportation project will be developed.

expenses or any other costs that would be treated as an expense item, under generally accepted accounting principles, in connection with the ownership or operation of a project, including, but not limited to, reserves for maintenance or operation expenses, interest for a period not to exceed one year on any loan for working capital made pursuant to this division, and reserves for debt service with respect to, and any costs necessary or incidental to, that financing.

local agency representative appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

appoint an executive director. The offices of the authority shall be located in the office of the Treasurer. The authority may, by resolution, delegate to one or more of its members or its executive director or any employee of the authority such powers and duties that it may deem proper, including, but not limited to, the power to enter into contracts on behalf of the authority.

The provisions of this division shall be administered by the authority, which shall have and is hereby vested with all powers reasonably necessary to carry out the powers and responsibilities expressly granted or imposed under this division.

The objective of the authority shall be to increase the construction of new capacity or improvements for the state transportation system in a manner that is consistent with and will help meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, air quality improvement goals, and natural resource conservation goals, through the issuance of, or the approval of the issuance of, bonds backed, in whole or in part, by the revenue streams specified in Section 64109.

Treasurer shall be the treasurer for the authority.

The authority may do any of the following:

or intangible, of projects for which the authority has made loans, and the revenues therefrom, including payments or income from any thereof owned or held by the authority, for the benefit of the holders of bonds issued to finance or refinance a project or

issued to refund or refinance outstanding indebtedness of project sponsors as permitted by this division.

The authority or issuer may do any of the following:

therein in the event of default by a project sponsor, and to assign that insurance or guarantee as security for the issuer’s bonds.

funds in the custody of the Treasurer.

All expenses of the authority incurred in carrying out the provisions of this division shall be payable solely from funds provided pursuant to this division, and no liability shall be incurred by the authority beyond the extent to which moneys shall have been provided under this division, except that for the purposes of meeting the necessary expenses of initial organization and operation of the authority for the period commencing January 1, 2010, and continuing until the date the authority

derives money from funds provided to it under the provisions of this division, the authority may borrow moneys as the authority may require. Any moneys borrowed by the authority shall subsequently be charged to and apportioned among project sponsors in an equitable manner and the moneys repaid with appropriate interest over a reasonable period of time. Under no circumstances shall the authority create any debt, liability, or obligation on the part of the State of California payable from any source whatsoever other than the moneys provided under the provisions of this division.

To the extent that these revenues are within the control of a state agency, the revenue sources may only be pledged with approval by the department and the commission.

constrained portion of a conforming regional transportation plan prepared pursuant to Section 65080 and identified as a project proposed to be funded under the authority provided by this division. For purposes of this subdivision, a regional transportation plan must be consistent with greenhouse gas reduction targets assigned by the State Air Resources Board, pursuant to Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 35800) of the Health and Safety Code.

meets or exceeds environmental requirements.

department or the commission.

attest upon purchase that they understand the nature of the risks of their investment. The bonds may be taxable or tax exempt and may be sold at public or private negotiated sale. The Treasurer shall serve as the agent for sale for all authority bond issues, and shall be reimbursed from bond proceeds to cover the Treasurer’s costs related to the issuance of these bonds. As used in this subdivision, “accredited investor” shall have the meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 5950, and “qualified institutional buyer” shall have the meaning as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 5950.

division necessary or convenient for the purpose of issuing, securing, and repaying the bonds and financing or refinancing the project.

Notwithstanding any other law, the authority may authorize a project sponsor, or the department, to impose and collect tolls as one source of revenue to pay debt service and to operate and maintain a project under the following conditions:

of the project sponsor has approved a ballot measure imposing the tolls.

tolls be set and maintained at a level expected to be sufficient to pay debt service, operations, and maintenance of the project over the life of the bonds consistent with the objective set forth in Section 64105.

sponsor, in consultation with the department, shall issue an expenditure plan that describes transportation improvements for the corridor. This expenditure plan shall include projected costs, the use of toll revenues, and a proposed completion schedule. The expenditure plan shall be updated annually. The plan and each annual update shall be made available for public review and comment for not less than 30 days prior to adoption by the governing board of the project sponsor.

Section 64113, tolls shall not be set to generate more revenue than the expected cost of paying debt service on the bonds, contracts entered into by the authority or the project sponsor in connection with the bonds, funding reserves, operating and maintaining the project, repair and rehabilitation of the project, and providing transportation improvements to the corridor pursuant to subdivision (f).

A project sponsor of a project imposing tolls may incorporate congestion management mechanisms to regulate usage and increase mobility, accessibility, and environmental benefits.

The authority and the commission shall develop an approval process that results in project approval by the commission and financing approval by the authority in a cooperative manner that is not sequential, in order that both approvals may be delivered to a project at approximately the same time. Both agencies shall work with potential project sponsors to ensure that projects are developed and brought forward for approval in a manner consistent with the commission’s project requirements and

the authority’s financing requirements. No less than 30 days prior to approving the project and its financing plan, the commission and the authority shall make available for public review and comment a description of the project and its financing.

after giving due consideration to the recommendation of the project sponsor, for such price or prices and upon such terms and conditions as the

issuer shall determine. The Treasurer may sell those bonds at a price below the par value thereof. However, the discount on any bonds so sold shall not exceed 6 percent of the par value thereof, except in the case of any bonds payable in whole or in part from moneys held under one or more outstanding resolutions or indentures. Pending preparation of the definitive bonds, the issuer may issue interim receipts or certificates or temporary bonds that shall be exchanged for those definitive bonds.

any individual, partnership, corporation, or association or other body, public or private, to secure the payment of the bonds or of any particular issue of bonds.

In the discretion of the authority, any bonds issued under this division may be secured by a trust agreement or indenture by and between the issuer and a corporate trustee or trustees, which may be the Treasurer or any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the state. The trust agreement, indenture, or the resolution providing for the issuance of those bonds may pledge or assign the revenues to be received from a project sponsor or pursuant to any revenue-producing contract or as pledged by the

issuer pursuant to Section 64109. The indenture, trust agreement, or resolution providing for the issuance of those bonds may contain provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders as may be reasonable and proper and not in violation of law, including, particularly, provisions as have been specifically authorized to be included in any resolution or resolutions authorizing bonds thereof. The trust agreement or indenture may set forth the rights and remedies of the bondholders and of the trustee or trustees, and may restrict the individual right of action of bondholders. In addition to the foregoing, the indenture, trust agreement, or resolution may contain other provisions as the authority or issuer may deem reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders.

Bonds issued under this division shall not be deemed to constitute a debt or liability of the state or of any political subdivision thereof or a pledge of the faith and credit of the state or of the political subdivision, other than the issuer, but shall be payable solely from the funds herein provided. The bonds shall contain on the face thereof a statement to the effect that neither the State of California nor the issuer shall be obligated to pay the principal of, or the interest thereon, except from revenues pledged therefor by the issuer, and that neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State of California or of any political subdivision thereof is pledged to the payment of the principal of or the interest on those bonds. The issuance of bonds

under the provisions of this division shall not directly or indirectly or contingently obligate the state or any political subdivision thereof to levy or to pledge any form of taxation therefor or to make any appropriation for their payment.

Any holder of bonds issued under this division or any of the coupons appertaining thereto, and the trustee or trustees under any indenture or trust agreement, except to the extent the rights herein given may be restricted by any resolution authorizing the issuance of, or any indenture or trust agreement securing, the bonds, may, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus, or other proceedings, protect and enforce any and all rights under the laws of the state or granted hereunder or under the resolution or indenture or trust agreement, and may enforce and compel the performance of all duties required by this division or by the resolution, indenture, or trust agreement to be performed by the

issuer or by any officer, employee, or agent thereof.