SECTIONS 8670.70-8670.73

8670.70.  The Environmental Enhancement Fund is hereby created inthe State Treasury. All penalties collected under Article 9(commencing with Section 8670.57) shall be deposited into theEnvironmental Enhancement Fund, except as specified in Section8670.64. The money in the fund shall only be used for environmentalenhancement projects. The moneys shall not be used for the cleanup ofan oil spill or the restoration required after an oil spill. Themoney is available for appropriation by the Legislature to theadministrator for the purposes stated in this section.8670.71.  (a) The administrator shall fund only those projectsapproved by the Environmental Enhancement Committee. (b) For the purposes of this article, an enhancement project is aproject that acquires habitat for preservation, or improves habitatquality and ecosystem function above baseline conditions, and thatmeets all of the following requirements: (1) Is located within or immediately adjacent to California marinewaters, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 8670.3. (2) Has measurable outcomes within a predetermined timeframe. (3) Is designed to acquire, restore, or improve habitat or restoreecosystem function, or both, to benefit fish and wildlife.8670.72.  (a) The Environmental Enhancement Committee is herebycreated. The committee shall consist of the following members: (1) The administrator. (2) A public member, to be appointed by the administrator, whoshall be an officer or elected leader of a statewide nonprofitorganization whose primary purpose is the protection and/orenhancement of natural resources. (3) The executive officer of the State Coastal Conservancy, or hisor her designee. (b) The Environmental Enhancement Committee shall establish aprocess for the solicitation, submittal, review, and selection ofenvironmental enhancement projects. Selection criteria shall bedeveloped to ensure that projects meet the intent of this article.8670.73.  (a) The Environmental Enhancement Grant Program is herebyestablished. Project proposals shall be solicited when adequate fundshave accumulated in the Environmental Enhancement Fund to cover thecost of an appropriate project or projects. (b) Grants shall be awarded to nonprofit organizations, cities,counties, cities and counties, districts, state agencies, anddepartments; and, to the extent permitted by federal law, to federalagencies on a competitive basis using the selection processestablished by the Environmental Enhancement Committee. The selectioncriteria will be enumerated in all requests for proposalsdistributed to potential applicants. The administrator may grantfunds for those projects that are selected by the EnvironmentalEnhancement Committee and that meet the requirements of this article.State departments and agencies receiving grants under this sectionfor environmental enhancement projects, shall, to the maximum extentfeasible, utilize the services of the California Conservation Corpsin accordance with Section 14315 of the Public Resources Code. (c) Grant recipients shall use the grant award to fund only theproject described in the recipient's application. (d) Grant recipients shall not use the grant funds to shift moneyto or otherwise cover costs of an existing or proposed project oractivity not included in the application. (e) Any grant funds allocated to a project that exceed the actualcost of completing the project as outlined in the recipient'sapplication shall be returned to the Environmental Enhancement Fund,and shall not be used by the grant recipient for any other purpose. (f) If a member of the Environmental Enhancement Committee, or amember of his or her immediate family, is employed by a grantapplicant, the employer of a grant applicant, or a consultant orindependent contractor employed by the grant applicant, the committeemember shall make that disclosure to the other members of thecommittee and shall not participate or make recommendations on thegrant proposal of that applicant. (g) For habitat acquisition, the Environmental EnhancementCommittee shall be subject to the same provisions as prescribed inSection 31116 of the Public Resources Code.