Any moneys made available by paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 75050 of the Public Resources Code and deposited in the Salton Sea Restoration Fund shall be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for a restoration project at the Salton Sea that is consistent with subdivision (c) of Section 2931. The activities and expenditures authorized by this section shall be limited to funding those activities identified in the Resources Agency report entitled “Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program Preferred Alternative Report and Funding Plan,” and dated May 2007, for completion in the first five years of implementation identified in the report as “Period I.” The activities specified for completion in Period I include, but are not limited to, a demonstration project, early start habitat, and additional biological, inflow, sediment quality, water quality, and air quality investigations. For purposes of carrying out these activities and expending the funds made available, the Resources Agency shall act as the lead agency and work cooperatively with designated staff from the Department of Water Resources, the State Air Resources Board, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the department. The Resources Agency shall remain the lead agency for implementation, in partnership with one or more of its departments, unless and until legislation is enacted on or after January 1, 2009, establishing a new governance structure for restoration of the Salton Sea. This section is not legislative approval or denial of the preferred alternative identified in the Secretary of the Resources Agency’s recommendations contained in the “Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program Preferred Alternative Report and Funding Plan,” dated May 2007 and submitted to the Legislature.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 374, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)