(a) The department shall expend in each fiscal year, from the moneys set aside in the fund pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, twenty million nine hundred seventy-four thousand dollars ($20,974,000), plus the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision (c), less fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), in the form of grants for beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs, including education and outreach, issued to either of the following:

(1) Certified community conservation corps that were in existence on September 30, 1999, or that are formed subsequent to that date, that are designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city and county has a population, as determined by the most recent census, of more than 250,000 persons.

(2) Community conservation corps that are designated by a county to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of Section 14507.5.

(b) The grants provided pursuant to this section shall not comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community conservation corps.

(c) The amount of twenty million nine hundred seventy-four thousand dollars ($20,974,000) that is referenced in subdivision (a) is a base amount for the 2014–15 fiscal year, and the department shall adjust that amount annually to reflect any increases or decreases in the cost of living as measured by the Department of Labor or a successor agency of the federal government.

(d) For the 2014–15 fiscal year only, the amount to be expended from the fund for the purposes specified in subdivision (a) shall be increased by seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($7,500,000).

(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 35, Sec. 144. (SB 861) Effective June 20, 2014.)