(a) Within 90 days of notice that a grant under this division for projects included and implemented in an integrated regional water management plan has been awarded, the regional water management group shall provide the administering agency with a list of projects to be funded with the grant funds where the project proponent is a nonprofit organization or a disadvantaged community, or the project benefits a disadvantaged community. The list shall specify how the projects are consistent with the adopted integrated regional water management plan and shall include all of the following information:

(1) Descriptive information concerning each project identified.

(2) The names of the entities that will receive the funding for each project, including, but not limited to, an identification as to whether the project proponent or proponents are nonprofit organizations or a disadvantaged community.

(3) The budget of each project.

(4) The anticipated schedule for each project.

(b) Within 60 days of receiving the project information pursuant to subdivision (a), the administering agency may provide advance payment of 50 percent of the grant award for those projects that satisfy both of the following criteria:

(1) The project proponent is a nonprofit organization or a disadvantaged community, or the project benefits a disadvantaged community.

(2) The grant award for the project is less than one million dollars ($1,000,000).

(c) Funds advanced pursuant to subdivision (b) shall comply with the following requirements:

(1) The recipient shall place the funds in a noninterest-bearing account until expended.

(2) The funds shall be spent within six months of the date of receipt, unless the administering agency waives this requirement.

(3) The recipient shall, on a quarterly basis, provide an accountability report to the administering agency regarding the expenditure and use of any advance grant funds that provides, at a minimum, the following information:

(A) An itemization as to how advance payment funds provided under this section have been expended.

(B) A project itemization as to how any remaining advance payment funds provided under this section will be expended over the period specified in paragraph (2).

(C) A description of whether the funds are placed in a noninterest-bearing account, and if so, the date that occurred and the dates of withdrawals of funds from that account, if applicable.

(4) If funds are not expended, the unused portion of the grant shall be returned to the administering agency within 60 days after project completion or the end of the grant performance period, whichever is earlier.

(5) The administering agency may adopt additional requirements for the recipient regarding the use of the advance payment to ensure that the funds are used properly.

(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 852, Sec. 3. Approved in Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, election.)