(a)
At any time following adoption of the resolution of intention, the board shall request that the commission make the determinations authorized by this section and shall provide for transmission to the commission of the fee required by the commission and such information as may be required by the commission.
(b)
The commission shall review the submission and shall, by express findings on the basis of the submission, determine compliance with the following criteria:
(1)
Public benefits, determined in accordance with the policy stated in Section 91502.1, from the use of the facilities, including equipment, likely will
substantially exceed any public detriment from issuance of bonds in the estimated principal amount proposed in the application.
(2)
Neither the completion of the project nor the operation of the facilities will have the proximate effect of relocation of any substantial operations of the company from one area of the state to another or in the abandonment of any substantial operations of the company within other areas of the state, or, if the completion or operation will have either of the effects, then the completion or operation is reasonably necessary to prevent the relocation of any substantial operations of the company from an area within the state to an area outside the state.
(3)
The proposed issuance of bonds qualifies for issuance under the provisions of Article 5 (commencing with Section 91570).
(c)
For those
projects qualified under Section 1401 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), or any amendments thereto, the commission shall review the submission and shall, by express findings on the basis of the submission, determine compliance with criteria contained in that act.
(d)
Written notification of the determinations of the commission shall be given to the authority.
(e)
Upon failure of the commission to make determinations as to compliance with the criteria within 60 days of the receipt of the submission, unless the time is extended by written consent of the authority, the commission shall lose jurisdiction to make the determinations, and the authority shall determine compliance with the criteria.
(f)
A proposed issuance of refunding bonds shall be evaluated solely under the
requirement of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), upon request of the board following the determination provided for in subdivision (j) of Section 91527.
(g)
Determinations of the commission or of an authority as provided in subdivision (j) of Section 91527, Section 91530, and this section shall be final and conclusive.
(h)
The authority shall not deliver bonds for the project until this section has been complied with.
(i)
It is the intention of the Legislature that submissions be reviewed by the commission individually and not comparatively and that determinations be made generally in the order of receipt of the submissions. To the extent consistent with accomplishment of the public purposes as provided in Section 91502, priority consideration shall be given submissions on behalf of small and medium-size companies.
To the extent that the public benefits finding under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of this section is based on employment benefits under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 91502.1, the following considerations, as alternatives to each other, may in accordance with the submission, additionally be considered in making such finding:
(1)
The willingness of the company to provide for the screening for employment of (i) individuals affected by industrial relocations or abandonments, (ii) new entrants or reentrants to the workforce, (iii) unemployed or partially unemployed individuals who are registered for work at a public employment office or other approved place pursuant to Section 1253 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, or (iv) individuals participating in job training or placement programs directly calculated to increase employability or improve the employment of these individuals.
(2)
The location of the facilities in or conveniently accessible to a portion of the workforce residing within an economically distressed area of the state or an area of the state affected by industrial depression or decline.
An adverse finding shall not be made merely because each of such alternative considerations is inapplicable if the facilities are located in or are conveniently accessible to a portion of the workforce residing within a pocket of economic distress or an area of the state largely rural in character.