(a)
The Hazardous Spill Prevention Account in the Railroad Accident Prevention and Response Fund is hereby created. The moneys deposited in the prevention account shall be subject to annual appropriation in the Budget Act or other appropriation by the Legislature. The amount deposited in the prevention account and available for appropriation shall not exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000) in any calendar year.
(b)
The moneys in the prevention account may be expended by the secretary for any of the following purposes:
(1)
Creation, support, and maintenance of the Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate Deployment Force created by subdivision (a) of Section 7718.
(2)
Creation, support, maintenance, and implementation of the state railroad accident prevention and immediate deployment plan developed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 7718.
(3)
Creation, support, and maintenance of programs, data registries, equipment, and facilities to respond to, and contain, toxic releases resulting from surface transportation accidents. Expenditures pursuant to this paragraph may be for the purpose of any of the following:
(A)
Acquisition and maintenance of specialized equipment and supplies.
(B)
Support of
specialized facilities.
(C)
Creation and support of a state-level and local toxic emergency response teams to provide immediate onsite response capability in the event of large scale releases of toxic substances resulting from surface transportation accidents.
(4)
Support for specialized training for state and local emergency response officials in techniques for prevention of, and response to, toxic releases resulting from surface transportation accidents.
(5)
Support for research, data collection, and studies into technologies and techniques for prevention of, response to, and mitigation of, toxic releases resulting from surface transportation accidents.
(6)
To provide economic assistance to persons, entities, and communities that suffer direct or
indirect economic damages from a surface transportation accident.