California Public Resources Code Section 25751
(a) The Renewable Resource Trust Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. (b) The following accounts are hereby established within the Renewable Resource Trust Fund: (1) Existing Renewable Resources Account. (2) Emerging Renewable Resources Account. (3) Renewable Resources Consumer Education Account. (c) The money in the fund may be expended, only upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for the following purposes: (1) The administration of this article by the state. (2) The state`s expenditures associated with the accounting system established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 399.13 of the Public Utilities Code. (d) That portion of revenues collected by electrical corporations for the benefit of in-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resource technologies, pursuant to Section 399.8 of the Public Utilities Code, shall be transmitted to the commission at least quarterly for deposit in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund pursuant to Section 25740.5. After setting aside in the fund money that may be needed for expenditures authorized by the annual Budget Act in accordance with subdivision (c), the Treasurer shall immediately deposit money received pursuant to this section into the accounts created pursuant to subdivision (b) in proportions designated by the commission for the current calendar year. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the fund and the accounts within the fund are hereby continuously appropriated to the commission without regard to fiscal year for the purposes enumerated in this chapter. (e) Upon notification by the commission, the Controller shall pay all awards of the money in the accounts created pursuant to subdivision (b) for purposes enumerated in this chapter. The eligibility of each award shall be determined solely by the commission based on the procedures it adopts under this chapter. Based on the eligibility of each award, the commission shall also establish the need for a multiyear commitment to any particular award and so advise the Department of Finance. Eligible awards submitted by the commission to the Controller shall be accompanied by information specifying the account from which payment should be made and the amount of each payment; a summary description of how payment of the award furthers the purposes enumerated in this chapter; and an accounting of future costs associated with any award or group of awards known to the commission to represent a portion of a multiyear funding commitment. (f) The commission may transfer funds between accounts for cashflow purposes, provided that the balance due each account is restored and the transfer does not adversely affect any of the accounts. (g) The Department of Finance shall conduct an independent audit of the Renewable Resource Trust Fund and its related accounts annually, and provide an audit report to the Legislature not later than March 1 of each year for which this article is operative. The Department of Finance`s report shall include information regarding revenues, payment of awards, reserves held for future commitments, unencumbered cash balances, and other matters that the Director of Finance determines may be of importance to the Legislature.