The department, with the approval of the secretary, shall establish an Investigating Site Contamination Program to provide loans to eligible persons to conduct preliminary endangerment assessments of brownfields and underutilized properties. A loan provided pursuant to this article shall not be used for the cost of a phase I environmental assessment or the department’s oversight of the preparation and approval of the preliminary endangerment assessment.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257.)