(

a) A lead applicant agency may apply to the Secretary of Transportation or the secretary’s designee for a letter of no prejudice for a project or for any component of a project included in the program of projects awarded by the Transportation Agency pursuant to

Section 2196.2. If approved by the Secretary of Transportation or the secretary’s designee, the letter of no prejudice shall allow the lead applicant agency to expend its own moneys for the project or any component of the project and to be eligible for future reimbursement from moneys available for the program. (

b) The amount expended under subdivision (

a) shall be reimbursed by the state from moneys available for the program if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The project or project component for which the letter of no prejudice was requested has commenced, and the regional or local expenditures have been incurred.

(2) The expenditures made by the lead applicant agency are eligible for reimbursement in accordance with applicable laws and procedures. If expenditures made by the lead applicant agency are determined to be ineligible, the state has no obligation to reimburse those expenditures.

(3) The lead applicant agency complies with all legal requirements for the project, including the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with

Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).

(4) There are moneys designated for the program that are sufficient to make the reimbursement payment. (

c) The lead applicant agency and the Transportation Agency shall enter into an agreement governing reimbursement as described in this section. The timing and final amount of reimbursement shall be dependent on the terms of the agreement and the availability of moneys for the program. (

d) The Transportation Agency may develop guidelines to implement this section, which shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with

Section 11340) of Part of Division of Title of the Government Code). (

e) This

section shall become inoperative on June 30, 2033, and, as of January 1, 2034, is repealed.