(a) There is hereby established the California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program, to be administered by the department in accordance with this chapter.
(b) The department may carry out the program through the issuance of one or more notices of funding availability as necessary to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed on it by this chapter. An administrative entity may submit an application, which shall meet all the requirements in Section 50490.3, for an allocation pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.2 in response to a notice of funding availability issued by the department pursuant to this section. Any notice of funding availability issued pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).