Section 324.20109a - Municipal landfill cost-share grant program.
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994
324.20109a Municipal landfill cost-share grant program.
Sec. 20109a.
(1) A municipal landfill cost-share grant program is established for the purpose of making grants to reimburse local units of government for a portion of the response activity costs at certain municipal solid waste landfills as provided in this section.
(2) The municipal landfill cost-share grant program shall be administered by the board. The board shall provide for at least 1 application cycle per fiscal year. Prior to each application cycle, the board shall develop written instructions for prospective applicants including the criteria that will be used in application review and approval.
(3) To be eligible for a cost-share grant under this section, the following requirements shall be met:
(a) The applicant is a local unit of government.
(b) The application is only for eligible response activity costs at a municipal solid waste landfill.
(c) The application is complete and submitted on a form provided by the board.
(d) The application is submitted by the deadline established by the board.
(4) A complete application shall include the following:
(a) The landfill name and brief history.
(b) The rationale that explains why the applicant incurred the response activity costs.
(c) An analysis of the local unit of government's insurance coverage for the response activity costs at the landfill and any available documentation that supports the analysis.
(d) A brief narrative description of the overall response activities completed or to be completed at the landfill.
(e) A list and narrative description of all eligible costs incurred by the applicant for which it is seeking a grant, including all of the following:
(i) A demonstration that each eligible cost is consistent with a work plan or remedial action plan that has been approved by the department or the United States environmental protection agency or has been ordered by a state or federal court. The demonstration shall relate each cost for which reimbursement is being sought to a specific element of the approved work plan or remedial action plan. A copy of the plan and documentation of approval or court order of the plan shall be included with the application.
(ii) Documentation that the costs have been incurred by the applicant, including itemized invoices that clearly list each cost and proof of payment of each invoice by the applicant.
(iii) A resolution passed by the governing body for the local unit of government attesting that it has not received reimbursement for any of the costs for which it is seeking a grant from any other sources.
(f) A list of persons the applicant believes may be liable under section 20126 or the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767 for a substantial portion of the response activity costs at the landfill and any available supporting documentation.
(5) The board shall allocate the funds available for cost-share grants under this section to eligible facilities according to the following criteria, which are listed in priority order:
(a) Facilities posing a risk to public health.
(b) Facilities posing a risk to the environment.
(c) Facilities in which the local unit of government has taken steps to identify environmental contamination at the facility or caused by the facility or facilities in which remedial action measures have been implemented in accordance with a remedial action plan approved by the department or the United States environmental protection agency.
(d) Facilities in which the local unit of government has implemented appropriate measures to effect proper closure of the facility.
(6) Once a complete application has been submitted and approved by the board, applications submitted by the same applicant for the same landfill, in subsequent application cycles shall only include updated information that was not in the original application, including all of the following:
(a) An updated list of eligible costs incurred by the applicant for which the applicant is seeking a grant and for which the applicant was not approved to receive grant funds in a preceding grant cycle.
(b) Supporting documentation that the costs have been incurred as described in subsection (4)(e)(ii).
(c) Any other information needed to update information in the original application.
(7) A cost-share grant under this section shall not exceed 50% of the total eligible costs.
(8) A local unit of government may not receive more than 1 grant for the same municipal landfill during each application cycle.
(9) A recipient of a cost-share grant under this section has an obligation to do all of the following:
(a) Provide timely notification to the department if it receives money or any other form of compensation from any other source to pay for or compensate the local unit of government for any of the response activity costs for which it is liable. Sources of money or compensation include, but are not limited to, the federal government, other liable persons, or insurance policies. The notice shall include all of the following:
(i) Source of the money or compensation.
(ii) Amount of money or dollar value of the compensation.
(iii) Why the local unit of government received the money or compensation.
(iv) Any conditions or terms associated with the money or compensation.
(v) A detailed estimate of the total eligible response costs at the landfill for which the local unit of government is seeking a grant that are consistent with a work plan or remedial action plan that has been approved by the department or the United States environmental protection agency or has been ordered by a state or federal court and documentation of those costs that have been incurred.
(vi) Documentation of the costs incurred by the local unit of government to obtain the funds or compensation.
(vii) The amount of money to be repaid to the state based on the formula in subdivision (b).
(b) If the recipient receives money or compensation from any other source as described in subdivision (a), the recipient shall repay the department an amount of money not to exceed the grant amount based on the following formula:
(A minus B) multiplied by (C divided by D)
with A, B, C, and D defined as follows:
A = The total amount of money received from the other source or dollar value of the compensation.
B = All reasonable costs incurred by the recipient to obtain the money or compensation.
C = The total amount of grant funds received.
D = The total amount of response activity costs that the applicant has or will incur that meet all of the following requirements:
(i) The costs are for response activities, excluding fees for the services of a licensed attorney.
(ii) The costs are required to implement a work plan or remedial action plan for the landfill that has been approved by the department or the United States environmental protection agency or ordered by a state or federal court. The work plan or remedial action plan can be a plan update that was approved or ordered subsequent to the plan that was included in the local unit of government's grant application.
(iii) The costs were or will be incurred by the local unit of government after the date of enactment of the amendatory act that added this section.
(iv) The department has determined that the costs incurred by a local unit of government are reasonable taking into consideration the rationale provided in the application, the existence of other persons liable under section 20126 or the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767, and the need for the local unit of government to proceed with the response activity.
(v) The costs are for response activities that are or will be all or part of a cost-effective remedy consistent with this part.
(vi) The costs were or will be incurred for work that was competitively bid.
(vii) The costs, once incurred, can be documented with invoices and proof of payment by the local unit of government.
(c) All documentation of costs and the calculations and assumptions used by the recipient to determine the amount of money to be repaid shall be submitted to the board and are subject to review and approval by the board. The money shall be repaid to the department within 60 days of board approval of the documentation, calculations, and assumptions.
(d) Funds repaid to the department under this section shall be placed into the fund.
(10) To receive a cost-share grant under this section, approved applicants shall enter into an agreement with the board. The agreement shall contain at a minimum all of the following:
(a) A list of board-approved eligible costs for which the recipient will be reimbursed up to 50%.
(b) The agreement period.
(c) A resolution passed by the governing body for the local unit of government committing to make reasonable efforts to pursue any insurance coverage for the eligible costs.
(d) Grant repayment provisions under subsection (9).
(11) Upon execution of a grant agreement, grant funds shall be disbursed by the department within 45 days.
(12) If a local unit of government fails to sign a grant agreement within 90 days of a written grant offer by the board, the board may cancel the grant offer. The local unit of government may not appeal or contest cancellation of a grant pursuant to this subsection.
(13) The existence of this grant program does not in any way affect the liability of any person under this part or any other state or federal law. The state, the board, and the fund are not liable or in any way obligated to make grants for eligible costs, if funds are not appropriated by the legislature for this purpose or if the funds are insufficient. The availability of this program shall not be used by any liable person as a basis to delay necessary response activities.
(14) Funds granted to local units of government under this section shall be considered response activity costs incurred by the state. The state may pursue recovery or a claim for contribution of the grant funds from persons other than the grant recipient who are liable under section 20126. In addition, a local unit of government may pursue recovery or a claim for contribution from persons liable under section 20126 for the costs it has incurred but for which it has not received grant funds. This subsection does not in any way affect a local unit of government's eligibility to make a claim for insurance for any response activity costs, including the costs for which it received a grant.
(15) As used in this section:
(a) “Municipal solid waste landfill” means a landfill that as of the effective date of this section is on the national priority list or is proposed by the governor for inclusion on the national priority list.
(b) “National priority list” has the meaning attributed to this term in section 105(a)(8)(b) of the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767.
(c) “Eligible costs” or “eligible response activity costs” means response activity costs, excluding all fees for the services of a licensed attorney, that meet all of the following criteria:
(i) The costs have been incurred by a local unit of government after the date of enactment of the amendatory act that added this section.
(ii) The costs incurred by a local unit of government are reasonable taking into consideration the rationale provided in the application, the existence of other persons liable under section 20126 or the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767, and the need for the local unit of government to proceed with the response activity.
(iii) The costs are consistent with a work plan or remedial action plan that was approved by the department or the United States environmental protection agency or was ordered by a state or federal court prior to the work being conducted.
(iv) The costs were incurred for response activities that are part of a cost-effective remedy consistent with the requirements of this part.
(v) The costs were incurred for work that was competitively bid.
(16) This section shall not take effect until the earlier of the 2 following dates:
(a) The effective date of reauthorization of the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767.
(b) Twelve months after the date of enactment of the amendatory act that added this section.
(17) Following reauthorization of the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, Public Law 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767, if a federal cost-share program is established that is similar to the program in this section, a grant under this section shall not be made for any response activity cost until the United States environmental protection agency makes a final determination that the response activity cost will not be paid for under the federal program.
History: Add. 1996, Act 383, Imd. Eff. July 24, 1996
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: Environmental Remediation
Popular Name: Environmental Response Act
Popular Name: NREPA