§ 23-24.5-19 - Asbestos abatement fund.
SECTION 23-24.5-19
§ 23-24.5-19 Asbestos abatement fund.– (a) There is established within the department of administration an asbestosand dangerous product abatement fund. The purpose of this fund shall be:
(1) To provide funds for the purchase or lease of testing andremoval equipment by the department;
(2) To provide grants and low interest loans to qualifiedpersons and entities for the implementation of asbestos abatement plans andabatement of other products found to be a danger to the public health by thedirector; and
(3) To reimburse the department of health for the training ofcompetent persons, public maintenance personnel, and teacher and parentrepresentatives.
(b) The director of administration or his or her designee mayprovide grants on the following terms and conditions:
(1) The director of health has found that the asbestoscondition which is the subject matter of the grant involves a potential dangerto the public health and that the disbursal of loans and grants is in accordwith a ranking of buildings provided by the director of health with moredangerous hazards ranked first;
(2) The recipient of the grant is either a nonprofit or apublic agency in a high priority group or a public agency in the intermediategroup;
(3) No more than eighty percent (80%) of the costs of theabatement plan will be paid for by a grant;
(4) Only licensed or registered contractors shall beutilized. Contractors shall have been selected by bid procedures approved bythe director of administration or his or her designee, and the rates of pay andcosts of materials utilized by the contractor shall not exceed amounts andrates set by the director of administration;
(5) The recipient of the grant or loan shall assign to thedirector of administration all right, title, and interest to any claim relatedto asbestos at that site and authorize the director of administration asattorney-in-fact to litigate and bring any cause of action for the recovery ofthe costs of abatement that may lie against any other person or entityresponsible for the creation of the problem being abated; and
(6) Any rules, criteria, formulas, or methodologies used inthe computation of the amounts or percentages of assistance for which anyschools (grades pre-kindergarten to twelve (12)) are eligible under thischapter shall be applied uniformly to, and without distinction between oramong, all public, private, and parochial schools (grades pre-kindergarten totwelve (12)) located within the geographic boundaries of the same schooldistrict.
(c) The director of administration may provide loans at anannual interest rate not to exceed six percent (6%) to any person or entity,including local agencies, state agencies, and nonprofit agencies owningstructures in the high or public intermediate priority groups on the conditionsset forth in subsection (b) except that the loan may be for one hundred percent(100%) of its cost and on the further condition that adequate security for therepayment of the loan is provided and that the term of repayment does notexceed twenty (20) years.
(d) With the approval of the governor, the director ofadministration may contract with another public agency or with any licensedfinancial institution to administer grants and loans provided by this section.For its service, the financial institution or public agency may charge theborrower an administration fee not to exceed an additional one-half percent (1/2%) of the grant or loan amount.
(e) Not more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) of theproceeds of the bonds authorized in § 23-24.5-20 shall be utilized forhazardous substances other than asbestos.
(f) Not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars($250,000) shall be used for outreach programs and educational materials toprovide information to the public on the state's asbestos abatement program.
(g) The director of administration is authorized to issue anyrules and regulations as are necessary to implement this section.