NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Application Period for Municipal Recycling Program Performance Grant Applications under Act 101, Section 904 of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988; Calendar Year 2023
[54 Pa.B. 2587]
[Saturday, May 11, 2024]The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) announces a request for applications from municipalities for recycling performance grant assistance for recycling programs under section 904 of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988 (Act 101) (53 P.S. § 4000.904). Municipalities include counties, cities, boroughs, incorporated towns, townships, home rule municipalities, their authorities, councils of governments, consortiums or similar entities established by two or more municipalities under 53 Pa.C.S. Chapter 23 Subchapter A (relating to intergovernmental cooperation). This application period is for eligible materials recycled and marketed in calendar year 2023.
Municipal Recycling Program Performance Grant (Performance Grant) funds will be awarded to municipalities based upon the weight of source-separated recyclable materials identified in section 1501(c)(1)(i) of Act 101 (53 P.S. § 4000.1501(c)(1)(i)) recovered by municipal recycling programs and the population of the municipality as determined by the most recent decennial census. Based on available funding for the calendar year 2023 Performance Grant program, the award formula will remain the same as last year. The average Statewide waste generation rate which is utilized in determining a municipality's recycling rate will be updated to 0.89 ton/person/year from 0.80 ton/person/year based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Advancing Sustainable Materials Management report that was released in 2020. This change is attributed to the progression of the economy as well as the population increase over the last 20 years. The Department utilizes the Statewide waste generation rate and the municipality's recycling rate in the grant award calculation.
For residential tonnage, municipalities that market some or all of their own material are not subject to the 20% residue deduction for those materials. ''Marketed'' means that the materials were sold to a manufacturer for the purposes of converting the recyclables into new product. Compensation/rebates from a collector or processor do not count as the marketing of materials.
Materials that go to a second-hand processor are subject to the 20% residue deduction—weight receipts from that entity cannot be considered as market receipts for the municipality (the processor cannot prorate marketed materials to one or more municipalities).
For commercial tonnage, materials that go directly from the generator to a market can be exempt from the 20% rate. Documentation must include a statement from the commercial entity or home office of the commercial entity that the materials are directly marketed without further processing. Commercial materials that are sorted/processed after leaving the generator are subject to the 20% residue rate.
If an application is claiming an overall residue rate of less than 20%, it must describe why and supply supporting documentation to justify the claim.
Multi-municipal applications under the Act 101, Section 904 Recycling Performance Grant Program will only be accepted by the Department from the following:
A. Council of governments, consortiums or other similar entities established by two or more municipalities under 53 Pa.C.S. Chapter 23 Subchapter A.
B. Two or more municipalities where the collection of recyclables has been accomplished either through a joint bid for services or a joint municipally-operated collection system (curbside or drop-off) accompanied by a joint recycling education program.
An application submitted jointly to the Department by two or more municipalities that does not meet one of the previously listed criteria will be held until the participating municipalities supply individual applications. Submittals from county governments are not considered multi-municipal applications and are therefore not subject to these criteria.
Applicants who have failed to comply with the conditions set forth in previously awarded grants, the recycling program performance requirements contained in the act of November 9, 2006 (P.L. 1347, No. 140), the grant requirements of Act 101 or the regulations of Act 101 may not be awarded funds under this grant program. Applicants must ensure that they are in compliance with 25 Pa. Code § 272.314(b)(2) (relating to limits on Department's authority to award grants), regarding the submittal of the annual recycling report.
Eligible materials include post-consumer: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum cans, steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper, other marketable grades of paper and plastics. Grants will be awarded only for properly documented, eligible materials that were actually marketed on or after January 1, 2023, to and including December 31, 2023. Applicants should only claim those tonnages for which they have documentation at the time they complete their application. Residues, materials not listed as eligible or materials that cannot be documented as being generated within the municipality or marketed or recycled into new products or uses are not eligible for consideration toward the grant. In particular, recovered glass that is being stockpiled or used as daily cover at a landfill will not be considered as recycled. Applicants must be able to document the amount of residue attributable to their recycling program.
Documentation to support all claims that eligible recyclable materials were generated within the municipality and marketed must be made readily available for auditing by the Department, the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Treasurer or agents of those offices for 4 years. The Department will not require applicants to retain hauler customer lists; however, the lists may be required to be examined in the event of an audit. It will be the applicant's responsibility to arrange for hauler customer lists to be provided, or for haulers to be present with their customer lists, during a grant audit.
Supporting documentation must be in possession of the applicant at time of submittal but is not required to be submitted with the application. Tonnages not properly documented at the time of an audit will not be credited toward the applicant's Performance Grant award. Additional/supplemental documentation will not be accepted after the audit is completed. Failure to submit a complete and accurate application may result in a denial of the application.
Grant applications must be submitted through the Department of Community and Economic Development's (DCED) Electronic Single Application web site, eGrants, at www.esa.dced.state.pa.us. Applications must be received by December 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m., to be eligible for funding. Applications will not be accepted after the deadline. Grant awards are predicated on the receipt of recycling fees required by sections 701 and 702 of Act 101 (53 P.S. §§ 4000.701 and 4000.702) and the availability of moneys in the Recycling Fund.
Language Access
For applicants who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind or have a speech disorder, the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Service is available by calling (800) 654-5984 (TTD users) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users) and request that the call be relayed to Mark Vottero at (717) 772-5719.
ATTENTION: If you speak another language other than English, language assistance services can be made available to you. Call (717) 772-5719.
ATENCIóN: Si habla otro idioma que no sea inglés los servicios de asistencia lingüística pueden estar disponibles para usted. Llame al (717) 772-5719.
ACHTUNG: Wenn Sie eine andere Sprache als Englisch sprechen, können Ihnen Sprachassistenzdienste zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Rufen Sie (717) 772-5719 an.
Inquiries concerning this notice should be directed to Mark Vottero, Bureau of Waste Management, Department of Environmental Protection, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 8472, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8472 at mvottero@pa.gov.
JESSICA SHIRLEY,
Acting Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 24-650. Filed for public inspection May 10, 2024, 9:00 a.m.]
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