The Florida Senate

403.7095  Solid waste management grant program.--

(1)  The department shall develop a grant program to enable counties and municipalities to operate solid waste management recycling and education programs to carry out the purposes of this section. Counties and municipalities are encouraged to form interlocal agreements to implement solid waste recycling and education programs.

(2)  Twenty-five percent of the funds available for recycling and education grants in subsections (4) and (5) shall be distributed as base portions of grants to counties and to municipalities with populations over 50,000. The base portion of grants shall be awarded in equal amounts to all applicants determined eligible by the department according to the provisions of this section.

(3)  Seventy-five percent of the funds available for recycling and education grants in subsections (4) and (5) shall be distributed as incentive portions of grants based on the formula set forth in this subsection. Each county and each municipality with a population of greater than 50,000 may apply for the incentive portions of recycling and education grants individually, and counties may apply individually or in conjunction with other municipalities.

(a)  The incentive portions of grants shall be available to municipalities with populations greater than 50,000 applying individually on a 50-percent matching basis. The incentive portion of grants shall be available to counties with unincorporated populations of greater than 30,000 applying individually or in combination with municipalities within the county on a 50-percent matching basis, except for such grant applications meeting the requirements of paragraph (c). Counties with populations of 30,000 or less applying individually or in combination with municipalities within the county shall not be required to match incentive portions of grants.

(b)  In all cases, the incentive portions of grants shall be distributed based proportionately on the total population of each county and the municipalities within the counties applying jointly during a grant period. Counties shall be credited only with the population of the unincorporated areas, and municipalities shall be credited with their total population.

(c)  However, the incentive portion of grants shall be available without a required match to counties with incorporated and unincorporated populations of greater than 30,000 jointly applying with municipalities constituting at least 75 percent of the total incorporated population within the county; except that when a county has at least one municipality within it that has a population exceeding 25 percent of the incorporated population of the county, such county shall not be required to match if municipalities constituting at least 75 percent of the remaining incorporated population of such county apply jointly with such county.

(d)  Population of municipalities shall be determined by the most recent population census determination under s. 186.901.

(e)  To effectuate the intent of this subsection, counties and municipalities shall enter into interlocal agreements that determine how the grant funds shall be used. These agreements shall be part of the joint grant application.

(4)(a)  Solid waste recycling grants shall provide funding for capital costs and operating subsidies to assist local governments in recycling paper, glass, plastic, construction and demolition debris, white goods, and metals and in composting organic materials.

(b)  The department shall consider the following factors in selecting recipients of recycling program grants:

1.  The likelihood of project success.

2.  The availability of an appropriate site.

3.  A demonstration by the local government that the materials to be collected or processed, or both, are not presently being recovered to the extent necessary to meet the goal established in s. 403.706(4) and would not be so recovered otherwise but for the proposed recycling or composting project.

4.  The business and accounting plans for the proposed project.

5.  The need for a new or expanded recycling program in the area to be served relative to the needs of other areas in the state.

6.  The availability of capacity at existing permitted solid waste management facilities and recovered materials processing facilities that serve the area to be served by the proposed recycling program.

7.  The demonstrated municipal, community, private recycling industry, or volunteer interest in undertaking the recycling project.

(c)  The department shall determine grant eligibility after receiving an application for a recycling grant from a local government.

(d)  The department may not approve a grant unless the appropriate county or municipality provides sufficient data justifying the proposed program.

(e)  The department may reduce grants, eliminate grants, or place conditions upon grants to a local government if insufficient progress is being made by the local government in meeting the goal set forth in s. 403.706(4), in procuring products made with recycled content as required by s. 403.7065, in complying with s. 403.7049 and applicable department rules regarding full cost accounting, or in meeting any other state requirements for solid waste management.

(5)(a)  Solid waste education grants shall provide funds to local governments to promote recycling, volume reduction, the proper disposal of solid wastes, and market development for recyclable materials.

(b)  The department shall consider the following factors in selecting recipients of solid waste education grants:

1.  Whether the education program has measurable objectives.

2.  The type and extent of followup or evaluation.

3.  The level of commitment by local officials.

4.  The extent to which the local government commits its own financial resources to the education project.

5.  The extent to which selection of the project contributes to the achievement of a balanced distribution of grants throughout the state.

(c)  The department may not approve a grant unless a local recycling project is planned or under way and the proposed education project directly promotes the use of that project.

(6)  Each eligible county or municipality, or combination thereof acting under an interlocal agreement, which requests grants pursuant to this section shall include the following items as part of the grant application:

(a)  A description of the type and the weight of solid waste generated within the county's or municipality's boundaries and the general type and the weight of solid waste that will be generated within the county's or municipality's boundaries in the 20-year period beginning on October 1, 1988.

(b)  An identification and description of the facilities where solid waste is being disposed of or processed, the remaining available permitted capacity of such facilities, any anticipated increases in the capacity of such facilities.

(c)  An analysis of the effect of current and planned recycling on solid waste disposed.

(d)  A description and evaluation of solid waste that could be recycled, including, but not limited to:

1.  The type and weight of solid waste that could be recycled, giving consideration at a minimum to the following materials: glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic materials, office paper, yard trash, newsprint, corrugated paper, and plastics.

2.  The compatibility of recycling with other solid waste processing or disposal methods, describing anticipated and available markets for materials collected through recycling programs, which markets ensure that those materials are returned to use in the form of raw materials or products.

3.  Estimated costs of and revenue from operating and maintaining a recycling program.

4.  An explanation of how anticipated solid waste reduction or recycling will affect the type and size of any proposed solid waste management facility.

(e)  An explanation of how the recycling program relates to the future land use elements; sanitary sewer, solid waste, drainage, potable water, and natural groundwater aquifer recharge elements; intergovernmental coordination elements; and capital improvements elements of the local government comprehensive plans prepared pursuant to part II of chapter 163 by the county or the municipality.

(f)  A description of how the county's or municipality's existing recycling programs will be continued. The continued programs shall be based on the recycling program initiated under s. 403.706(2) and, in addition to yard trash, shall involve the recycling of at least the materials required to be separated pursuant to s. 403.706(2). Such description must demonstrate that the allocation of grant money will be used to provide for recycling the required materials for both single-family units and multifamily dwellings.

(g)  The recycling or waste reduction program shall contain at a minimum:

1.  An explanation of the manner in which the recycling or waste reduction program will be implemented.

2.  A timetable for the continued development and implementation of the recycling or waste reduction program.

3.  Any contracts or agreements entered into or summaries of contemplated agreements or contracts to develop and implement the recycling or waste reduction program.

4.  The estimated costs of the recycling or waste reduction program, including a description of the estimated avoided or added costs of solid waste disposal or processing resulting from the implementation of the recycling program.

The recycling or waste reduction program shall serve as the primary means of meeting the goals established for municipal solid waste reduction in s. 403.706(4).

(h)  A description of a public education program for the recycling or waste reduction program.

(i)  A description for a program for the management of special wastes. The county or municipality shall work with the construction industry to plan for and identify suitable construction and demolition debris disposal sites.

(j)  A description of how the private recycling infrastructure has been used in carrying out the recycling program. If the department finds that the local government recycling program has failed to consider the use of recycling efforts of the private sector, the department may restrict the grants to that local government.

(7)¹(a)  Annual solid waste and recycling grants shall be available to counties with populations of fewer than 100,000. The sum of $50,000 shall be available annually to each eligible county from the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund. These grants shall be made by October 1 of each year to any county applying to the department prior to August 1 of any given year.

(b)  A county may use the grants authorized by this subsection for purchasing or repairing solid waste weight scales, annual solid waste management program operating costs, planning, construction, and maintenance of solid waste management facilities or recycling facilities, solid waste management education for employees or the public, or recycling demonstration projects. Counties which do not have operational weight scales at solid waste disposal facilities operated by or for the counties must purchase or require purchase of such scales or repair or require repair of inoperable scales prior to using the annual grant for any other authorized uses.

²(8)  For fiscal year 1999-2000, the department shall provide counties with populations under 100,000 with at least 80 percent of the level of funding they received in fiscal year 1997-1998 for solid waste management and recycling grants.

²(9)  For fiscal year 1999-2000, the department shall provide 10 percent of the total funds available after the requirements of subsection (8) are met for recycling grants available to all counties on a competitive basis for innovative programs. The department may consider one or more of the following criteria in determining whether a grant proposal is innovative:

(a)  Demonstrate advanced technologies or processes.

(b)  Collect and recycle materials targeted by the department.

(c)  Demonstrate substantial improvement in program cost-effectiveness and efficiency as measured against statewide average costs for the same or similar programs.

(d)  Demonstrate transferability of technology and processes used in program.

(e)  Demonstrate and implement multicounty or regional recycling programs.

History.--s. 18, ch. 88-130; s. 21, ch. 93-207; s. 3, ch. 95-144; ss. 34, 35, ch. 97-153; s. 22, ch. 98-46; s. 17, ch. 98-258; s. 24, ch. 99-228.

¹Note.--As amended by s. 17, ch. 98-258. See preface to the Florida Statutes, "Statutory Construction." Paragraph (7)(a) was also amended by s. 22, ch. 98-46, and that version reads:

(7)(a)  Annual solid waste and recycling grants shall be available to counties with populations of fewer than 100,000. The sum of $50,000 shall be available annually to each eligible county from the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund through June 30, 1999. These grants shall be made by October 1 of each year to any county applying to the department prior to August 1 of any given year.

²Note.--Section 24, ch. 99-228, amended subsections (8) and (9) "[i]n order to implement Specific Appropriations 1274 and 1276 of the 1999-2000 General Appropriations Act."