N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-9.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:15-9.5 - Project priority award process

(a) The Department shall submit the Project Priority Award List of recommended watershed management grant projects developed under N.J.A.C. 7:15-9.2 to the Legislature for consideration and approval.

(b) The Department shall publish a notice in the DEP Bulletin and on the Division of Watershed Management web site (www.state.nj.us/dep/watershedmgt) of those projects recommended to the Legislature for approval in the Project Priority Award List.

(c) For all watershed management grant applications included on the Project Priority Award List and approved by the Legislature, the Department shall transmit to the applicant for execution a grant agreement specifying the terms and conditions of the grant, including the scope of work, the approved budget, and the schedule for completion. The applicant shall execute the grant agreement in the manner specified by the Department and shall return the grant agreement to the Department within 60 days, unless the applicant has requested and received from the Department an extension of the 60-day period. If the grant agreement is not returned by the deadline, the Department reserves the right to award the grant monies to the next highest ranked eligible project.

(d) Funds under a watershed management grant shall be released only after a grant agreement has been executed by both the applicant and the Department.

(e) The budget in the grant agreement shall specify the items eligible for funding under this subchapter, which may include, for example:

1. Costs of materials, supplies and reproduction for reports, policy recommendations, draft ordinances, publications, maps, diagrams and other similar documents;

2. Project implementation costs, including costs for travel, materials, tools, and disposal costs for debris;

3. Equipment purchases such as computers and global position satellite units may be eligible for grant funding. However, upon completion of the grant commitments, these purchases are subject to the Department's procedures for the disposition of equipment purchased with State funds;

4. Contractual costs for services necessary to implement the grant;

5. Costs of acquisition of real property, including administrative costs, where such property must be acquired as a site for the construction or implementation of nonstructural stormwater management, nonpoint source pollution controls or best management practices, including but not limited to, real property to be used for buffers or to protect aquifer recharge areas; and

6. The acquisition of land, as a means of avoiding new pollutant inputs or water body degradation, may be made eligible, if included in the notice of availability, but shall have a lower priority for watershed management grants than implementation projects that mitigate current stresses or prevent future stresses to water and water-related resources in ways other than land acquisition.

(f) The following items are not eligible for funding under this subchapter:

1. Building construction or other kinds of real property improvements;

2. Bonus payments, charges for contingency reserves, deficits or overdrafts, costs of discounts not taken and interest expenses;

3. Costs of services, materials or equipment obtained under any other State or Federal grant or loan program;

4. Costs of fund raising and lobbying;

5. Work performed at the direction of a county or municipal government which has not been awarded in compliance with the Local Public Contracts Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:1-1 et seq.;

6. Costs associated with the compliance with permit conditions or enforcement orders; and

7. Any additional item(s) specified by the Department in the notice of availability and the grant agreement as not eligible for funding.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-9.5