Section 3736.05 - Making grants - matching contributions(A) The director of environmental protection, pursuant to division (F)(6) of section 3734.49 of the Revised Code, may make grants from the recycling and litter prevention fund created in section 3736.03 of the Revised Code to accomplish the purposes of the programs established under section 3736.02 of the Revised Code.(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, the director may require any eligible applicant certified by the materials management advisory council under division (F)(6) of section 3734.49 of the Revised Code that applies for a grant for an activity or project that is intended to further the purposes of any program established under division (A)(1), (2), or (4) of section 3736.02 of the Revised Code to provide a matching contribution of not more than fifty per cent of the grant.(C) Notwithstanding division (B) of this section, any grant awarded under division (A) of this section to foster cooperative research and development regarding recycling or the cooperative establishment or expansion of private recycling facilities or programs shall be made in conjunction with a contribution to the project by a cooperating enterprise that maintains or proposes to maintain a relevant research and development or recycling facility or program in this state or by an agency of the state, provided that funding provided by a state agency shall not be provided from general revenue funds appropriated by the general assembly. No grant made under division (A) of this section for the purposes described in this division shall exceed the contribution made by the cooperating enterprise or state agency. The director may consider cooperating contributions in the form of state of the art new equipment or in other forms if the director determines that the contribution is essential to the successful implementation of the project. Grants made under division (A) of this section for the purposes described in this division shall be made in such form and conditioned on such terms as the director considers to be appropriate.
(D)(1) The director may require any eligible applicant certified by the advisory council under division (F)(6) of section 3734.49 of the Revised Code that applies for a grant that is intended to further the purposes of the program established under division (A)(3) of section 3736.02 of the Revised Code, except any eligible applicant that is or is located in a county that has a per capita income equal to or below ninety per cent of the median county per capita income of the state as determined by the director using the most recently available figures from the United States census bureau, to provide a matching contribution as follows: (a) Up to ten per cent of the grant from any eligible applicant that is or is located in a county that has a per capita income above ninety per cent of the median county per capita income of the state, but equal to or below one hundred per cent of the median county per capita income of the state;(b) Up to twenty per cent of the grant from any eligible applicant that is or is located in a county that has a per capita income above the median county per capita income of the state.(2) If the eligible applicant is a joint solid waste management district or is filing a joint application on behalf of two or more counties, the matching contribution required under division (D)(1) of this section shall be the average of the matching contributions of all of the counties covered by the application as determined in accordance with that division. The matching contribution of a county that has a per capita income equal to or below ninety per cent of the median county per capita income of the state shall be included as zero in calculating the average matching contribution.(E) The director shall ensure that not less than fifty per cent of the moneys distributed as grants under this section shall be expended for the purposes of recycling and recycling market development.(F) No information that is submitted to, acquired by, or exchanged with employees of the environmental protection agency who administer or provide services under this section and that is submitted, acquired, or exchanged in order to obtain a grant pursuant to division (A) of this section shall be used in any manner for the purpose of the enforcement of any requirement established in an environmental law or used as evidence in any judicial or administrative enforcement proceeding unless that information reveals a clear and immediate danger to the environment or to the health, safety, or welfare of the public.(G) Nothing in this section confers immunity on persons from enforcement that is based on information that is obtained by the director or the director's authorized representatives who are not employees of the agency who administer or provide services under this section.(H) As used in this section, "environmental law" means a law that is administered by the environmental protection agency. Amended by 131st General Assembly, HB 64,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2015.Renumbered from § 1502.05 and amended by 129th General Assembly, HB 487, §101.01, eff. 9/10/2012.Effective Date: 03-18-1999; 12-30-2004; 06-27-2005