001 Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Fund Grants. Grants from the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Fund may be awarded to applicants for one or more of the following purposes, but not limited to:
001.01 Technical and financial assistance to political subdivisions for creation of recycling systems and for modification of present recycling systems;
001.02 Recycling and waste reduction projects, including public education, planning, and technical assistance;
001.03 Market development for recyclable materials separated by generators, including public education, planning, and technical assistance;
001.04 Capital assistance for establishing private and public intermediate processing facilities for recyclable materials and facilities using recyclable materials in new products;
001.05 Programs which develop and implement composting of yard waste and composting with sewage sludge;
001.06 Technical assistance for waste reduction and waste exchange for waste generators;
001.07 Programs to assist communities and counties to develop and implement household hazardous waste management programs;
001.08 Grants awarded for programs involving land disposal shall include provisions for waste reduction and recycling;
001.09 Capital assistance for establishing private and public facilities to manufacture combustible waste products and to incinerate waste to generate and recover energy resources;
001.10 Purposes of planning and implementing facilities and systems to further the goals of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act; and
001.11 Reimbursement of costs to cities of the second class, villages, and counties of five thousand or fewer population for the deconstruction of abandoned buildings. Eligible deconstruction costs will be related to the recovery and processing of recyclable or reusable material from abandoned buildings.
002 Scrap Tires. Grants up to one million five hundred thousand dollars annually shall be available until June 30, 2019, for new scrap tire projects only, if acceptable scrap tire project applications are received. Eligible categories of disbursement under section 81-15,161 may include, but are not limited to:
(a) Reimbursement for the purchase of crumb rubber generated and used in Nebraska, with disbursements not to exceed fifty percent of the cost of the crumb rubber;
(b) Reimbursement for the purchase of tire-derived product which utilizes a minimum of twenty-five percent recycled tire content, with disbursements not to exceed twenty-five percent of the product’s retail cost,
(c) Participation in the capital costs of building, equipment, and other capital improvement needs or startup costs for scrap tire processing or manufacturing of tire-derived product, with disbursements not to exceed fifty percent of such costs or five hundred thousand dollars, whichever is less.
(d) Participation in the capital costs of building, equipment, or other startup costs needed to establish collection sites or to collect and transport scrap tires, with disbursements not to exceed fifty percent of such costs;
(e) Cost-sharing for the manufacturing of tire-derived product, with disbursements not to exceed twenty dollars per ton or two hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less, to any person annually;
(f) Cost-sharing for the processing of scrap tires, with disbursements not to exceed twenty dollars per ton or two hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less, to any person annually;
(g) Cost-sharing for the use of scrap tires for civil engineering applications for specified projects, with disbursements not to exceed twenty dollars per ton or two hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less, to any person annually; and
(h) Disbursement to a political subdivision up to one hundred percent of costs incurred in cleaning up scrap tire collection sites.
The director shall give preference to projects which utilize scrap tires generated and used in Nebraska.
003 Public/Private Partnership. Priority for grants made under Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-15,161 shall be given to grant proposals demonstrating a formal public/private partnership except for grants awarded from fees collected under Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2042 (6).awarded from fees collected under Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2042 (6).
004 Multi-year Grant Period. Grants awarded from landfill disposal fees collected under Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2042 (6) may be renewed for up to a five-year grant period. Such applications shall include an updated integrated solid waste management plan pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2032. Annual disbursements are subject to available funds and the grantee meeting established grant conditions. Priority for such grants shall be given to grant proposals showing regional participation and programs which address the first integrated solid waste management hierarchy as stated in Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2018 which shall include toxicity reduction. Disbursements for any one year shall not exceed fifty percent of the total fees collected after rebates under Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2042 (6) during that year.
005 Non-Permitted Landfills. No grant shall be made to a political subdivision which operates a landfill operating without a permit unless the grant will be used to meet permit standards and the landfill is issued a permit within two years after the award of the grant.
Enabling Legislation: Neb. Rev. Stat. §81-15,160 through §81-15,163; §13-2042
Legal Citation: Title 199, Ch. 2, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality