Solid waste related grant funding available for 14 county region

Kilgore, TX (June 20, 2008) - Local governments and special districts have the opportunity to receive grant funds from the East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) funded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). To support regional waste minimization efforts in ETCOG's fourteen (14) county region, the solid waste program is accepting applications for its annual Municipal Solid Waste grant funds.

Grant funding requests must be in support of the goals and objectives of the ETCOG Regional Solid Waste Management Plan. Eligible public entities that may apply for funds are: 1) Cities; 2) Counties; 3) Public Schools and School Districts (excluding universities and other post-secondary educational institutions); and 4) General and Special Law Districts created as political subdivisions of the state, with the authority and responsibility for water quality protection or municipal solid waste management, including river authorities. The approximate expected total amount of funding is $272,826.81.

Eligible project categories are: 1) Local Enforcement- This category consists of projects which contribute to the prevention of illegal dumping. These projects may include programs to investigate illegal dumping problems, educate the public on illegal dumping laws, and prosecute violators. These programs may also include activities such as monitoring collection and transport through a manifest system to enforce laws pertaining to the illegal disposal of liquid wastes; 2) Source Reduction and Recycling; 3) Citizen's Collection Stations and "Small" Registered Transfer Stations; 4) Educational and Training Projects- Educational components are encouraged under the other categories in order to better ensure public participation in projects; those educational components should be funded as part of those projects and not separately under this category. This category may include "stand-alone" educational projects dealing with a variety of solid waste management topics; 5) Community Cleanup Events; 6) Technical Studies; 7) Household Hazardous Waste Management; and 8) Local Solid Waste Management Plans.

Please contact Rick McKnight at (903) 984-8641 x 209 for the following forms: Request for Proposal (RFP) and a FY 2009 application form. The forms are also available online at www.etcog.org. ETCOG will also hold a MANDATORY preapplication workshop for assistance in filling out the application, on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. in the ETCOG Conference Room at 3800 Stone Rd., Kilgore. The deadline for application submittal is 5:00 pm Friday, July 18th 2008.

The purpose of the Plan is to provide guidelines for current and future solid waste management to local governments in the region. The State requires that the Regional Plan give preference, to the maximum extent economically and technologically feasible, to the hierarchy of management methods for solid waste, from the most preferred to the lease preferred:

* Source reduction and minimization of waste

* Reuse or recycling of waste

* Treatment to destroy or reprocess waste for energy or resource recovery; and

* Land disposal