Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
(1)
General. The department will establish reasonable costs for all
grants and loans, require local governments to manage projects in a
cost-effective manner, and ensure that all potentially liable persons assume
responsibility for remedial action.
(2)
Funding discretion. The
department retains the discretion to not provide a grant or loan for an
eligible project or to provide less funding for an eligible project than the
maximum allowed under this chapter.
(3)
Funding limits. The
department may not provide more funding for an eligible project than the
maximum allowed under this chapter for each type of grant or loan.
(4)
Retroactive funding.
Retroactive costs are not eligible for funding, except as provided under this
chapter for each type of grant or loan.
(5)
Cash management of grants.
For oversight remedial action grants, the department may not:
(a) Allocate more funds for a project each
biennium than are estimated to be necessary to complete the scope of work for
that biennium. The biennial scope of work must be approved by the department;
or
(b) Allocate more funds for a
project unless the local government has demonstrated to the department that
funds awarded during the previous biennium have been substantially expended or
contracts have been entered into to substantially expend the funds.
(6)
Consideration of
insurance, contribution, and cost recovery claims. A recipient may use
proceeds from an insurance claim or a contribution or cost recovery claim under
RCW
70.105D.080 or the federal cleanup law
seeking recovery of remedial action costs at a hazardous waste site to meet
recipient share requirements, subject to the conditions in (a) through (f) of
this subsection.
(a)
Applicability. The project at the hazardous waste site is
currently funded on or will be funded after July 1, 2014, under a grant
agreement.
(b)
Notice of
claims. Upon application for the grant or within thirty days of filing a
lawsuit or insurance claim to recover remedial action costs at the hazardous
waste site, whichever is later, the recipient must notify the department of the
filing.
(c)
Notice of
proceeds. Upon application for the grant, the recipient must notify the
department of the total amount of proceeds received to date on any claims for
remedial action costs at the hazardous waste site. The department may require
the recipient to periodically update the total amount of proceeds received on
the claims. The department may also require the recipient to provide
documentation of the proceeds received on the claims.
(d)
Notice of resolution. Upon
application for the grant or within thirty days of any resolution of a claim
for remedial action costs at the hazardous waste site, whichever is later, the
recipient must:
(i) Notify the department of
the resolution;
(ii) Specify the
amount of proceeds received under the resolution and the portion of the
proceeds attributable to eligible costs; and
(iii) Provide the department a copy of the
settlement, judgment, or other document resolving the claim or portion of the
claim.
(e)
Repayment of grant funds. If the total proceeds from all the
claims for remedial action costs at a hazardous waste site exceed the following
costs, then the department may reduce the department share or require repayment
of costs reimbursed by the department under a grant agreement by up to the
amount of the exceedance:
(i) The cost
incurred by the recipient to pursue the claims;
(ii) The cost of remedial actions incurred by
the recipient that are not funded by the department at the hazardous waste
site, including costs incurred before resolution of the claims; and
(iii) If approved by the department, the cost
of remedial actions incurred by the recipient that are not funded by the
department for an eligible project at a hazardous waste site that is not the
basis for the claims.
(f)
Eligibility of payments to other
recipients. Contribution and cost recovery claim payments are not
eligible costs if the payments are made for remedial actions previously funded
by a grant to another jurisdiction.
(7)
Reimbursement request
deadlines.
(a) Requests for
reimbursement and adequate documentation of eligible retroactive costs incurred
before the application date must be submitted to the department in the
application.
(b) Requests for
reimbursement and adequate documentation of eligible retroactive costs incurred
between the application date and the agreement signature date must be submitted
to the department within ninety days of the agreement signature date.
(c) Requests for reimbursement and adequate
documentation of eligible costs incurred after the agreement signature date
must be submitted to the department within one hundred twenty days of incurring
the costs.
(d) If requests for
reimbursement are not submitted by the deadlines in (a) through (c) of this
subsection, as applicable, the department may deny reimbursement of the
costs.
(8)
Spending plans for grant or loan agreements. The department may
require grant or loan recipients to provide and periodically update a spending
plan for the grant or loan.
(9)
Financial responsibility. As established by the Model Toxics
Control Act,
chapter
70.105D RCW, and
implementing regulations, potentially liable persons bear financial
responsibility for remedial action costs. The remedial action grant and loan
programs may not be used to circumvent the responsibility of a potentially
liable person. Remedial action grants and loans shall be used to supplement
local government funding and funding from other sources to carry out required
remedial action.
(10)
Puget
Sound action agenda. The department may not fund projects designed to
address the restoration of Puget Sound that are in conflict with the action
agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under
RCW
90.71.310.