State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Nebraska > Chapter81 > 81-15_16081-15,160. Waste Reductionand Recycling Incentive Fund; created; use; investment; grants; restrictions.(1) The Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Fund is created.The department shall deduct from the fund amounts sufficient to reimburseitself for its costs of administration of the fund. The fund shall be administeredby the Department of Environmental Quality. The fund shall consist of proceedsfrom the fees imposed pursuant to the Waste Reduction and Recycling IncentiveAct.(2) The fund may be used for purposes which include, butare not limited to:(a) Technical and financial assistance to political subdivisionsfor creation of recycling systems and for modification of present recyclingsystems;(b) Recycling and waste reduction projects, including publiceducation, planning, and technical assistance;(c) Market development for recyclable materials separatedby generators, including public education, planning, and technical assistance;(d) Capital assistance for establishing private and publicintermediate processing facilities for recyclable materials and facilitiesusing recyclable materials in new products;(e) Programs which develop and implement composting of yardwaste and composting with sewage sludge;(f) Technical assistance for waste reduction and waste exchangefor waste generators;(g) Programs to assist communities and counties to developand implement household hazardous waste management programs;(h) Capital assistance for establishing private and publicfacilities to manufacture combustible waste products and to incinerate combustiblewaste to generate and recover energy resources, except that no disbursementsshall be made under this section for scrap tire processing related to tire-derivedfuel; and(i) Grants for reimbursement of costs to cities of the secondclass, villages, and counties of five thousand or fewer population for thedeconstruction of abandoned buildings. Eligible deconstruction costs willbe related to the recovery and processing of recyclable or reusable materialfrom the abandoned buildings.(3) Grants up to one million dollars annually shall be availableuntil June 30, 2014, for new scrap tire projects only, if acceptable scraptire project applications are received. Eligible categories of disbursementunder section 81-15,161 may include, but are not limited to:(a) Reimbursement for the purchase of crumb rubber generatedand used in Nebraska, with disbursements not to exceed fifty percent of thecost of the crumb rubber;(b) Reimbursement for the purchase of tire-derived productwhich utilizes a minimum of twenty-five percent recycled tire content, withdisbursements not to exceed twenty-five percent of the product's retail cost,except that persons who applied for a grant between June 1, 1999, and May31, 2001, for the purchase of tire-derived product which utilizes a minimumof twenty-five percent recycled tire content may apply for reimbursement onor before July 1, 2002. Reimbursement shall not exceed twenty-five percentof the product's retail cost and may be funded in fiscal years 2001-02 and2002-03;(c) Participation in the capital costs of building, equipment,and other capital improvement needs or startup costs for scrap tire processingor manufacturing of tire-derived product, with disbursements not to exceedfifty percent of such costs or five hundred thousand dollars, whichever isless;(d) Participation in the capital costs of building, equipment,or other startup costs needed to establish collection sites or to collectand transport scrap tires, with disbursements not to exceed fifty percentof such costs;(e) Cost-sharing for the manufacturing of tire-derived product,with disbursements not to exceed twenty dollars per ton or two hundred fiftythousand dollars, whichever is less, to any person annually;(f) Cost-sharing for the processing of scrap tires, withdisbursements not to exceed twenty dollars per ton or two hundred fifty thousanddollars, whichever is less, to any person annually;(g) Cost-sharing for the use of scrap tires for civil engineeringapplications for specified projects, with disbursements not to exceed twentydollars 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 hundredpercent of costs incurred in cleaning up scrap tire collection and disposalsites.The director shall give preference to projects which utilizescrap tires generated and used in Nebraska.(4) Priority for grants made under section 81-15,161 shallbe given to grant proposals demonstrating a formal public/private partnershipexcept for grants awarded from fees collected under subsection (6) of section 13-2042.(5) Grants awarded from fees collected under subsection (6)of section 13-2042 may be renewed for up to a five-year grant period. Suchapplications shall include an updated integrated solid waste management planpursuant to section 13-2032. Annual disbursements are subject to availablefunds and the grantee meeting established grant conditions. Priority for suchgrants shall be given to grant proposals showing regional participation andprograms which address the first integrated solid waste management hierarchyas stated in section 13-2018 which shall include toxicity reduction. Disbursementsfor any one year shall not exceed fifty percent of the total fees collectedafter rebates under subsection (6) of section 13-2042 during that year.(6) Any person who stores waste tires in violation of section 13-2033, which storage is the subject of abatement or cleanup, shall be liableto the State of Nebraska for the reimbursement of expenses of such abatementor cleanup paid by the Department of Environmental Quality.(7) The Department of Environmental Quality may receive gifts,bequests, and any other contributions for deposit in the Waste Reduction andRecycling Incentive Fund. Transfersmay be made from the fund to the General Fund at the direction of the Legislature. Anymoney in the Waste Reduction and Recycling IncentiveFund available for investment shall be invested by the state investmentofficer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska StateFunds Investment Act. SourceLaws 1990, LB 163, § 2; Laws 1992, LB 1257, § 95; Laws 1993, LB 203, § 20; Laws 1993, LB 444, § 1; Laws 1994, LB 1034, § 7; Laws 1994, LB 1066, § 122; Laws 1997, LB 495, § 9; Laws 1999, LB 592, § 3; Laws 2001, LB 461, § 16; Laws 2002, Second Spec. Sess., LB 1, § 7; Laws 2003, LB 143, § 11; Laws 2007, LB568, § 3; Laws 2009, LB180, § 2; Laws 2009, LB379, § 1; Laws 2009, First Spec. Sess., LB3, § 78.Effective Date: November 21, 2009 Cross ReferencesNebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.
